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In 1965, President Lyndon Johnson issued executive order 11246 requiring federal contractors to take affirmative action with regard to race, religion and national origin. Gender was added to the list in 1968.
Forty years after that executive decree, President George Bush proposed a federal budget for fiscal year 2006 that would cut funding for many non-security domestic programs. Defense spending is one of the few areas that could see a funding increase, and the agencies and contractors that build security equipment for the government are seeking entry-level engineers and IT professionals to help meet production demand. Today government agencies and contractors don't need any extra push to seek talented women and minority recruits, though; most say the diversity of their rosters is an incredible asset in a competitive industry.
Diversity is a top priority at Northrop Grumman
Northrop Grumman (Los Angeles, CA) provides products and services for IT, defense electronics, aircraft systems design, ship building and space technology. The company's customers include international militaries, the U.S. government and commercial companies.
Sandra Evers-Manly, vice president of ethics and diversity, says the diversity of Northrop Grumman's workforce is critical to the company's success. "We believe that an organization made up of diverse people generates a wealth of ideas, mutual respect and innovation, and that can give us a competitive advantage."
Northrop Grumman recruits a diverse workforce by visiting schools with a high percentage of diverse students and by reaching out to diverse organizations. In 2004, more than 50 percent of the company's new hires were diverse.
Jordan Thomas analyzes power supply boards at Northrop Grumman
One of Northrop Grumman's diverse hires in 2004 was Jordan Thomas, an EE major from Morgan State University (Baltimore, MD). Thomas is now an electronics engineer in the electronics systems sector (Linthicum, MD), which develops airborn radar, navigation systems and electronic countermeasures. But Thomas' early career aspirations nearly led him in a completely different direction.
"I wanted to be a fireman," Thomas remembers, "but I applied to an engineering high school and found that I had a knack for math and science."
After high school Thomas followed the advice of his calculus teacher and attended HBCU Morgan State University. He also became a member of NSBE (www.nsbe.org).
Thomas knew he wanted to work at Northrop Grumman after an encounter with the company's director of software operations led to a stimulating internship following high school. He got a broad view of the design process, and met the person who would later become his mentor. "After seeing so many different things I could do in one company, I knew Northrop Grumman was for me," he says.
As a full-time engineer Thomas takes advantage of the company's professional development program, which allows new hires to move into new rotations every three to four months during the first year of employment. In Thomas' current rotation, he does preliminary analysis for power supply boards to ensure that their designs are viable before moving them to the prototype phase. "I would encourage anyone who's not completely sure of what they want to do to take advantage of this kind of program," he says.
The FCC believes diversity sends the right signal
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC, Washington, DC) is the independent federal agency that regulates interstate and international communications by radio, television, wire, satellite and cable. P. June Taylor, acting director of the office of workplace diversity, says to do an effective job, the FCC must tap the diversity of the population it serves. She recommends diversity as a goal for all government organizations.
"In addition to being a laudable social policy goal, diversity in an organization can be as critical a function to meet the organization's goals as proper marketing, accounting and innovation," Taylor says. "The successful organization that builds a cultural climate where diversity is valued and recognized as an integral part of the whole will reap benefits of greater productivity and achievement."
Alethia Nicholson polices the airwaves at the FCC
Each day at the Detroit, MI field office of the FCC's enforcement bureau, electronics engineer Alethia Nicholson never knows what awaits her. Recently, the DC office routed a complaint to Nicholson and her co-workers that led them on a wild chase into another state.
"An area hospital that uses a radio to dispatch emergency services was getting interference," Nicholson recalls. "We tuned our car's equipment to the hospital's frequency and traced the interfering signal all the way to Ohio."
Nicholson's road to civil service began in the military. Nicholson, who grew up in Brooklyn, NY, had an uncle who was an electrical technician in the Air Force. She followed in his footsteps when she joined the Army after high school by becoming an electronic warfare intercept aviation systems repairer. After completing her four years of service, she married and moved to Texas where she pursued an EE degree.
Nicholson graduated from the University of Texas at El Paso (El Paso, TX) in 2002. She says she was heavily recruited, partly, she thinks, because of her involvement in minority organizations.
"I saw that a lot of companies were focusing on diversity and, at first, that kind of upset me," Nicholson says. "But my mom told me, 'Diversity may get you in the door, but the quality of the person you are will keep you there.'"
In 2003 Nicholson accepted a job at the FCC and moved with her husband and nine-year-old son to Detroit. The FCC will pay the tab on Nicholson's graduate education, which she hopes to pursue at the University of Michigan-Dearborn (Dearborn, MI).
"I served my country as a soldier, and now I'm serving it as a civilian. I hope to become one of the FCC's experts in electromagnetic compatibility and interference theory," Nicholson says.
Aerospace: an award for diversity
At the Aerospace Corp (El Segundo, CA) technical employees don't manufacture anything tangible. Their product is expertise. The nonprofit company operates a federally funded research and development center for the U.S. Department of Defense. It also provides research, development and advisory services to civil agencies such as NASA, as well as universities, commercial companies and international organizations.
At Aerospace diversity is an initiative that's valued from the top down. "We recognize diversity's strength and effectiveness as a business value that is tied directly to the health and vitality of our company," says Aerospace president and CEO William F. Ballhaus, Jr.
Aerospace has won awards for its efforts in promoting diversity. In 2004 the company received an Exemplary Voluntary Efforts (EVE) award from the U.S. Department of Labor. The department presents EVE awards annually to federal contractors with exceptional equal-opportunity programs.
Aerospace's Iwona Palusinski advises government agencies
Iwona Palusinski's initial career aspirations had little to do with outer space. "I wanted to do pathology, so in junior high I spent a day with a pathologist," she recalls. "Someone was on the operating table getting a biopsy. The first tissue sample showed it was cancer, but the second sample showed it wasn't. I thought there should be a better way to analyze samples for diagnosis. That bothered me for years."
The feeling stayed with Palusinski into her freshman year at the University of Arizona (Tucson, AZ) when she toured an optical sciences center. "The lab was using lasers to measure cancerous and noncancerous cells and tissues," she says. "Right then I knew I had to major in optical sciences."
Palusinski graduated in 1994 and went right into a graduate program at the same university. She received her masters in 1997 and her PhD in 2003. That's when she came to Aerospace as an engineering specialist in the electro-optical systems department. Today she acts as a technical advisor to Aerospace's customers and works with government contractors on advanced programs.
During her time at Aerospace Palusinski has been impressed with the amount of support given to new hires. She enjoys the company's collegial environment, which offers mentorship programs and afterwork clubs.
"Because we have people who've been in the work force for many years, you can learn a lot from them," Palusinski says.
Raytheon attracts and keeps top talent
Raytheon Co (Waltham, MA) is a defense and aerospace systems supplier that builds equipment based on cutting-edge technologies such as precision-guided missiles, thermal imaging, in-flight retargeting, enemy identification and muti-target radar. Linda Taylor, human resources manager for diversity at Raytheon Missile Systems (Tucson, AZ), says the company could not achieve success without a diverse group of employees.
"If we are to maintain our premier position in our industry, we must attract, develop and keep top talent that reflects our defense and global customers," Taylor says. "There are no bounds to where top talent is found, so we leave no market untapped."
Domunetrac Maye builds missile controls at Raytheon
At age seven Domunetrac Maye enjoyed dismantling radios and putting them back together. He grew up in Bellamy, AL with his mother and sister, and felt a clear need to turn his passion for math, science, and electronics into success that would make his family proud.
"My mother was a single parent," Maye says. "Watching her struggle to support me and my sister made me work harder, and I was determined not to fail."
Maye channeled his determination into school and decided to study EE at Tuskegee University (Tuskegee, AL). By the time he graduated in 2002 he had built a relationship with recruiters at Raytheon. After a first job at NASA he came to Raytheon as a systems engineer in the missile systems division. He builds "the brain" of missiles to better ensure that they hit their targets.
Maye says Raytheon's mentoring program has helped him make the most of his job. "We have a lot of senior engineers who want to make sure you understand everything and are comfortable," Maye says. "This is a great company for minorities and for people who are just starting out."
Smiths Aerospace sees strength in differences
Smiths Aerospace (London, UK) is a global supplier to builders and operators of military and civil aircraft and engines. Stuart Mullan, general manager of the company's Information Systems division (Germantown, MD), explains why the company seeks a diverse base of employees. "Success through diversity is a key business strategy. By embracing diversity, we are able to hire, develop and retain the very best people from the widest available pool of talent."
Sharon Chen finds fair treatment at Smiths Aerospace
Sharon Chen was armed with a college diploma and course work in EE when she set out in her native Taiwan to fulfill her dream of being a professional engineer. Cultural norms, however, set some heavy obstacles in her path. "The HR people in Taiwan told me that I would probably do the same amount of work as the men, but have a different salary," Chen says. "I think they felt that males have more talent. That's the stereotype you run into."
Chen worked instead for the marketing department of Learning Technologies (Taipei, Taiwan). She was an assistant manager with eight employees and the most productive sales team.
Her relationship with an American, who later became her husband, brought her to the United States in 1998. She brushed up her English skills in an ESL program, and went back to school to get a bachelors in EE from George Mason University (Fairfax, VA). She graduated in May 2004 and accepted a job in Smiths Aerospace Electronics Systems' Information Systems division.
Chen is an entry-level engineer moving through different rotations in the company. Her current role is helping a senior engineer with electrical circuit design. Her next assignment will involve designing a memory box for fighter jets. Chen says the ability to rotate through different projects and assist accomplished engineers is helping her grow professionally."I learn something new in this company every single day," she says.
NAVAIR supports the Navy
As part of the U.S. Navy, the Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR, Patuxent River, MD) provides products and services that support naval aviators and bolster U.S. maritime combat power. Tania Dawson, NAVAIR recruiter, says the organization looks for specific skills and experience. "We look for people with a technical background who are also 'business smart,'" she says.
Beth Bonilla designs aircraft test systems at NAVAIR
Beth Bonilla grew up near Malmstron Air Base in Great Falls, MT and always had planes flying overhead. She became fascinated with mechanics at an early age, and her aptitude in math and science led her to study mechanical and aerospace engineering at Rutgers University (New Brunswick, NJ).
A summer internship at NAVAIR's Patuxent River site cemented her desire to work at NAVAIR as a mechanical engineer after her graduation in May 2004. She joined its Lakehurst, NJ facility, where engineers provide a critical link between naval aviation and navy aircraft carrier battle groups worldwide. Bonilla helps design technology and equipment to launch, land and maintain aircraft on ships at sea.
The Navy has helped Bonilla to explore her diverse engineering interests. "NAVAIR gives new engineers a lot of opportunities, so you don't get pigeonholed," she says. "You receive a lot of training and get to work with advanced technology right from the beginning."
Rockwell Collins puts diversity at the top of its agenda
Rockwell Collins (Cedar Rapids, IA) is a communications aviation electronics company that supplies equipment to military and commercial markets worldwide. The company is stepping up its diversity efforts by building its relationships with minority organizations. It has recently implemented an incentive-based employee referral program with a diversity element.
Patty Stephens, manager of university relations, says that "Rockwell Collins has always been focused on diversity. But last year we increased our focus even more by forming a diversity strategy committee that's directly sponsored by our CEO Clay Jones."
Gerri Crockett codes aircraft displays at Rockwell Collins
Gerri Crockett developed a unique perspective on diversity after growing up in Mechanicsville, VA. The city's population was relatively homogenous with more than 90 percent of its residents reporting themselves as white in the 2000 census. "When I came to North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University in Greensboro, NC, which is a predominantly minority school, it was a huge culture shock for me," Crockett says.
She attended classes with many other African Americans, which was a big change from her high-school experience. Still, Crockett was keenly aware that she herself was a minority as a female studying computer science. She interviewed with recruiters from Rockwell Collins before graduating in 2004 and got a good feeling.
"They asked technical questions, but didn't make me sweat bullets," Crockett says. "The company knows that new hires are not going to understand everything about its systems when they start their jobs, so there's a really big support structure here."
Today she is a Rockwell Collins software engineer based in Cedar Rapids, IA. "We're working on display menus, symbols, compasses so many things. Basically, my job is to code and test the displays that help a pilot get from point A to point B."
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