Program by Endress+Hauser aims to increase women in STEM careers

A cookbook filled with employee recipes, an initiative organized by the W.I.N. women’s diversity and inclusion program at Endress+Hauser Canada, helped foster team spirit during the pandemic when almost all were working on their own, remotely.

Endress+Hauser Canada Ltd. has been working to boost participation of women in STEM jobs, and this initiative is now aiming for higher targets. As a world leader in measurement instrumentation for process engineering, the company will allow student groups to visit its process training units in Burlington, Ont. and Edmonton.

The manufacturer wants to reach women at an early age to encourage higher-education choices in STEM, through its Women’s Integrated Network (W.I.N.) committee.

Promoting diversity, equity, inclusion

The Endress+Hauser team is using a multi-stage approach to reach out to women: after initial contact, the company wants to introduce technical roles they might not have considered for themselves, leading to the best and brightest names to think of Endress+Hauser when seeking jobs. The company is currently recruiting for a position in Burlington, focused on training strategy and developing relationships with schools to launch a rotational engineering program for recent graduates and co-op students.

The Canadian W.I.N. program is part of a global initiative to double the percentage of female Endress+Hauser employees to 40 per cent worldwide. In Canada, women make up 37 per cent of the company’s staff and 41 per cent of its managers. And due to Canada’s diverse demographics, the local initiative is approaching its targets in a broader context of promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion. The company aims to eliminate systemic biases in hiring and career quality. A mentorship program is helping personnel gain professional-development skills.

Throughout the pandemic, the educational initiatives have been mostly online, including e-mail blasts, a LinkedIn Learning Challenge, and a “break the bias” video. This programming has also included team-building benefits such as the creation of a digital cookbook composed of employee contributions. A goal of this project was to showcase the diverse ethnic backgrounds of Endress+Canada staff. Another part of this challenge was to ask workers to recreate colleagues’ recipes, in order to immerse themselves into new cultures and tastes. This project brought diverse employees together, especially during the isolation of the pandemic.

Through this and more, Endress+Hauser actively promotes equality and diversity in an evolving society.

To learn more, contact Endress+Hauser.

• Tweet