By Megan Berger

Our Real Talk series features women and men in engineering and architecture talking about the challenges and less-than-enjoyable experiences often come along with being a woman – or just being different –  in our industries.

Sheila’s been working in New Zealand for over eight years. After getting her Bachelor’s Degree in Iran, she spent two years getting her Master’s in India. She craved a challenge and a new environment, which is how she found herself in Christchurch, where she’s now a Senior Structural Engineer at Beca.

Overall, she enjoys her work and plans to stay in the field long-term. But when she first started out, things weren’t always that easy. Her first visit to a construction site gave her a glimpse into hierarchy on sites.

“For me, as a young female engineer who is not from New Zealand, it was a big challenge to establish my role on the site. I was talking to the site manager but I could tell he weren’t listening to me. He then emailed my senior engineer, asking the exact same question that he had asked me and which I had given him the answer to already. It took a while for me to establish my role on a construction site, and it only happened by showing my strength and abilities. I made it clear that I was responsible for the project and to come to me if they had questions, not just the other male engineer on my team. By proving myself I was quite successful in that project and since then I didn’t have any problems.”

Do you have a personal story about how you’ve experienced bias or harassment at work? Feel free to reach out to hello@diversityagenda.org to share your story.