Diversity and inclusion within the additive manufacturing industry have long been the subject of social media-based discussion, of blogs on websites and tracks in conferences. It has even led to organisations like Women in 3D Printing being set-up.
When the topic is raised, the points being put forward are that women, for example, only make up around a tenth of the additive manufacturing workforce; that fewer opportunities have been afforded to women and other underrepresented groups; and that organisation and individuals alike can do more to make the industry inclusive.
Most of the time, those observations are well-received. Sometimes, they're not. Whatever the response, there are likely to be a few questions - in good faith or otherwise.
To mark International Women's Day 2022, TCT asked ten of the AM industry's leading female professionals the same two questions: What more can the additive manufacturing industry do to ensure diversity and inclusion? And why does it matter?
Here are their answers.
Alex Kingsbury | Additive Manufacturing Industry Fellow | RMIT University
This International Women’s Day, the theme is Break the Bias. The truth is, we all live and operate with bias, whether that’s intended or not. Our ancestors needed bias to make quick decisions, bias is an efficient decision making tool. Friend or foe? Bias will help your brain get there quicker. But nowadays, bias – and the way it develops for us based on ingrained societal stereotypes, our past experiences, and cultural contexts – limits our understanding of the world and the people that we share it with. It causes us to make assumptions about people, their capability, what they have to offer, and where they fit in the world, without taking the time to understand them properly and test some of the automatic assumptions that we didn’t even realise we had.
Women in male dominated environments are often targets for bias in action. Assumptions are made about all manner of things inside of the workplace and out. It was not that long ago that women were expected to leave work once they were married, to stay home to care for children and ‘keep house’. While we no longer carry these societal expectations, they have bled into our bias with stereotypes such as the ‘caring mother’ or office housekeeper. In STEM fields like additive manufacturing, this translates into women being pushed towards middle management and ‘people person’ type roles. At the same time, bias around women in leadership tells us that women don’t aspire to senior leadership roles, or that they do not possess the capability to perform at such a high level. Not only may this inaccurately reflect a woman’s career aspirations, it is also a contributor to the gender pay gap, where women on average get paid 82 cents for every dollar a man earns.
I have described only one way that bias affects women’s careers and financial security, but there are numerous other ways that we allow bias to make poor decisions for us. So this International Women’s Day, let’s break the bias, by first admitting that we all carry bias with us, and seeking to intentionally work against it. I’ll leave you with a great tip. Before you assume anything about a women – her intelligence, her capacity, or her career aspirations – first get to know her and ASK her about the things you’re interested in knowing about before you let bias control the narrative.
Get your FREE print subscription to TCT Magazine.
Exhibit at the UK's definitive and most influential 3D printing and additive manufacturing event, TCT 3Sixty.
Kristin Mulherin | GM of Powder Bed Solutions, Nexa3D | President, Women in 3D Printing
The additive manufacturing industry is in an extremely high growth phase, and to keep up with the industry the companies within it need to innovate even faster. While diversity, equity, and inclusion are important from a societal point of view, diversity is also critical to accelerating the speed of innovation from a technology perspective. Diversity of thought, which comes from diverse individuals, is one of the best ways to truly accelerate innovation.
Women in 3D Printing is not only on a mission to close the gender gap in additive manufacturing, but also to support and represent all underrepresented groups. To increase diversity in the workforce, we need to make a bigger effort to include more diverse speakers and panellists at events, transition from a fear of differing opinions to embracing them, and actively work to acknowledge our own personal biases that might’ve been unknowingly inhibiting us from advancing.
Christina Perla | Founder & CEO | Makelab
I think there is a lot to unpack here and a lot of work we can do. As employers, we have an effect on how we attract talent and how we retain talent. I'd love to see more structure around the recruit process. I'd love to see companies talk more about their efforts in diversity. Let's be specific, let's be real. How are you making sure that diverse talent feels like they are getting a fair shot during the interview process? That biases are being taken into account? What company policies do you have in place to account for difficult & sticky situations? Is there a way these situations are handled? What holidays does the company celebrate and acknowledge? Does the company know why they are celebrating this holiday? Is there any training in place, any workshops, any educational bits that would help foster a more open and equitable environment? I ask in question format because the specifics are truly up to the company to decide. But as a BIPOC woman, these are things I would be interested in talking more about myself.
There's so much here, but it starts with a genuine interest in taking care of your team members and letting them know you are interested and that you care. It needs to come from a true place, otherwise it's performative and it's not helpful or wanted. We can start there.
Mina Lee | Manager of People and Culture | MakerBot
Additive manufacturing needs to actively invest in education. What I’m talking about is the re-education of STEM educators and leadership teams on how to be actively anti-racist and feminist to unlearn the years of systemic biases. Marginalised people need allies in educators and senior leadership to empower and support them through their school and career. Only 11% of the industry is made up of women and we can do better. Diversity brings together people with different backgrounds, perspectives, and ways of problem-solving which only furthers innovation.
Leaders in additive manufacturing, many of whom are men, must understand that building a culture of inclusion doesn't just allow for diversity and innovation to thrive: it's good for business. I hope that they understand that by creating equitable and inclusive practices everyone wins. The McKinsey article, “Why Diversity Matters”, states, ‘Companies in the top quartile for racial and ethnic diversity are 35 percent more likely to have financial returns above their respective national industry medians… [and] Companies in the top quartile for gender diversity are 15 percent more likely to have financial returns above their respective national industry medians.’
The returns on investing in diversity and inclusion are enormous and it's time that our industry commits the necessary resources to do this work.
Guayente Sanmartin | Global Head of Multi Jet Fusion | HP
Women represent 50% of the world’s population, but only 13% are employed in technical fields. We’re missing out on half of our potential – and I don’t believe we can innovate with purpose without more balanced representation. I am surrounded by women who are creating game-changing innovations both within HP and the greater community.
Women in additive manufacturing and technology look different, sound different, and do things differently. And that’s the beauty of diversity and what brings the best innovations to society. To ensure a more balanced diverse and inclusive industry, I believe leaders in the industry, such as myself, need to dedicate time to recognising and celebrating the work and results achieved by women. Providing the deserved recognition will not only highlight the amazing expertise women possess but also inspire the next generation of talent to become part of the AM community.
I am committed to cultivating a more inclusive environment through professional development and creating more opportunities to drive innovation forward. Women and diverse talent are critical in shaping the way we live, and work. It’s imperative that our industry continues to make strides for a more diverse group of talent to empower future generations and grow the number of women within additive manufacturing.
More on diversity & inclusion:
- Intentional inclusion: How to build a more inclusive and diverse workplace in AM
- #56 Additive Insight: An interview with Women in 3D Printing founder Nora Toure
- INWED17: "There are so many opportunities in engineering and additive manufacturing"
Sarah Goehrke, Senior Director, Strategic Communication & Ecosystems, Nexa3D | Head of DEI, Women in 3D Printing
Additive manufacturing is a young industry at the intersection of high-tech and manufacturing: two sectors that historically have a strongly male-dominated workforce. A huge advantage for 3D printing, though, is that this business is predicated on thinking differently. Why shouldn’t that encompass the “who” behind the innovation?
It doesn’t – to me – seem like a radical notion that we’ve set as the guiding principle at Women in 3D Printing for our Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion programming: support an industry that reflects the world in which it operates.
However, at this joining of high-tech and manufacturing, that mission isn’t necessarily intuitive. With many startups emerging in clusters around leading centres of education and investment (think Boston, Silicon Valley), a natural in-grouping forms. Former classmates band together to found a company based on work begun – which is great, with projects emerging from academic proposal to real-world business. But classmates, by definition, shared classes: they were taught to think the same way, learned the same approaches to problem solving.
Let’s take a step back: diversity isn’t just one thing.
Depending on who you ask, diversity can range up to 27 unique aspects of individualism; often, it’s closer to seven. Women in 3D Printing was initially focused on gender parity in the additive manufacturing industry, and that remains our foundation. With the introduction in 2021 of Wi3DP DEI as formal programming, we have been expanding that focus to encompass more of the industry and offer insights and impact into more actionable ways that this industry can grow in terms of workforce. We’re partnering with companies, working with experts, and continuing with the Diversity for Additive Manufacturing report series (the latest, focused on the pay gap, is live as of International Women’s Day 2022).
The facts are clear from widely available expert-driven research: diversity, equity, and inclusion matters. McKinsey, for instance, explains:
‘Moreover, we found that the greater the representation, the higher the likelihood of outperformance. Companies with more than 30 percent women executives were more likely to outperform companies where this percentage ranged from 10 to 30, and in turn these companies were more likely to outperform those with even fewer women executives, or none at all. A substantial differential likelihood of outperformance—48 percent—separates the most from the least gender-diverse companies.
In the case of ethnic and cultural diversity, our business-case findings are equally compelling: in 2019, top-quartile companies outperformed those in the fourth one by 36 percent in profitability, slightly up from 33 percent in 2017 and 35 percent in 2014.’
From their 2014 report, McKinsey shows:
Understanding that diversity, equity, and inclusion matters and has a quantifiable impact on business operations, it stands to reason that companies in the AM industry would be encouraged to invest in DEI. A stronger company of people can operate with more strength and make more impact.
As 3D printing is poised to make real impact on major issues like sustainability, circular economy, supply chain / decentralised production, and other ways of making making better, investing in the people is a vital step to making the world better.
Laura Gilmour | Principal Consultant, Medical Additive Manufacturing and Regulatory Strategy
For me, it’s very clear why diversity matters - for example, studies have shown time and time again that companies who have women on executive leadership teams and boards do better in the market compared to competitors. Why wouldn’t you want your organisation to be a market leader?
Of course diversity is more than gender - race, age, culture, gender identity, ability, etc. I truly believe that a team is better with a diverse set of ideas. Diverse ideas come from different backgrounds. I personally like to build teams by shoring up my blind spots with a team member who has a different life experience, perspective, and skill set from me. It seems to me if everyone on your leadership team came from the same background or the same former companies, you’d have dangerous assumptions reinforced and this would be a disadvantage in any market.
Inclusion is different. While diversity means everyone has an invitation to the party, inclusion means the party was created with everyone in mind. This is difficult when your organisation is mostly one gender or race because, again, you don’t know what you don’t know. Hiring a diverse workforce is not enough, you need to retain the new-hires and a company culture that is not inclusive (i.e. not built with everyone in mind) will likely not retain these diverse hires and now you’re back where you started. Diversity and inclusion go hand in hand.
I think there are two things organisations can do today to make diversity and inclusion a reality, which isn’t limited to the AM industry. First, don’t hire from the same places you have before. Frankly, if you’re the majority gender and race, the network that is comfortable and easily accessible is going to look a lot like you. It’s your responsibility as a hiring manager to work harder to find diverse talent. Organisations like Women in 3D Printing, Society of Black Engineers, or Society of Women Engineers have professional networks and job boards. The Society of Women Engineers has a national conference every year with a career fair; professionals as well as students attend. The second action is to make a conscious effort to fix the “broken rung” in your organisation. McKinsey’s study of women in the workplace has discussed since 2016 that the main problem to the gender gap in executive leadership is failing to promote women to manager at the same rate as men - that first rung in the ladder on the way to executive leadership. Your organisation doesn’t have a pipeline of women to promote? This “broken rung” is likely why. McKinsey also shows that progress for women overall hasn’t translated to gains for women of colour so this especially is a place to pay attention.
One of my favourite quotes is from Dr. Mia Angelou “When you know better, do better.” It’s time to challenge our industry to do better. As a bonus - we won’t need to know everything, we can hire diverse talent so our teams will instead!
Candice Majewski | Senior Lecturer, Mechanical Engineering | University of Sheffield
While there are lots of things companies and other big organisations can do (which would take a lot more space than we have here!), I think it’s also really important to think about what we can each do as individuals.
It’s easy to be overwhelmed if we start from a position of trying to fix everything all at the same time and on our own, so for me one of the most important things we can do is to educate ourselves about the barriers different people experience in different environments. If we start to learn about the experiences of others then we can start to make effective changes, firstly in our own behaviour and then by influencing others. These may be small things at first as we build up confidence, but remember that every small step is still a step in the right direction. I wrote a short blog-post about this a while ago, which might give you a few more pointers if you’re looking to get started in this area!
In terms of why diversity and inclusion matters, there’s plenty of research out there showing that diverse teams perform better and deliver better results. But above all it matters because our industry should be a place that everyone feels they belong, regardless of their background or personal characteristics. I’ve always felt very welcome in our AM community, but until we can say the same for everyone it’s important for us all to keep listening, learning and making active changes!
Tali Rosman | Vice President and General Manager for 3D Printing | Xerox
Diversity contributes to innovation, problem solving and efficiency. In Additive Manufacturing, we as an industry are pushing the boundaries of what’s possible every day – and we need the diverse workforce to help us drive this much-needed innovation.
We should encourage more women to apply to roles in our industry – certainly initiatives such as Women in 3D Printing have room to play.
But really, we need to increase the pool of diverse candidates by providing earlier exposure to AM to students of diverse backgrounds. Many schools have well-equipped maker spaces and 3D printing labs. We need to draw the diverse candidates early on – in school – and create that ‘top of funnel’ which will lead to the diverse workforce we want to have.
This is a long-play, but that’s what additive manufacturing is all about.
We at Xerox Elem Additive are committed to diversity and inclusion and are glad to engage in conversations to promote DE&I in our industry.
Mariona Company | Global Head of Molded Fiber | HP
Let me start ‘why does it matter?’ I truly believe that diversity and inclusion is what drives innovation and access. You need to have diverse teams. If not, there is no innovation. It’s not only my opinion, but studies, research, outcomes have shown this to be true. It is broad diversity of people and perspective that comes from different genders, cultures, and points of view. I’m proud that this is at the core of who we are at HP. It is our way.
What can we do?
There needs to be a different mindset that it is not about men or women, it is about who we are as individuals. I always say, and I do a lot of mentoring to young, professional ladies, you can do whatever you want. At the end, every single person is really defining their own destiny. So, we as a society, need to embrace that. It needs to start with the messages that are portrayed and shared with our young people, our young girls and young ladies, in particular. We need to celebrate that people work differently, but at the end of the day we need to make it clear that you can be or do whatever you want.
We need to stop signalling that value only comes from upwards growth. Happiness, contentment, contribution comes from doing work that makes you happy and gives you balance. We need to break down the stigmas and emphasise that your individuality matters and will have an impact on how and what you view as success and as bringing happiness.
Erika Berg | Director of Business Development | Carbon
In an industry centred around developing differentiated and innovative products, the inclusion of diverse talent is imperative to solving our industry’s most complex problems with unique perspectives and approaches. To get there, we must proactively mentor and support underrepresented individuals in the industry, as well as address existing inequalities or barriers that might be hindering adequate representation. With thoughtful and deliberate efforts, measurable steps can be taken to ensure everyone has a seat at the table — from the boardroom to the production floor.
