Sibongile Manthata.
Staff Scientist
Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (SABIC)
作为她唯一一个高度专业领域的女性作为流程设计工程师之一，南非移民，三个男孩的母亲和四个男孩的母亲，辛吉洛斯·孟提塔在她的职业生涯中挑战的公平份额超过了她的挑战。她进入工程的企业更加偶然而不是故意。
“I heard about engineering but knew very little about it,” she said. “Fortunately, one of my friend’s sisters was a new chemical engineer, and I thought I would do well in it.”
考虑到这一点并鼓励南非的许多工程缅甸（奖学金），她专注于保持她的成绩和申请工程学院。挑战性的文化规范和看法只使她更加坚定地追求工程教育，从家人那里汲取力量来帮助这样做。
“Were it not for the initial encouragement from my friend’s sister,” she noted, “I probably would not have applied to engineering school. My grandma’s husband even made it a point to say that engineering was only for men. This stigma helped motivate me to challenge myself and prove it wrong.”
But inspiration and support did come once Sibongile got into engineering school. A female lecturer, Dr. Diane Hildebrandt, was the sole female professor in her school. Dr. Hildebrandt was well-recognized in her field and had received multiple awards for her work – yet another motivator for the budding engineer.
“我们受到了激励在我们想要成为的人中看到自己，”辛齐勒说。
编码器芭比娃娃？工程师芭比娃娃？
Sibongile has never forgotten that positive influence and sees mentorship and female leadership as critical factors in promoting greater participation of young women in engineering today.
“I know how much it means for me to see female professors in university give lectures at both the graduate and undergraduate levels. Representation really matters. It is important to see role models that look like you while advancing and starting your career. However, this could be taken a step further – we need to inspire girls at an earlier age. We should encourage them to find a passion for science education at the elementary school level. This also means marketing science in new ways, too, and breaking gender stereotypes. For example, we should show that Barbie wants to be an engineer or learn how to code. We should also set a new standard that girls can be both a cheerleader and a scientist. The two are not mutually exclusive.”
And what can women bring to the engineering lab, benchtop, meeting-room table? The move towards inclusion and diversity in engineering is more than a catchphrase for Sibongile – it’s a recipe for project success.
“当你有所有类似的经历时，”她说，“你可能会错过一个解决方案或想法，因为你没有遇到过你的经历。拥有不同背景的团队成员可以将更广泛的视角带到桌面上 - 他们可以通过新镜头看出问题并提供不同的解决方案。“
在她的真实例子中阐述了她的真实例子，辛格勒记得一个项目，她参与了队伍成立后，在不同的观点导致成功的地方。
“I once worked on a challenging project handling a catalyst,” she recalls, “Before I joined, the team sought out many solutions but hadn’t landed on the idea that was most beneficial. Because of my background experience, I saw an opportunity to revisit a solution previously proposed and recommended it to the team in a different way. Once we started looking at the project with this new perspective in mind, we were able to successfully find a solution that is still being used today. I think having a new team member with a diverse background encouraged my colleagues to think even further outside the box and approach problem-solving in a new way.”
她坦率地承认，女性可以，并确实比男性带来不同的角度，而不仅仅是工程，而是对任何组织或团队。
“Women make great leaders,” she said. “We are creative and adaptive. I find my personal experience with balancing work, children, and household activities has only brought me success. I don’t think women should have to do everything or be superhuman by any means, but with many of us juggling multiple roles in a day, it typically allows us to be nimble and strategic, especially in our careers. We learn to think multidimensionally, which prepares us as great project managers and quick-solution finders.”
恐惧不是错误
一般来说，错误在“失败”中有明显的底层 - 一个术语本身带有负面内涵。与许多其他成功的人一样，辛格莱斯认为犯错是与一般积极的结果一样的最终进展。
“I do not think people should be afraid to make mistakes; it is often the best way to learn,” she maintains. “Building confidence requires you to try, and sometimes when you try, you fail. The key is to learn from those mistakes and understand that you will always be learning. As an engineer, you should aim to start your career by learning from those around you. Your college career has provided you with an excellent opportunity to prove to yourself that you can master this field. You should approach problems by trying them first and then asking a coach (usually a person that has been there a little longer than you have) to check them or check your logic.”
敢于“可以做”
尽管南非复杂的历史，有影响力的角色上有一种颜色的妇女 - 你希望来自80％黑色的国家。然而，在她来到美国之前，它是辛西亚的东西。但这可能无法劝阻她，她对展示了她的四个男孩的激情，妇女没有界限，特别是肤色的界限。为了允许您遇到的任何明显的限制，这不仅会否认自己，她不仅要令人兴奋和有希望的职业，还要满意地看到纸上的某些东西的乐趣来生机和工作。
“Whether you design a solution to start up or a pump or create a new facility design that becomes operational,” she says, “the feeling is thrilling.”
For Sibongile, obstacles are something to be attacked, not to run away from.
“作为一个黑人女性是女士eer has meant that not only have people found prejudice based on the color of my skin but also because I’m a woman in what’s stigmatized as a “man’s field.” If I can be successful and good at what I do, anyone can do this. You need to have a can-do attitude and dare to dream. Never let other people’s limitations define yours.”
Editor’s Note:
Sibongile was also featured as one of two Women in Engineering panelists in the November 17, 2021 “Conversations with Women in Engineering” webinar hosted by Editor Michelle Froese. You can register and watch the这里的网络研讨会on-demand.
Filed Under:Women in Engineering
