You have to constantly make choices about whats important to you
Published on : Tuesday 08-03-2022
Nita Patel, P.E., is Senior Director, Engineering Lead Design Centre at Otis.
What was the inspiration that prompted you to pursue this career path?
Arts & crafts. When growing up, my mother encouraged us to learn a new skill every summer (e.g., cross-stitching, knitting, woodworking, sewing, jewellery making). This required creative thinking, putting materials together and figuring out how you solve problems with limited resources. I expanded into electronics. I enjoyed kits with motors and automation. I also like to figure out how things work and repair them. This work with crafts led me to pursue electrical engineering.
Can you recall your early days – say the first few days at work – and anything you would like to mention about that?
I encourage everyone to ask questions, lots & lots of questions, when first starting out. It's more important to learn than to show what you know when you first begin a new job. I didn't ask enough questions when I first started. I wanted to show that I could do the work on tasks assigned to me. After a week or two, one of my colleagues saw me working on a piece of test equipment and said, ‘If you did this, it would work better’. I realised that my job wasn't to figure everything out on my own. Since then, I try to ask a lot of questions so that I'm not starting from scratch and learning things people already know.
For a woman, it is a matter of finding the right balance between the jobs and managing the home – how do you manage this?
I don't think it's a question of balance. I think it's a question of choice. You have to constantly make choices about what's important to you. When you have clarity on this, you can figure out where to spend your time and where to find other solutions for the less important items. I am constantly making choices about how I spend my time. I have made choices about whether I want to volunteer or if I need to focus on a complex, time-consuming project at work. I also make choices on a daily basis. Sometimes I order pizza because I know I have a very busy day. Sometimes, I choose to not reply to email and spend 2-3 hours in the kitchen to cook a complicated meal. Life is about big and little choices.
What challenges (or privileges) do women stereotypically face, based on their gender?
I think one challenge is appreciating differences in style. I think women get grouped into having a single style or approach rather than being viewed as individuals with unique strengths and weaknesses. I think getting grouped by stereotypes is a challenge because it ignores an assessment on an individual-by-individual basis.
Have you ever missed a career opportunity or promotion due to gender?
No, I think it's more about not applying for specific roles or not making my goals and contributions clear to my supervisors. Sometimes, I have hesitated to apply for a role because I did not think I was qualified. Also, I have not always highlighted the things that I personally accomplished or helped teams accomplish. If you don't explain how you have helped a business or project, it may not be obvious, so then you may get overlooked for other opportunities.
Are workplaces today more sensitive to gender issues than say, a decade ago?
Yes, I think workplaces better recognise that each individual has different needs and desires. This applies to all sorts of situations, not only gender. I think we have definitely moved away from overt bias. There is much more visibility and highlighting of discrimination. Companies provide training so that people are more aware.
Which women's 'cause' needs to be challenged and changed, first?
I think we need to stop thinking about groups as though everyone in that group has the same challenge. My challenge is not the same as my sister's in the workplace. We have different goals, lives and situations in which we work. The change I think we need to make is to focus on the individual. Until we can look at each person uniquely and understand what their challenges and motivations are, we won't have an inclusive culture.
Are there areas at work that still restrict women when it comes to leadership roles?
There may be but I am not aware of a specific area. This type of restriction is not tolerated in most work areas now.
What women-related myths or taboos need to be broken?
I think we need to break the myth that there is a single way to lead. There isn't. Women are strong leaders but their style might be different from stereotypical male styles. Women have strengths that men don't have (and vice versa). When we think about leadership, people imagine a single perspective. We need to break this myth and recognise that different situations require different skills.
Do you have a mentor or a role model? If yes, you may state briefly how it inspired you.
I do not have a single role model. I have been fortunate to have the opportunity to learn from many different people. The best mentors in my life challenge my way of thinking. They ask why you think so. What happens if you do this? What is your logic or how did you come to that solution? They ask me to think differently and push myself to try different things.
What would be your message to the youth who are just starting their career?
I encourage everyone to experiment; that is, try new things and learn from what works and doesn't work. Engineering is about experimentation. You have an idea. You put it into practice. You look at the outcome and compare to see if it's what you wanted or expected. If yes, you understand why. If not, you understand why. I think this is a critical skill for life in general. Experiment, learn, and do more. Also, I think it's very important for new workers to learn non-technical skills (e.g., communications, project management, business finances, and emotional intelligence). These skills are essential to being part of a team and working in groups.
Describe yourself or your aspirations, dreams in 3 words.
Make A Difference.
Nita Patel, P.E., is Senior Director, Engineering Lead Design Centre at Otis leading a critical part of the global engineering innovation that provides new capabilities in connected, smart, IoT-based elevator systems. Nita is Director of the IEEE Foundation and is 2022 President-Elect of the IEEE Computer Society. Nita has served in many engineering, advanced technology development teams and in strategic IEEE volunteer roles. She founded and led the first five years of the IEEE Women in Engineering International Leadership Conference (WIE ILC) and served as 2013-2014 Women in Engineering International Chair. Nita received her MS Computer Engineering, BS Electrical Engineering and BS Mathematics from Southern Methodist University in Dallas.
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