Celebrating Pride at Dyson 2021

Great minds don’t think alike. And it takes all kinds of minds to make Dyson machines so unique. Throughout history, the engineers and scientists who have embraced different and new ways of thinking have been able to make pioneering breakthroughs in their field. In fact, true innovation only comes from radically reinventing what has come before, engaging with different points of view and finding new ways to solve problems.

Engineers are the world’s problem solvers, but we continue to face a global shortfall of them. Despite a need for engineering talent, research suggests that the LGTBQ+ community is often underrepresented in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). 28 per cent of LGBTQ+ people have at some point considered leaving their jobs in STEM because of a hostile workplace or discrimination towards them, an estimated 20 per cent of trans people have often considered leaving the industry and gay and bisexual students are less likely to follow an academic career in science, engineering and technology in the first place.

At Dyson, we’re proud to celebrate those who think differently, come from all backgrounds and are true to themselves.

Every year, Dyson people around the world attend and support Pride Events local to their communities through our internal PROUD Network. While Pride parades might look different this year, Dyson continues to support Bristol and Chicago Pride, amongst many other global events.

This Pride Month, we shine a light on the LGBTQ+ community at Dyson in an interview with some of the members of Dyson’s employee-led global PROUD network – Sammantha Harris, Chris Holgate and Dan Tinsley.

I transitioned at Dyson almost five years ago now. Before you come out you never know how it's going to go, and at the time there was no guide internally to follow. Based on my own experience, I worked with the HR team at Dyson for almost a year to work out exactly how to do it and how we'd change over all the systems to support those transitioning at Dyson. We now have strong internal policies and guidance to support people transitioning and we continue to evolve these. 

What inspired you to become an engineer?

As a child, I could often be found tinkering with things around the house and I had great female role models in my science and maths teachers at school. However, I think I still had more opportunities to get into engineering than I would have if I had grown up being seen as a girl. I feel I had a lot more leeway in that I wasn't shamed as much by classmates for my “geeky” or technical interests.

What inspires you about engineering and “problem solving”?

Knowing that there is always a solution to an issue is really motivating. You might fail to find it at first or even after several attempts but usually something elegant emerges, or you go back and have to think about it from a completely different angle. As an engineer, you can't be afraid of failing a few times, just as long as you're learning from the attempts.

What inspired you to join and help run the Dyson LGBTQ+ Employee Network? What are some of the initiatives you’ve driven?

I actually got into it accidentally! I started organising panel talks and events in 2018 and really enjoyed it and have now been officially helping to run the global network since the beginning of 2019.

I've mainly driven awareness pieces, visual identity and policies for the network, which has been a great creative outlet alongside my day-to-day role. I was also responsible for co-developing the current Gender Identity and Expression Policy, which was launched to coincide with Trans Day of Visibility last year, so that anyone who transitions has a framework to help guide them and their manager.

What would you say to young people from the LGBTQ+ community considering a career in engineering?

There's a statistic in the UK that one in three workplaces would be unlikely to consider hiring a trans candidate and, more specifically, only 25 per cent of engineering firms are agreeable to the idea.

Engineering as an industry is far better now for the LGBTQ+ community than it was even ten years ago. Companies are really starting to realise that they need diverse talent to be able to design and develop the best products and come up with the best solutions. I've seen things moving away from the “one-size-fits-all” environment that we used to see, and there are also many more LGBTQ+ based engineering organisations, such as InterEngineering that look to support LGBTQ+ engineers.

What challenges do the LGBTQ+ community face in engineering and the workplace?

As a global leader, I am a driven to create an inclusive environment for the LGBTQ+ and neurodiverse communities as someone who is Dyslexic myself. I passionately believe that to build world class teams, diversity must be at the heart of what we practice and challenging unconscious bias that may restrict career opportunities for people in minority groups is crucial. The freedom to express and be true to oneself allows amazing ideas to thrive and creativity to flourish. Without that, we place artificial limitations on our own excellence which I have personally experienced.

What inspired you to join the Dyson LGBTQ+ Employee Network? What are some of the initiatives you’ve driven or taken part in?

Leading the Global Cyber Defence team from Asia, I aim to bridge our LGBTQ+ communities and support our team members to feel empowered to express themselves authentically in the workplace.

What would you say to young people from the LGBTQ+ community considering a career in engineering or technology?

Jump in. Globally, engineering and technology tend to have low representation of LGBTQ+ people, both for personal and social reasons. To solve the diverse challenges we face in building a secure digital ecosystem, we need people from all backgrounds to influence the future of engineering and technology.