A QUEENSBURGH mom of two and founder of the STEM Moms Club, has taken on Manglin Pillay, CEO of the South African Institution of Civil Engineering (SAICE), over a column he penned recently which has been widely labelled as misogynist and sexist and has seen calls for him to be removed from the institution he heads.
Kamentha Pillay (no relation to Manglin) is an engineer, mother, student of IOL studies and a strong advocate for women in STEM. Writing a response to his column she set out to “to inform and educate, specifically on this topic. We have to do better at putting out an informed opinion.”
In his column, Manglin questioned whether it is necessary to attract women in South Africa into the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).
His stance has seen SAICE distanced itself from the article, amid calls by other bodies representing the fields of engineering to lobby for his removal as CEO from SAICE.
WomEng‚ which seeks to assist women in dealing with issues they inevitably face in the engineering sector‚ started a petition on social media twitter calling for Pillay to be ousted.
SAICE in its mission statement identifies its aims as to “advance professional knowledge and improve the practice of civil engineering.”
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Pillay said his column flew in the face of this stated mission and even went as far as to contradict it.
“He is entitled to his opinions, and I would fight for his right to hold and even express them, but when he speaks for SAICE, he should be held to a higher standard,” she explained on meeting with the Queensburgh News.
As a mother to young children, a woman in the STEM field, and an advocate for the advancement of women in her industry, Pillay said her initial reaction to the column was to feel hurt and deeply disappointed. However not content to just feel the dismay, Pillay decided to use the platform of her Blog. The STEM Mom, to write an open letter back to the CEO.
She said she felt it was especially necessary to speak out against what she described as irresponsible and incorrect statements. ”
He has the ability to influence young engineers,” she explained. “He has made a lot of generalisations and putting a message out that the industry is not changing much could lead to young women choosing to not enter the industry due to perceptions that it would be too difficult.”
“His column undermines all the hard work women over the past few generations have done, that is probably why so many women felt so hurt by his words.”
“Women tend to place pressure on themselves to disprove the perceptions their male co-workers have of them-whether this is related to their technical ability or their tenacity to survive in an environment believed to be more congruent to males,” she explained.
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Manglin Pillay has since issued a statement in which he expressed regret for writing the article. However, the wording of his apology and the way left many feeling like it wasn’t sincere.
“As the CEO of the SAICE‚ I, Manglin Pillay, unreservedly apologise for antagonising and offending so many people with my article‚ published in the July 2018 edition of Civil Engineering‚” he said. “I humbly commit myself to taking counsel from fellow women engineers‚ other colleagues in the STEM fields and professionals in diversity training.”
In a second blog post on her STEM Moms site, Pillay questioned his motives in making the statement.
“I’m curious to know if you feel you have really done something to offend the community or if the apology was simply made to get on with things and sweep this mess under the rug,” she wrote in a post under the title: “A Letter to The Women in STEM, the Men who support us & Mr. Manglin Pillay (CEO of SAICE)”
Pillay contends she is grateful this happened as it paved the pave for difficult conversations to take place. She addresses the CEO at the end of her open letter thanking him for waking her up to the fact that even as we celebrate women’s month, much still needs to be done to promote women’s equality.
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