Women in the automotive field need to speak up and help their peers do the same, industry leaders said Thursday at the Automotive News Leading Women Conference.
Kate Fabian, director of marketing communications for Hyundai Motor America, said in a welcome address that diversity in gender, race and background isn’t just a goal but a necessity.
“We know that a diverse team is more creative and more effective,” Fabian said. “I encourage each of you to seek out mentors, to support your peers and advocate for diversity and inclusion in your workplaces. Our industry thrives when you embrace different perspectives and different backgrounds.”
True leadership is about more than personal achievement and championing and supporting others, conference speakers said. Women sharing diverse perspectives with peers and managers, taking time to network and mentor, and having confidence to voice ideas at high-level meetings also were key messages.
Diversity is essential to developing new ideas, said Elizabeth Krear, vice president of J.D. Power’s electric vehicle practice.
“We’ve got a bench of women who are ready for those senior leadership positions,” Krear said. “I’d like to see the diversity really grow in those upper levels, and I think that will be good for the industry, and I think it would be good for innovation.”
In 2021, women represented just 27.1 percent of workers in the auto industry and 18.8 percent of workers at franchised dealerships in the U.S, according to Myra Dandridge, executive director of external affairs and public policy at the National Automobile Dealers Association. Meanwhile, industry experts say having women in leadership roles is essential to addressing a lack of diversity.
Human-centered connections are key to purposeful and impactful networking, said Katie O’Malley, founder of (en)Courage Coaching, in a networking workshop.
“It takes a community for women to succeed,” O’Malley said. “We cannot do it on our own.”
Women shouldn’t make work the sole focus of their conversations in networking because “we are humans who happen to work; we are not workers who happen to be human,” she said.
Women can find more human connections in their field by sharing who they are, why they’re at an event and what they want from networking, O’Malley said. They should also “listen deeply and exquisitely” during conversations, she said, to give other women the opportunity to share this information.
This way, women can “dismantle the idea that networking is transactional,” she said. “It is something that is so much deeper than that.”
Sharon Gauci, executive director of design for Global Buick and GMC, said mentorship is relevant at all career stages.
“It’s the relationships that you build along the way, whether it’s early-career, mid-career or later in your career, that are really important,” she said. “And as you’re moving toward your career journey, also remembering that it’s your responsibility also to provide that guidance, be involved in that 360 ecosystem.”
Angela Henderson, director of supply chain strategy for Ford Motor Co., said mentorship plays a big role in her career.
“Mentors, coaches, advocates and sponsors — and I have all of them; they are essential to my career and success,” Henderson said. “I’ve always selected mentors who have qualities that amplify what I’m trying to develop and can reinforce some of the qualities and abilities that I already have.”
Speaking on the women in automotive innovation panel, Dayna Kleve, director of diversity, engagement and foundation for Walser Automotive Group in Edina, Minn., said asking if you can be a part of a meeting or a process is important. If the answer is no, ask what steps you need to take to get there. Walser Automotive is No. 28 on Automotive News‘ list of the top 150 dealership groups.
“It’s guts and it’s gumption to get there, and you have to have both,” Kleve said.
It’s important to feel like you belong even if you are not entirely sure if you do, said Katie Burke Washabaugh, product marketing manager for autonomous vehicle simulation at Nvidia, the artificial intelligence, software and chip-making company.
“Even if you find yourself in a room with all men or people with different, higher experience [than you], that’s awesome and your voice deserves to be heard as much as anyone else’s,” Washabaugh said. “The more you feel that, the more you’ll be in those rooms.”
Hyundai Motor America seeks diverse perspectives by lifting women into leadership roles, CMO Angela Zepeda said in a keynote session.
“That is a really important part of making our company reflect really who our customers are and being a better company overall,” Zepeda said.
Listening to diverse voices is essential in evolving a company’s culture, said Arezoo Riahi, the head of culture, diversity and people development at Waymo.
“Listening helps create a sense of urgency that will allow for a company to ensure that the people at the company are doing well,” she said.
Kim Adams House, head of licensing, merchandising and multicultural marketing for Stellantis, said having a dissenting voice doesn’t always have to be a disagreement.
“One of my favorite elements of looking for talent is how disruptive can you be,” Adams House said. “Don’t be afraid to be that dissenting voice. The way that you make your mark is by the voice that you have in the room, and you have to have the confidence in that voice to actually state it and believe it and know that there’s conviction behind it.”
Anne Partington, managing director at the Tauber Institute for Global Operations at the University of Michigan, referred to a 2023 Gartner study that showed significant increases in women in executive-level ranks but a decline in the first level of leadership.
“If women don’t get to the first rung and make sure they have that support, they can’t easily move forward,” Partington said. “The technical skills are wonderful, but it’s really about being able to bring people together.”
Potential for progress is what drives Riahi and gives her hope for the future of women in the industry, she said.
Change is slow. “I don’t think it’s fast enough,” Riahi said. “But I really do think it’s changing. And I think the day I stop believing that is the day I stop working.”