The First Steps Matter: Early Career Influences on Women Engineers’ Success in Sri Lanka

Despite growing numbers of women entering engineering education, their representation in senior leadership remains limited. As a part of a still ongoing research, this study aims to investigate how early professional encounters shaped identity, resilience and career strategies of women engineers who ultimately ascended to top-tier roles in their professional lives. Purposefully selected nine women engineers in top management positions in Sri Lankan industrial sector were interviewed face-to-face to collect data at present. Voice-recorded interviews were transcribed verbatim and analyzed following inductive thematic analysis method with the support of NVivo software. Thematic analysis revealed five emerging dominant patterns: early career isolation and gender-based challenges, navigation of cultural expectations, adaptation through education and credentialing, critical role of mentors and peer networks, and formation of leadership identity. Participants described being the sole woman in their departments, facing skepticism regarding their technical abilities and managing work-family tensions. Yet, through proactive upskilling, family and peer support and resilience, they converted these challenges into stepping stones for advancement. While data collection and analysis are not yet complete, the themes identified so far provide important early insights into the global discourse on gender in engineering, emphasizing the importance of early-stage interventions, structural support systems and mentorship programs.