Six Years.
300+ Data Points.
One Consistent Pattern.
What High-Performing Women Engineers with Caregiving Responsibilities Who Get Results Have in Common
A research brief drawn from six years of MoMBA and Quantum cohorts, including survey data, participant contracts, call recordings, and documented outcomes from women across Canada's engineering, energy, infrastructure, and technical sectors.
The Question We Couldn't Ignore
Across six years, one question kept surfacing.
Not from women who were struggling, but from women who were already succeeding.
Principal Engineers. Scientists. Managers. Business owners.
Women with advanced degrees, strong careers, and families they deeply cared about.
The question wasn't "How do I become successful?"
It was "Why does success still feel harder than it should?"
What We Found
The data challenged one of the biggest assumptions about high performance.
The women who experienced the strongest career growth, healthier relationships, greater energy, and more confidence weren't the ones working harder.
They weren't more disciplined or more productive.
They had redesigned how they operated.
That pattern appeared again. And again.
This Research Is Different
The research reflects six years of observed patterns from women working inside organizations such as:
Suncor Energy, Enbridge, Shell, EPCOR, ATCO, Pembina Pipeline, Worley, Associated Engineering
...and more than 50 additional organizations.
The findings are drawn from:
272 survey responses
300+ observed participant data points
cohort recordings
written contracts
letters to self
documented participant outcomes
Rather than asking what successful women do...
We asked something different.
The Actual Problem
Why high-performing women aren't limited by competence... but by operating systems that no longer serve them.
The Five Pillars That Predict Results
The five areas that consistently changed before promotions, stronger relationships, improved health, and sustainable performance.
The Four-Phase Transformation
The sequence that repeatedly appeared across six years of participant data and why most leadership programs start at Phase Four instead of Phase One.
The Patterns That Keep Repeating
The behaviors, decisions, and mindset shifts that consistently separated women whose results compounded from those who remained stuck despite working harder.
Why This Matters Now
Engineering and leadership is changing. AI is accelerating. Organizations are restructuring.
Technical expertise is becoming the minimum requirement, not the differentiator.
The women who thrive over the next decade won't simply know more. They'll build the capacity to think clearly, make decisions confidently, and lead sustainably. This research explores what that actually looks like.
Who This Research Is For
This report was written for women who already care deeply about doing meaningful work.
Women who want careers that continue growing without accepting that success must come at the expense of themselves or their families.
Whether you're:
• returning from maternity leave
• leading technical teams
• preparing for your next promotion
• building your long-term career
...this research offers a different lens through which to view performance.
Download the Research Brief
Six years of observed patterns from women engineers who stopped asking, "How do I do more?"and started asking, "How do I build the capacity to hold more?"
Download the Research Brief
