
1. How did you first get interested in a career in engineering?
I grew up curious about how things worked and my parents encouraged me to learn and figure things out, even for extracurricular learning. Over time, this gave me confidence to solve problems of any type. In school, I excelled in math and science, and in college, a STEM subject was a natural first choice for me. After my first year in college, I realized I wanted to be able to “see” my work and the physical nature of civil engineering projects was the perfect fit!
2. Did you have a mentor/role model? How did they help you?
I have had formal and informal mentors throughout my career. I’ve always learned a lot from different perspectives and experiences, and I seek out people who I believe I can learn the most from. As a result, I’ve had mentors very tenured in experience, but also mentors who are 1-2 roles up from me, so I can understand better how to manage my career in the near-term. Mentors have been instrumental in helping me frame challenges and opportunities in ways that help me take action and move forward in a productive and positive way. Over the course of my career, people who have taken time of our their lives to mentor me, have been a critical and invaluable part of my development.
3. As a woman, what are some of the unique challenges you have faced in this career field and how did you overcome them?
Early in my career, I definitely noticed that male coworkers were more immediately accepted by male managers and peers as being knowledgeable and expected to be competent. For me, I felt that I had to prove my capability by having a superior work ethic and higher quality of work, which often resulted in no work life balance. As I’ve matured in my career, I believe that there are less questions about capability based on gender, but the disparity in the number of women and African-American professionals has become greater, so building a trusted community of people in my peer network has been more challenging over time. Being an African-American woman creates a more challenging dynamic for me at industry events as well, which are overwhelmingly dominated by men. Having the ability to be comfortable to engage in discussion with those around me has come with time, but found through many uncomfortable and awkward moments.
4. What can companies do to attract more women engineers?
Women want and deserve to see themselves reflected in all levels of leadership in a company. To attract women engineers, companies need to have a proven track record of retaining and promoting women in technical roles throughout all of levels of management to the C-suite. Tactically, career development training, mentoring programs, flexible work schedules, as well as having a visible zero tolerance policy for discriminatory behavior or bias – unconscious or conscious, will all make a difference.
5. What advice would you give to girls and young women considering a career in engineering?
My advice to girls and young women considering a career in engineering is to first believe that you can do anything you set your mind to. In addition to that, invest time in learning and understanding the details of your chosen discipline. It is vital to show up at work ready to contribute and add value and engineers who understand their craft will excel first. Also, get real world experience --- paid and unpaid internships are a great way to learn, find mentors, and get experience you can put on your resume. Last but most importantly, enjoy your work and be creative! I believe engineering is as much art, as it is science. Create something uniquely yours.