Helping Women Get Ahead in Engineering Careers

CAIT participates in The Academy at Rutgers for Girls in Engineering (TARGET) hosted by Rutgers' School of Engineering

In 2013, women make up only about 17 percent of the science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) professions. CAIT faculty and staff recognize that more talented women in STEM careers will contribute to future engineering innovations.

One way CAIT encourages young women to succeed in engineering is through The Academy at Rutgers for Girls in Engineering and Technology (TARGET), designed for female middle school and high school students and hosted by the Rutgers' School of Engineering (SOE). CAIT faculty--and partners from NJDOT, metropolitan planning organizations, and private industry--serve as mentors during tours, labs, modeling activities, and lectures to familiarize students with different engineering disciplines.

Tours and activities are only part of the program. CAIT facilitated "lunch and learn" roundtables so students could receive professional guidance from established female engineers. "Lunch and learn" speakers included: Patricia Ott, P.E., owner/operator of safety and intelligent systems consulting firm MBO Engineering and former NJDOT safety director; Jennifer Marandino, P.E., a traffic safety engineer with the South Jersey Transportation Planning Organization; Kathy Hering, P.E., a water/wastewater engineer with R3M Engineering, Inc.; Kimbrali Davis, P.E., a principal engineer with the NJDOT Bureau of Materials; Chrissy Livergood, a data specialist who has worked for large engineering firms like Parsons Brinckerhoff; Teresa Peterson, P.E., C.M.E., LEEP AP O+M, a project manager with Gannett Fleming; and Jean Hansen, P.E., PMP, CFCC, PSP, a vice president and managing consultant with Marsh Risk Consulting.

During the roundtable sessions, these women discussed their professional journeys, successes, and obstacles.

"I used to hear from people, ‘Girls can't be engineers, those jobs are for men.' My response to that was: ‘Well, I'm good in math and science, and I can do this--don't tell me I can't,'" Marandino said. "Now, I analyze traffic impacts and manage federal funds for road safety projects throughout New Jersey."

Davis, who oversees New Jersey's state road asphalt materials, told the students that aspiring to a career in engineering is definitely "hard work," but that doesn't mean that there isn't a healthy "work-life balance." Many of the panelists also described leading rich personal lives; Livergood owns a side business selling hand-crafted jewelry, while Hansen is an active member of her community choir.

Speakers also held one-on-one meetings with the students to personalize guidance.

"[Women] have come a long way in engineering. Girls have a greater number of options to choose from than when I was first coming out of high school," Ott said. "[The girls] were particularly interested in understanding how engineers move up the ladder to leadership roles. TARGET is a terrific way to engage young women in the field of engineering... and show them that the definition of ‘engineer' does not contain a gender."