THE STORIES

1950-2015
A Driving Force
In Outreach
Beginning in the 1970s, fresh inspiration for
career guidance came from a number of sources,
including Pat Zeman, who introduced herself to
Betty Kimmel, national professional guidance and
education (PG&E) committee chair, in the following
letter, written in 1972:
“I did not know girls could get jobs in
engineering when I was studying math and
biology in a liberal arts college—so I got my
electrical engineering degree after studying
years of nights at Johns Hopkins [Baltimore]
and Drexel [Philadelphia]…that is why I am
interested in career guidance. Several years
ago my brother came home from his freshman
year at college and said, ‘I’m going to be an
engineer!’ Then, in a shy, confused tone—
‘sis, what do engineers do?’
“As I see career guidance, we must make
girls of all ages aware of engineering as
a career; advise of engineering job
opportunities; and encourage familiarity
with technological hardware.”
Referring to a discussion she had with a young
woman attending Penn State, Zeman’s letter
conveyed the aspiring engineer’s desire to take
up the discipline and quoted the student directly:
“I am studying engineering because I want
to design automobiles that will not pollute,
or highways that will move traffic smoothly
without disrupting neighborhoods.”
Both Zeman’s description of career guidance and
her appreciation of the student’s desire to improve
the quality of life predate the current understanding
of what constitutes effective outreach to young
women. Conclusions from studies conducted over
the past decade note the importance of presenting
engineering as a creative problem-solving method
that contributes to the betterment of humanity.
As outreach efforts spread from coast to coast
during the 1980s and 1990s, section outreach
activities ranged from creating slide shows and
films for high school students to coloring books for
children. The Society’s outreach efforts reached
a new level in 1988, when SWE received its first
major grant of $500,000 from NASA to fund the
Higher Education Outreach Program (HEOP).
The underpinnings of today’s K-12 outreach efforts
can be found in the vision of SWE members like
Zeman. In 2006, SWE co-sponsored Engineers
Week, now known as DiscoverE: Engineers Week.
These Initiatives along with current programs such
as “Wow! That’s Engineering! ® ” and “Invent It. Build
It.” have taken outreach efforts to new heights.
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ABOVE: Terry’s Trip, a coloring book about
a young girl who spends a day at a toy
factory with her engineer aunt, was initially
funded by a SWE corporate member and
published by the Boston Section in 1979.
TOP LEFT: Funded by a NASA grant,
SWE’s Higher Education Outreach
Program in the 1980s and 1990s made
it possible for girls from underserved
communities to attend NASA space
camp and one-week summer residential
programs at universities. SWE members
served as role models and mentors for
the students, and in some instances,
provided tutoring.
MIDDLE LEFT: Girl Scouts participate
in a sleepover science event hosted
by the Society of Women Engineers’
San Francisco State University Student
Section at the Exploratorium in San
Francisco, 1988.
BOTTOM LEFT: SWE and Northrop
Grumman served as first-time
co-sponsors of Engineers Week in 2006.
Suzanne Jenniches, a vice president at
Northrop Grumman and past president
of SWE, and SWE President Ronna
Robertson announced the sponsors’
collaboration on a new outreach
program for teachers, “Connecting
Educators to Engineering.”
BACKGROUND PHOTO: Students
consider their structural design during
an engineering activity at the WE11
annual conference in Chicago. “Invent It.
Build It.,” a collaborative outreach event
between SWE, Girl Scouts of the USA,
and WGBH Boston, was introduced
at WE10.
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Visit SWE.ORG/WEBUILTTHIS to get a closer look at the images.
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