THE STORIES

1950-2015
Keys to the
Executive Powder Room
Beginning in 1971, SWE and the Engineering Foundation organized four Women
in Engineering conferences. Dubbed the Henniker Conferences because of their
location at New England College in Henniker, New Hampshire, the conferences were
a platform to assess the status of women in the profession and brainstorm strategies
and remedies. The following excerpt is from the article, “Keys to the Executive
Powder Room,” published in the March 1972 issue of the SWE Newsletter.
“The second conference on Women in Engineering
will be held…July 16-21, 1972. Co-chairmen of the
conference are Olive Salembier, national president,
Society of Women Engineers, and A.C. Ingersoll,
associate dean for continuing education, University
of California at Los Angeles…
The 1971 conference on “Women in Engineering—
Bridging the Gap” and events in the nation and the
engineering profession have demonstrated that
the door is open for women to enter engineering,
both into engineering schools and into the
profession, and at least some progress is evident
in encouraging talented young women toward
engineering. The 1972 conference will be devoted
to the most cogent of the questions raised in 1971:
Once admitted to the engineering profession, how
do we get promoted to positions of management,
with greater responsibility, prestige and income?
Hence, the theme of the 1972 conference on keys
to advancement for women engineers, be they in
government, industry or education.
Key Number One: KNOW THE TERRITORY.
What do top managers seek in engineering
management material?...
Key Number Two: KNOW THYSELF.
Psychological and sociological factors are
powerful influences on motivation toward
advancement…
Key Number Three: KNOW THE LAW. A myriad
of new state and national laws now protect the
rights of women in all kinds of employment,
including engineering and including reasonable
advancement on a par with men…
Key Number Four: KNOW YOUR SUBJECT
FIELD. Continuing education is perhaps the
most important key of all, for it is the one that
can open access to all the others…
A panel of young women engineers, together
with managers and observers, will assess the
conference results as applied to them. A program
of follow-on action will be adopted for conferees
to carry out during the coming year.”
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ABOVE: Online professional development
opportunities are available through
SWE’s Learning Center, from a series
of 60-minute webinars to podcasts and
learning modules.
TOP RIGHT: Emma Barth (right) leads
a session on professional development
and opportunities for women in
engineering at the 1960 Society of
Women Engineers Eastern Seaboard
Conference in Philadelphia.
MIDDLE RIGHT: The Society hosted a
series of leadership conferences in the
1970s and 1980s because few women
were rising to high-level positions. As a
result, professional development became
a primary focus at section-level activities.
BOTTOM RIGHT: Eileen Duignan-
Woods, then membership committee
chair, led a breakout session at SWE’s
1976 Upward Mobility Conference, held
in Easton, Maryland.
BACKGROUND PHOTO: On an annual
basis, SWE offers the largest professional
development conference for women
engineers in the world, where learning
takes place in a supportive, like-minded
community. Here, an eager crowd makes
its way to the opening of the career fair
at WE13.
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Visit SWE.ORG/WEBUILTTHIS to get a closer look at the images.
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