My first scientific experiment that I can remember was conducted in my backyard when I was about 4 years old. I wasn't yet enrolled in school so unless I was sent to daycare, to my aunt's or grandfather's houses, that usually meant that I was at home with my mom during the day.
This particular cold morning, I was fixated with a bucket of water with an ice layer. The first thought that came to me was to attach the bucket to a swing to see how far it could go up before the water would break the ice and pour out. Well, it didn't have to go up very far before that happened and my "lab manager" walked out the back door right as the experiment concluded. 🤣 She wasn't too happy about the results but thankfully, my parents gave me freedom to explore---something that contributed to my love of learning and later, to my academic studies in #MechanicalEngineering.
Last Friday, I went on my weekly trail volunteering and exercise hike. It was a cold morning and once again, a swing set caught my eye. There were no kids around so I decided to hop on and swing, and also conduct a new experiment to answer two questions:
(1)Would I have the guts to jump off as I did when I was a kid?
(2) How high would I swing up before I would actually do it?
Well the answer to (1) was yes. I jumped. The unscientific answer to (2) was, pretty darn high! 🦅
I thought it would be neat to write up the physics problem and share it via text message with my nieces, nephews and my sisters who are very accustomed to receiving my odd Friday messages. Unfortunately, I was unable (unwilling) to complete the analysis because of an unknown: mass. 😂🤣
I spent the rest of my hike thinking about the circumstances that led me, and many of my friends and colleagues to leave engineering/technical career fields after earning a bachelor's and advanced degrees. So I did some reading.
A joint study by the National Society of Black Engineers | NSBE Professionals and Society of Women Engineers was conducted to "identify patterns and themes around the challenges that underrepresented minority female engineers have experienced early in their careers and the strategies they have employed to cope with those challenges." (https://lnkd.in/gAMh4bYZ) The women interviewed graduated with a bachelor’s degree between 2011 and 2015.
The NSBE/SWE study is a bit dated but when I compared it with a more recent study by Margery Sendze, Ph.D. (August 2022, https://lnkd.in/e9QRk_ZV), some of the same themes were present over 10 years later. Of note, having a broad support system in family, community and at work. Everyone has a different story for the choices made to stay in or leave.
One thing is certain, I left the engineering field but engineering never really left me. Glad to be still working in #STEM as an IT Business Analyst and Project Manager.
#stemeducation #engineeringcareers #engineering
