This episode is sponsored by BD.

Showing up as your authentic self in engineering isn’t always easy. In this conversation, Christine Kearney Hawkins, senior staff R&D engineer in BD’s Peripheral Intervention business and SWE life member, shares her 20+ year journey navigating authenticity, leadership, and innovation in STEM.

From being told that she couldn’t be both an engineer and a mom, to learning that her bubbly enthusiasm is a strength and not a liability, Christine reflects on how embracing who she is shaped her career and impact.

In conversation with host Sam East, hear how authentic leadership fuels better innovation outcomes, what to do when workplace feedback conflicts with your core values, and practical advice to create cultures where people feel safe bringing their whole selves to work.

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The Society of Women Engineers is a powerful, global force uniting 50,000 members of all genders spanning 85 countries. We are the world’s largest advocate and catalyst for change for women in engineering and technology. To join and access all the exclusive benefits to elevate your professional journey, visit membership.swe.org.

Stepping into STEM leadership doesn’t require a senior title or having everything figured out.

In this episode, Katie Ashley, volunteer coordinator of the SWE Early Career Professionals Affinity Group (SWE ECP AG), is joined by Zoe Husted, ECP AG conferences and awards co-chair and president of the SWE Golden Gate Section, and Kathryn Wittek, ECP AG design coordinator and president of the SWE Baltimore-Washington Section, to explore what leadership can look like in the beginning years of an engineering career.

Drawing from their experiences in SWE, team sports, and technical roles, Zoe and Kathryn share when they started seeing themselves as leaders, how they navigate leading more experienced colleagues, and why learning and leading often happen at the same time.

Hear their tips to find community as an early-career engineer, plus how the skills they have developed through SWE have translated into the workplace.

The SWE ECP AG was formed to equip individuals with the support, resources, and inclusive community to excel in the first ten years of their career. Get involved and find out about upcoming ECP AG events at https://earlycareerprofessionalsag.swe.org/.

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The Society of Women Engineers is a powerful, global force uniting 50,000 members of all genders spanning 85 countries. We are the world’s largest advocate and catalyst for change for women in engineering and technology. To join and access all the exclusive benefits to elevate your professional journey, visit membership.swe.org.

This episode is sponsored by Fortune Brands Innovations.

In this episode, Karen Morris, vice president of environmental health, safety, and security at Fortune Brands Innovations, discusses how to build an engineering career that can shift and evolve through different seasons of your life.

Over her 30+ year career spanning more than a dozen roles, Karen reflects on the career-defining moments that came from unexpected pivots — including taking a role that looked like a step back in order to support her family.

In conversation with host Sam East, hear how to navigate career decisions alongside life changes, what she has learned by traveling to the “Clevelands of the world,” and how to create longevity in your engineering journey.

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The Society of Women Engineers is a powerful, global force uniting 50,000 members of all genders spanning 85 countries. We are the world’s largest advocate and catalyst for change for women in engineering and technology. To join and access all the exclusive benefits to elevate your professional journey, visit membership.swe.org.

Leadership coach, author, engineer, and executive Sabina Nawaz shares how managers and employees can build stronger working relationships in this episode of Diverse.

Recorded live at WE25 in New Orleans, Sabina draws on her 14-year career at Microsoft — including advising Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer — to break down what causes leaders to struggle and how to avoid becoming “that boss.”

Hear how leaders can unlock better ideas from their teams, tips to demystify your manager’s working style, and what it means to “never go to work hungry.”

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The Society of Women Engineers is a powerful, global force uniting 50,000 members of all genders spanning 85 countries. We are the world’s largest advocate and catalyst for change for women in engineering and technology. To join and access all the exclusive benefits to elevate your professional journey, visit membership.swe.org.

Kim Burton, director of project engineering at Textron Aviation, joins SWE President-Elect Kerrie Greenfelder for a leadership conversation that’s out of this world.

Drawing on iconic moments from Star Trek: Voyager, Kim shares how Captain Kathryn Janeway shaped her path into engineering and inspires her leadership philosophy today.

Hear lessons from the show that offer real-life guidance for STEM leaders — from decision-making under pressure, to building inclusive teams, to ensuring no crew member is left behind.

Recorded live at WE25 in New Orleans, this conversation explores how emotional intelligence, communication, and diverse perspectives fuel high-performing teams — whether you’re commanding a starship or leading humans on planet Earth.

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The Society of Women Engineers is a powerful, global force uniting 50,000 members of all genders spanning 85 countries. We are the world’s largest advocate and catalyst for change for women in engineering and technology. To join and access all the exclusive benefits to elevate your professional journey, visit membership.swe.org.

Kristin Hagen, biomedical engineering student at the University of California, Irvine and lifelong dancer, shares practical tools from the dance world to help women in STEM take up space and present with confidence.

Live from the WE25 Diverse Podcast Studio in New Orleans, Kristin shares how choreography, muscle memory, posture, and improvisation can transform the way engineers show up during presentations with host Laurie Shuster, editor-in-chief of SWE Magazine.

Hear why confidence begins the moment you walk into the room, how techniques like the “Clinton box” can strengthen your stage presence, and how staying poised helped her recover from an on-stage slip-up during a technical talk.

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The Society of Women Engineers is a powerful, global force uniting 50,000 members of all genders spanning 85 countries. We are the world’s largest advocate and catalyst for change for women in engineering and technology. To join and access all the exclusive benefits to elevate your professional journey, visit membership.swe.org.

This episode is sponsored by Bechtel.

Josefina Alvarez and Kira McKay, supplier quality representatives at Bechtel, sit down with SWE President-Elect Kerrie Greenfelder to discuss how they landed their first jobs through the SWE and SHPE career fairs and also discovered a side of engineering they never knew existed.

Recorded live at the WE25 Diverse Podcast Studio in New Orleans, hear about the behind-the-scenes components of engineering — from supply chain to quality systems — and how these roles make iconic projects possible.

Kira and Josefina share candid advice for engineering students and new grads, what they’ve learned inside the Bechtel Supplier Quality and Expediting (BSQE) program, and how mentorship, curiosity, and saying “yes” to unfamiliar paths shaped their early careers.

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The Society of Women Engineers is a powerful, global force uniting 50,000 members of all genders spanning 85 countries. We are the world’s largest advocate and catalyst for change for women in engineering and technology. To join and access all the exclusive benefits to elevate your professional journey, visit membership.swe.org.

Women engineers often struggle to set boundaries or say “no” at work.

Srividhya Pallay and Tsega Tefera, solutions architects at Amazon Web Services, joined us live in the WE25 Diverse Podcast Studio to share real-world lessons around overcoming imposter syndrome, finding the confidence to speak up in meetings, and unapologetically protecting their time and energy in their STEM careers.

In conversation with Laurie Shuster, editor-in-chief of SWE Magazine, hear how to handle disagreements with professionalism and grace, calendar-blocking techniques to maintain balance, and go-to phrases to communicate boundaries effectively.

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The Society of Women Engineers is a powerful, global force uniting 50,000 members of all genders spanning 85 countries. We are the world’s largest advocate and catalyst for change for women in engineering and technology. To join and access all the exclusive benefits to elevate your professional journey, visit membership.swe.org.

The common advice for career growth is to “move up” into management — but what if your true passion lies in staying close to the technology itself?

In this episode, host Sam East speaks with Deb Whitis, Ph.D., and Amrita Maguire, both of the SWE Technical Career Path Affinity Group, about what it means to grow, lead, and make an impact as engineers while staying on the technical career path.

From developing nickel-based superalloys that power jet engines to advancing ergonomic standards and AI-enabled design, Deb and Amrita reflect on their careers and share how technical leadership can be just as influential as managing people.

They also highlight the work of SWE’s Technical Career Path Affinity Group, including a new mentorship program helping women chart their own path as innovators, inventors, and subject matter experts.

Get involved with the SWE Technical Career Path Affinity Group: https://affinitygroups.swe.org/technical-career-path/

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The Society of Women Engineers is a powerful, global force uniting 50,000 members of all genders spanning 85 countries. We are the world’s largest advocate and catalyst for change for women in engineering and technology. To join and access all the exclusive benefits to elevate your professional journey, visit membership.swe.org.

In this episode, Karen Horting, CEO and executive director of the Society of Women Engineers, sits down with Olympic gold medalist and industrial engineer Benita Fitzgerald Mosley, the first Black woman to win gold in the 100-meter hurdles — a milestone she achieved at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.

Benita shares how she balanced the demands of engineering school with her Olympic training, the lessons she learned about time and energy management, and the unforgettable moment when she realized she had won gold.

Hear how Benita’s personal mantra, “Why not me?,” has guided her through challenges in athletics, STEM, and leadership — plus the five gold medal strategies she continues to practice.

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The Society of Women Engineers (SWE) is a powerful, global force uniting 50,000 members of all genders spanning 85 countries. We are the world’s largest advocate and catalyst for change for women in engineering and technology. To join and access all the exclusive benefits to elevate your professional journey, visit membership.swe.org.