The gender gap in engineering and STEM fields across the board, remains wide in many specialities and is often an influencing factor for young women as they more forward from the educational sphere to the professional world.
Corporate culture, perceptions and other biases, both conscious and unconscious, contribute to preventing the gender gap from closing and often play a role in discouraging women from pursuing engineering and STEM.
This is why the networking opportunities available at events like the Society of Women Engineer’s annual conference are so essential – ensuring that new engineers entering the workplace after graduating have a strong network of contacts and support is one of the best ways to ensure that these young women build strong futures.
Engineering students can also forge connections with experts who can provide invaluable insights and opportunities at these types of conferences held by industry groups and associations.
The WE16 conference will see more than 9,000 women engineers from all over the world gathered to learn and be inspired from one another in a combined conference and career fair, featuring more than 300 educational sessions and career fair exhibitors.
Both collegiate and professionals will have the chance to network with a wide range of engineering organizations seeking applicants for internships, first engineering jobs or mentorship opportunities.
Collegiate attendees will also have the opportunity to explore graduate school options in engineering with leading universities.
“SWE provides its members with opportunities and experiences for professionals and personal development,” said Jessica Rannow, president of SWE. “WE16 is a one-of-a-kind experience for our members and women in all stages of their careers to come together and inspire one another along their professional journey as a woman engineer.”
Highlights of the WE16 conference include the Sing It to Begin It live karaoke competition starting things off the night before the conference, and a wide range of presentations by leading women in engineering and technology companies such as Bechtel, Booz Allen Hamilton, GE Healthcare, Verizon, Honeywell Aerospace, ExxonMobil, IBM, Northrop Grumman and a list of top universities.
The WE16 Conference runs from October 27 – 29th at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia.
Engineers interested in attending can find more information at the event’s website www.we16.swe.org.