December 2023 Issue
A monthly forum to share diversity, equity, and inclusion resources.
Welcome to the next installment of Read.Watch.Listen. As 2023 comes to a close, we are reflecting on our third full calendar year of Read.Watch.Listen! All of the topics explored this year are complex, and stretch far beyond the three resources that we provide each month. Our last issue of 2023 will incorporate The Year in Review and The Season of Giving. This month we are highlighting a set of engineering organizations that inspire and enable historically excluded communities to participate in STEM fields. These organizations each relate to a different topic (or two) from 2023, which will help expand understanding of many of these issues.
We hope these stories will inspire you to give back with your time (volunteering and mentoring), your organizations (firm sponsorship), and/or through financial contributions. Please also consider ways to support the NCSEA Foundation, a nonprofit initiative established in 2020 with the goal of supporting and furthering NCSEA’s diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts. And take a look at the 2020, 2021, and 2022 Season of Giving posts for more inspiring organizations!
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Read.Watch.Listen is a monthly forum hosted by the NCSEA SE3 Committee to share and promote conversations on diversity, equity and inclusion within the structural engineering profession. Each month, we will curate a series of articles, audio-visual and digital media to facilitate self-education in matters that affect our professional practice as structural engineers. Whether you choose to read, watch, or listen (or all three!), we hope you will join us in this important conversation. Missed the previous issue? Check out the NCSEA SE3 Committee News and Publication page.
Share your thoughts and/or recommended resources for the next issue at ncsea@ncsea.com.
Construction + Suicide Prevention: 10 Action Steps Companies Can Take to Save Lives - Construction Financial Management Association (CFMA)
In the January 2023 issue, Read.Watch.Listen shared ways to support mental health in engineering. Additionally, the November 2023 issue honored Veterans’ Day and provided resources on supporting Veterans and their mental health in the construction industry. SE3 wants to continue this conversation and highlight Construction Industry Alliance for Suicide Prevention (CIASP), who is dedicated to educating and equipping organizations, industry service providers and construction professionals to STAND Up for suicide prevention and address it as a health and safety priority. The Read resource is a guide that is a call to action for all those ready to implement tactics to improve the mental health of their employees and ultimately save lives.
Closing the Gap: Taking Action in our Spheres of Influence - Tugboat Initiative
In the October 2023 issue, Read.Watch.Listen shared ways to improve retention in our industry. A group that is actively working to improve retention is LeaderFlow, an organization that aims to accelerate the pipeline to leadership for professionals of color in the architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) industry. This Watch resource is from the Tugboat Institute® Summit 2023, where John Gavan and John Garrett joined Mel Gravely to share the learnings and actions they have taken themselves in the two years since Mel’s first Tugboat Institute talk, What We Can Do Together About Race?
Navigating Gender Bias Preferences in the Workplace - Diverse: A SWE Podcast
In the April 2023 and May 2023 issues, Read.Watch.Listen discussed the experiences of Women and Working Parents in Engineering. The last (but not least) organization that we want to highlight is the Society of Women Engineers (SWE), whose mission is to “empower women to achieve their full potential in careers as engineers and leaders; expand the image of the engineering and technology professions as a positive force in improving the quality of life, and demonstrate the value of diversity and inclusion.” In this SWE Diverse podcast episode with speaker Joan Williams, they address many of those gender bias issues -- including motherhood, office politics, promotions -- and how to navigate them in the workplace.
This article was originally published in the December 2023 issue of NCSEA's Structural Connection newsletter. For more information, check out NCSEA's DEI Resources.