June 2022 Issue
A monthly forum to share diversity, equity, and inclusion resources.
Welcome to the next installment of Read.Watch.Listen: 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.
Photo Credit: Adobe Stock
This June installment is in honor of Pride Month and in celebration of LGBTQ+ engineers. To start, we want to recognize the history of this month and the early leaders of the queer liberation movement, many of whom were Black trans women and trans men. While Pride Month is a time for celebrations, it is also a time for contemplation. We aim to recognize the contributions of the LGBTQ+ community to our industry and our society, while also acknowledging some of the challenges they face. According to a recent study by Erin Cech titled Systemic inequalities for LGBTQ professionals in STEM, “LGBTQ STEM professionals were more likely to experience career limitations, harassment, and professional devaluation than their non-LGBTQ peers… These findings reveal LGBTQ status as a clear axis of inequality in STEM.” Additionally, as of June 10th, there have been over 175 anti-LGBTQ+ bills introduced or active in state legislatures in 2022 alone. Inside and outside the industry, we must realize that the fight for equality and equity is far from over. The resources below share the stories of LGBTQ+ engineers and provide ways that non-LGBTQ+ engineers can become better allies.
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.
What's It Like to Be Queer in STEM? - Scientific American
Author Jennifer Leman shares her interview with Joey Nelson, an environmental scientist and mathematician. Nelson shares his experiences as a gay man in STEM and his work with the Queer in STEM project. This article was found in a collection hosted on 500 Queer Scientists, a website that is home to a visibility campaign for LGBTQ+ people in STEM that aims to collect at least 500 unique biographies to serve as role models for future generations of queer scientists and engineers.
Meet Diego Padilla Philipps, a Structural Engineer and a Gay Man - InterEngineering
In this video, structural engineer Diego Padilla Philipps discusses his experiences as a gay man in our field. He also highlights his love for our profession and what brought him to engineering in the first place. If you are interested, find more videos from InterEngineering’s “What’s It Like? Being LGBT in Engineer” campaign here.
The Stereotypical Engineer - A Queer Mind at Work Podcast by Interengineering
This podcast episode discusses the harm caused by stereotyping people and professions and highlights the importance of representation in the engineering field. This conversation is from a three-part series on mental health at work with a focus on LGBTQ+ engineers.
This article was originally published in the June 2022 issue of NCSEA's Structural Connection newsletter. For more information, check out NCSEA's DEI Resources.
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