Reimagine The Possible: From Surviving To Thriving

Conversation And Community To Help Women Persevere And Thrive In Engineering + Tech Careers

The Persist Series is back for 2022! This year, we're reimagining the possible to help women reach their full potential - in engineering and tech careers and beyond.

We'll push past merely navigating challenges and surviving to pursue pathways for thriving.

Dr. Julianna Gesun, Post-Doctoral Researcher at the University of New Hampshire, is paving the way toward a thriving workforce at a critical point in the engineering career pathway: among undergraduate students. Her research challenges the assumption that helping students cope with cultural and systemic barriers is enough to facilitate long-term success, and offers a model for developing and refining skills and supports that help them thrive.

What can research tell us about what engineering thriving looks like and how to cultivate it? What academic, social, and personal skills and competencies can help students not just navigate barriers and stress culture but function optimally in engineering programs? What are some bright spots and blind spots for moving toward a more inclusive culture where engineering students can thrive?

We’ll take a look at these questions and more to reimagine what’s possible for women in the profession to move their experiences beyond just surviving and cultivate a welcoming and inclusive culture that nurtures career thriving.

DiscoverE's Persist Seriesis a monthly virtual conversation series to help women in engineering and tech build community and thrive in their careers. Connect with thousands of women around the world to watch an inspiring TED-style video and candidly share stories, navigate workplace challenges, and discuss effective tactics to help women stay and advance in the field.

Agenda (listed in Eastern Time Zone)

• 2:00-2:30: live-streamed video featuring keynote speaker(s)
• 2:30-3:00: facilitated live Q&A with the speaker(s)

Event Platform Details

• This event will be hosted on Zoom (please make sure the Zoom application is installed on your device).

• The Zoom link will be made available to participants through Eventbrite's Online Event Page. Participants will receive the Online Event Page link via their provided email as soon as they register.

• Online registration is mandatory.

Questions about the event? Contact: [email protected].

Featured Speaker: Dr. Julianna Gesun (University of New Hampshire) Dr. Julianna Gesun is currently a postdoctoral diversity and innovations scholar and NSF/ASEE fellow in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of New Hampshire. She received her Ph.D. in Engineering Education at Purdue University and received dual bachelor's degrees in Industrial Engineering and Human Development and Family Studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Her prior work experiences include product management, consulting, tutoring, marketing, and information technology.

Q&A Speaker: Dr. Allison Godwin (Purdue University) Dr. Allison Godwin is an Associate Professor of Engineering Education and of Chemical Engineering (by Courtesy). She is also the Workforce Development Co-Director for CISTAR, the Center for Innovative and Strategic Transformation of Alkane Resources, a National Science Foundation Engineering Research Center. Her research focuses how identity, among other affective factors, influences diverse students to choose engineering and persist in engineering. She also studies how different experiences within the practice and culture of engineering foster or hinder belongingness and identity development.

Q&A Speaker: Dr. Matilde Sánchez-Peña (University of Buffalo - SUNY) Dr. Matilde Sánchez-Peña is an assistant professor of Engineering Education at the University of Buffalo – SUNY where she leads the Diversity Assessment Research in Engineering to Catalyze the Advancement of Respect and Equity (DAREtoCARE) Lab. Her research focuses on developing cultures of care and well-being in engineering education spaces, assessing gains in institutional efforts to advance equity and inclusion, and using data science for training socially responsible engineers.

Q&A Speaker: Dr. Stephany Santos (University of Connecticut) Dr. Stephany Santos is an Assistant Professor in Residence of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Connecticut. Her research in biomedical engineering focused on understanding the damage mechanisms in cartilage that lead to the disease osteoarthritis. Stephany also has a long history of leadership in the School of Engineering. She is one of the original founders and co-presidents of Engineering Ambassadors at UConn, has also been a continuous contributor to the summer BRIDGE program as an instructor in Physics, Biology, and MATLAB, and most recently co-developed and co-instructed the BOSS LADI course in EDOC dedicated to supporting underrepresented women in STEM.

Host:Gayathri Shukla (Campfire Kinship) Gayathri is an engineer, writer, speaker, and certified instructor in a method of storytelling, known as guided autobiography. She believes in the power of empathy to celebrate diversity and foster a culture of inclusion. She founded Campfire Kinship with the goal of leveraging empathy and building bridges with others across their difference, offering storytelling services and more to foster belonging from the individual to the institutional level.

Q&A Moderator: Carol Smith (UL) As Lead Market Surveillance Engineer at UL (a global independent safety science company), Carol investigates concerns related to UL-certified products. An electrical engineer by trade, Carol has more than 25 years of experience in testing, evaluating, and certifying products for compliance to safety standards. She is an IEEE Senior Member and currently serves as Membership Chair for the IEEE Product Safety Engineering Society, Chicago chapter.