Winter/Spring 2023 Quarterly Update

This quarter SEAONC SE3 hosted two events and two book clubs. The Racial Equity Task group published three Student Topic Briefs on the Civil Education Education Experience which can be accessed on the SEAONC SE3 website. The Fourth Long Term Mentorship Program launched with an in-person kick-off event on February 15th, 2023 at the Oakland SGH office. The DEI Task Group is making progress on a new report based on a survey of firms on their non-salary benefits, proposed to be published in the spring. DEI is also coordinating an “Parenting Charette” event in the Spring / Summer. 
​If you are interested in joining the SEAONC SE3 committee, please email us at [email protected].

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STUDENT TOPIC BRIEFS | Civil Engineering Student Experience Survey
SEAONC SE3 published three topic briefs presenting data from the 2021 survey of undergraduate civil engineering students from around the United States. The purpose of this survey was to understand the current undergraduate civil engineering experience, including how students were introduced to engineering, challenges they face throughout their education and their career aspirations. These reports are a wonderful resource for all structural engineering professionals (students, those in practice, early career professionals, managers, firm leaders, faculty / educators, advisors, AEC community leaders). Read all three reports here.

SEAONC LONG TERM MENTORSHIP PROGRAM KICK-OFF
The SEAONC SE3 Mentorship Task Group was excited to host an in-person kick-off event on February 15th, 2023, at SGH in Oakland for the Long Term Mentorship Program. This year, there are 25 mentors and 74 mentees enrolled in the program, consisting of 25 mentorship groups. The goal of the program is to create mentee-mentor groups across age, experience, and firms, to encourage less experienced engineers to gain strategic guidance and career advice. The launch event gave an opportunity for groups to meet and discuss their goals for the rest of the program.

PARENTING CHARETTE | Spring / Summer Event
This upcoming event will provide a space for SEAONC members to interact with their peers and experienced facilitators to determine how to best navigate being a parent while moving their career forward. Participants will have the opportunity to connect, learn, and share insights in one of four focus groups: 1) Expecting parents, 2) New parents, 3) Parents with older kids, and 4) Firm leaders who will focus on how to support parents on their staff. Insights from each group will be recorded and provided to the SEAONC membership via a brief write up.

SEAONC SE3 BIMONTHLY BOOK CLUB MEETINGS
SEAONC SE3 is looking for volunteers to choose and/or lead our next book club meeting on Thursday, April 13th! If previous book club meetings have inspired you to share an interesting book, article, video, or podcast related to DEI in the workplace, this is your opportunity to shine and share the knowledge with your SEAONC community! Let us know if you have something in mind by emailing us at [email protected]. 

February 2023 Book Club Meeting
In honor of Black History Month, the Racial Equity Book Club discussed racial equity in the workplace and action items that individuals and organizations can implement as a result of lessons learned. Other topics that were discussed: Microaggressions in the workplace; Recruitment and retention; and Empowering BIPOC communities and other marginalized groups.

The following resources were provided to the attendees in advance of the book club meeting

• Recognizing and Responding to Microaggressions at Work
• How Your Company and Your People Can Support Black History Month
• Women of Color in the Engineering Workplace (read Introduction, Conclusions/Recommendations, and Future Research sections)
• Black History Month | Celebrating Engineers That Make a Difference