Will you help decide the future leadership of the Dallas SWE section? We need your vote!
In order for your vote to be counted you must be a paid member of the Society of Women Engineers Dallas Section in good standing. Voting is open May 2 – May 31 with results announced shortly thereafter.
Have you ever wondered about the best way to confront workplace sexism? Guest speaker Kate Van Dellen provided insight to Dallas SWE members in the April Professional Development meeting. On Tuesday, April 19 at Coffee House Café Dallas SWE Members were able to have a dialogue about identifying sexism and learning how to speak up when it happens within your workplace environment. You can find a PDF copy of Kate’s presentation here.
One of the major points of the presentation is in discovering the power of calling it out. Sexism does not go away when you don’t speak up about it. Most importantly, the way you speak up matters most. What is your go to response? Kate shared her response being “Not cool” meaning that what is being said is not appropriate and offensive.
Guest Speaker Kate Van Dellen
Have you heard of sexism whiplash? Kate shared that sometimes people are not even aware that sexism is happening. Here are some key takeaways from this part of the presentation:
How can you tell when sexism is happening to you
Is it polite?
What if we called it “manners” instead of “sexism”?
It doesn’t need to be a “man” verses “woman” thing
We’re just 6 billion people trying to get along
Sexism is often not about gender, it’s about power
Do you feel like someone was trying to knock you down a peg?
Is this a win/loose situation?
Men are accustomed to women being the losers
“You throw like a girl”
Does the comment make you feel isolated?
Kate shared many modern definitions of sexism. One of the definitions states that it is a language that tells a group that someone doesn’t belong based on gender. For women, this is why it is important to empower the next generation of engineers to become advocates in knowing how and when to speak up about sexism.
The call to action from Kate’s presentation is learning what to do if you experience workplace sexism. Some of the strategies shared include the following:
Develop a catch place – Your response to something that you feel is inappropriate in terms of sexism
Call it out promptly
Write down/email self with a narrative of the incident
Overall, Dallas SWE members walked away empowered to become advocates in calling out workplace sexism, bullying and in celebrating that who you are matters.
Great group at our April meeting! Join us next time!
Bio: Kate Van Dellen’s background is in Aerospace Engineering and she has worked on missile defense, cargo aircraft, business jets, helicopters, and unmanned aviation. In September 2015, she started her own company, New Trees, to provide supplemental education in math and science. She was the FY14 SWE Society Membership Committee Chair and was recently awarded the SWE Distinguished New Engineer Award. She is a blogger for the Huffington Post and was recently featured as an author in VIDA literary magazine. Check out Kate’s article in VIDA literacy magazine here Report from the Field: Calling Out Actions Allows People to Grow
The Dallas SWE FY16 Nominating Committee is pleased to present the following slate of candidates for your consideration to serve during FY17 (July 1, 2016 – June 30, 2017.) Ballots will be distributed electronically in early May and voting will conclude 30 days thereafter.
President – Shelley Stracener
Executive Vice President – Nandika D’Souza
Vice President of Membership – Zaineb Ahmad
Vice President of Outreach – Samica Norman, Latischa Hanson
Financial Advisory Committee – Four Year Term (1 position) Tram Trinh, Liong So
Per the Dallas SWE By-Laws additional candidates may be nominated by petition, provided that:
The member is eligible for the position;
The member has given written consent to being placed on the ballot;
A minimum of two percent or five of the voting members of the section, whichever is greater, have signed a petition or endorsed an email to place the candidate’s name on the ballot; and
The petition, together with the written consent, is submitted to the chair of the nominating committee by April 30 or fifteen days after the slate is announced to the members of the section, whichever is later.
Please forward any nominations by petition with the required endorsements (five members) and consent of the candidate to dallas.swe@gmail.com by April 30th.
Thank you!
Dallas SWE FY16 Nominating Committee Jennifer Vilbig – Chair Teri Cate, Neha Dobhal, & Tessa Hazlett – Members
Join us the last weekend in April as we enjoy some social time, delicious brunch, and celebrating our graduating seniors from local universities including Collin College, SMU, UTD, and UNT!
Please join us for our April Professional Development Meeting with guest speaker Kate Van Dellen who will speak about “Confronting Workplace Sexism.”
Dealing with workplace sexism is difficult. It’s hard to call out your manager for always asking you to take notes or hearing your suggestion repeated and accepted just because it came from someone else. This interactive session will share stories of actual recent workplace sexism and will give participants the tools to confidently confront it. We will also address the power male allies have in ending workplace sexism. The only way to change the workplace for the next generation of female engineers is to do something now.
Guest Speaker Kate Van Dellen
Kate Van Dellen’s background is in Aerospace Engineering and she has worked on missile defense, cargo aircraft, business jets, helicopters, and unmanned aviation. In September 2015, she started her own company, New Trees, to provide supplemental education in math and science. She was the FY14 SWE Society Membership Committee Chair and was recently awarded the SWE Distinguished New Engineer Award. She is a blogger for the Huffington Post and was recently featured as an author in VIDA literary magazine.
Intel is hosting an event in their 2016 Professional Development & Career Series in their Plano offices on Saturday, April 23. Check out more information about this event and plan to join us!
April 30Social and Collegiate Brunch: Join us the last Saturday in April as we celebrate graduating seniors from local universities!
