The Structural Engineering Engagement and Equity Committee (SE3) raises awareness and promotes dialogue on professional practice issues to improve engagement and equity in the structural engineering profession.

Diversity cannot occur without first addressing inclusion and welcoming people of all backgrounds. We know there are many of you who are interested in taking the first steps in our structural engineering community to make all feel welcome and excited about structural engineering. The Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) committee was formed by Lisette Terry, a Black, female structural engineer at Degenkolb Engineers. She has worked in the industry for 15 years and is often the only woman of color in the room.

The D&I committee was established to help break this cycle and ensure that the next generation of structural engineers brings people together from all backgrounds; after all, countless studies have shown that more diverse teams are more creative, have better decision making skills, and are more productive.

So, what will this committee do?

Work on the School to Structural Engineering Pipeline

• Have you ever wondered how our profession ended up so… homogenous? One aim of the committee is to get involved in the school to structural engineering pipeline through identifying and breaking down barriers to entry.

• The D&I Committee is committed to working with the Outreach Committee to connect schools with local engineering groups that help educate and encourage a broader, more diverse group of students to pursue science and engineering.

Educate, Educate, Educate

• Have you heard of unconscious bias but aren’t quite/exactly sure how it plays into your daily work? Heard of anti-racism, but not sure what it looks like? The D&I Committee will work on educating the industry regarding issues of race and bias.

• We will also highlight historical or current people of color who have impacted the engineering community.

Provide Focused Scholarships

• With the Scholarship Committee, we will work to award scholarships to historically under-represented groups within structural engineering and expand the reach of students we are targeting to impact.

Give Recognition

• The D&I Committee wants to recognize individuals, firms, or organizations that exemplify meaningful actions in support of diversity and inclusion.

Think

• We welcome your brainstorming ideas on how we can use our occupation to serve our community better.

  • Will the building I’m working on increase gentrification?

  • How can I pursue work with minority-owned businesses?

• Do you have a question on how our industry could be more inclusive? Let’s talk about it.

Why join?

• Summer 2020 showed us that there is an enormous amount of work that needs to be done to have a society that is racially just. Many people and companies pledged to commit to anti-racist practices, but it is difficult to fight systemic racism on your own. Joining this committee is one way that you can turn those pledges and good intentions into tangible actions, helping to change our industry for the better.

• Diverse teams benefit everyone: the companies, employees, and ultimately the community! Focusing on improving our industry’s diversity is necessary for building a better community, which is important since ‘building’ community is sort of our thing.

 AAPI Public Statement

To our AAPI members:

The D&I committee of SEAW stands with you in light of the senseless and ongoing violence against your community. We want to acknowledge the trauma and pain the community is feeling. These events make us recognize once again that we need to do better: we need to be more loving, we need to treat everyone with respect, and we need to end the racism that feeds this violence. Please reach out to us if you need a safe space to talk through what has happened. We are here to support you through this time.

To our Non-AAPI members:

If you have an AAPI coworker, we encourage you to reach out and make space for them. Some guidelines for how to effectively make space in a conversation can be found here. Remember to not center yourself in the conversation (“something similar happened to me too….”) and to not jump into problem solving mode. If you don’t have any AAPI coworkers, take some time to evaluate why that is. We also encourage you to sign up for a free bystander training being offered this month. Your ability to distract and diffuse a situation could literally be the difference between life and death. Lastly, if you are in management, consider implementing some policies that can help your BIPOC employees deal with the ongoing effects of racism: talk about racism in the office, provide parking/travel reimbursements for employees who don’t feel safe taking public transportation, and provide flexible PTO mental health days when a community is attacked. Work doesn’t happen in a vacuum; we are all a part of this community together. It is our responsibility to keep our community safe, together.

In solidarity,

SEAW
D&I Committee
DEI@seaw.org

Chair: Lisette Terry 

Committee Members: Clare Terpstra, Inder Deol, Tiffany La, Sarah Bergquist

SEAW State Board Liaison: Teresa Krell