Elizabeth Varghese  (E): Can you tell a little bit about yourself, where you studied, and what was your major?

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Danielle Schroeder (D): Hi, my name is Dani Schroeder. My pronouns are she/her. I went to Drexel University in Philadelphia and graduated in 2017.

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E: Okay, and how did you decide that this major was right for you?

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D: My major was Civil Engineering and I kind of have more of an atypical way of finding that this was right for me. So my junior year of high school, I had never really heard of engineering as a career. One of my teachers saw that there was an engineering camp for girls that was going to be happening at a local college and said "You like math and science. You should go to that and see how it is". So I went there, did the labs, and absolutely loved it! Before then, I had never really heard of the term engineering. Looking back at that, I kind of always could have seen myself as an engineer, in the fact of, I like math, I like science, but also I really love the problem solving that comes into any field of engineering. You are tasked with a problem and you need to break down that into a different solution. Specifically, in terms of civil engineering I really like the construction side, so I am not always out in the field but I really like that for civil engineering and why I picked it is because I get more of that hands on part of the field that does not come with every engineering field.

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E: What has your educational or job experience been like in STEM?

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D: I absolutely loved my time in college as a STEM major but I would be remiss to say that it wasn't challenging. So school in high school generally speaking, straight-A student, maybe some B's in there but was like top five of my class. Going into engineering, I was not getting straight A’s anymore. So, the classes that are in engineering especially in college are challenging but you do not need to get straight A’s to be an engineer. It takes a lot of hard work and determination but you can get through it and I got through it and you can do it!

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E: So would you say that was your most challenging experience in STEM?

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D: I think so. Everything is generally graded on a curve, so you’re based on your peers but that still does not mean the 100 percent is that top score. I know there were times that I got like a 30 on an exam and it's terrifying to say that sometimes, and see that, but what happens and all that you go through in college of going through these classes, the grades matter, but not to that extent. The whole part of studying engineering, regardless of which engineering field you pick, is learning those problem solving experiences. For example thermodynamics, I don't personally use it as much in my career but it was one of those classes that I needed to take. I really appreciated that class because you were given a problem, and you have to explicitly state: here's what I'm given, here are the assumptions I am making, and this is what I am looking to find. Having that process is what engineering is about- that problem solving experience and figuring out how to break down a problem and to find that solution.

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E: Okay, and on the other hand what has been your best experience in STEM? 

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D: The best experience that I am most proud of is my extracurriculars throughout college. I was involved in Society of Women Engineers my entire five years of college and I think that was my best experience just because of the people that I met through it. Both the people through my college on campus activities but also through the society in general. I got to meet professionals, which I am now, but like professionals that are many years into their career and are excelling. Seeing these people that are excelling at their career, gave me the passion to continue with what I was doing but also the leadership experiences that I got through that extracurricular helped me so much. It helped me land co-ops through school or internships through summer . It helped me become a better communicator. It gives you those communication skills because regardless of what engineering field you pick communication skills are key to communicating with your co-workers and how you're solving this problem and what steps you took to when you get further along your career communicating with clients, and saying this is the problem you tasked me with of building this bridge in this specific area. This is how I did it, and these are the constraints that are part of the site, and all of the things that go into it. Communication will be important regardless of what engineering field you pick! 

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E: What industry do you work in or plan to work in?

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D: So I'm three years out of school and I work in the transportation industry. So the company I worm for is a private consulting firm and I work in their transportation group and within their group its further divided into three groups. Within transportation there are structures, traffic, and highway, and I work in that structures group, where I specialize mainly in bridge retrofits, reconstruction, and other transportation related structures.

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E: Okay thank you! Did you notice any gender disparities in your college classes or work life?

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D: Yes, and I will preface with the fact of the high school that I went to was an all girls high school. So going from an all-girls high school to studying engineering was definitely a stark contrast. As you may know, the engineering field and studying engineering is still mainly dominated by men. I distinctly remember in my freshman year, so my first year, there was a coding class series that every engineer had to take. I don’t remember the first class, but I remember going into my second class, looking around the room, mind you its a class of 30, but still, I was the only woman in a class of 30 at this coding class. So, it is definitely something that you do see. This kind of goes into another question but my main recommendation I have for any women going into the STEM field is to build your squad. Find women, they don't even have to be in your engineering field, they don’t even need to be studying the same thing as you, but finding that squad for when you get that 30 in your exam or you're just struggling with homework or balancing all those classes, that’s going to bring you back up and say “you can do this, you can get through it” is so important for studying any STEM field in college.

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E: Do you have any other advice for young women or middle schoolers that want to go into this field?

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D: Yes, so the best advice that I can give is don’t be afraid to take a risk as the great Wayne Gretzky or Michael Scott if you watch The Office says “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take”. Sometimes, you’ll fail and things wont go perfectly to plan but if you don't make that ask, if you don't try, if you don't say “Hey can I do this informational interview with you?” the answer is no because you didn't ask. Take that into consideration and submit that application. A lot of what I've gotten from my success so far, and even in college, was “You know what? Let me submit that application. Maybe Ill get it, maybe I wont”. Making that ask, try to do something, you don't know unless you try. I know getting out of your comfort zone can be terrifying. I absolutely hate public speaking and I'm getting better at it but the way you get better at something is you keep trying. Its a very old example but riding a bike, the first time, how terrible did that go? You keep trying and eventually you learn how to ride a bike. That's the same when it comes to public speaking, communication skills, any of those things, you get better at it by practicing. 

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E: Lastly, do you have any other stories or information that you would like to share?

 

D: The last thing I would like to say is don't be afraid to reach out to people in the fields that you are interested in, especially what I was saying about being in high school and already being miles ahead and knowing what engineering is, and that there’s such a vast career opportunity in engineering. Don't be afraid if you see someone at a conference or see someone on social media and be like “Hey! I absolutely love what you're doing in your field. Can we chat for 30 minutes?”. More often than not you will get a yes, because as a professional we want to help those that are still in school trying to figure out what major or what they want to study in college. So definitely don't be afraid to reach out and then definitely join extracurriculars. Looking back at my time in college, I've realized how important they were. As I already said, you get to work on those communication skills but you also get to work on your leadership skills. Engineering is a lot about teamwork which I don’t think a lot of people understand. Having those teamwork skills and being able to say “I managed this team to create this awesome event”, it shows you can learn to be a leader and an effective communicator. So don't be afraid to join extracurriculars. And then my last thought was thank you for doing this, thank you for having me and I absolutely love what you are doing here!

 

E: Thank you so much!

 

D: Awesome!