A look inside “STEM Moms”

Jan 3

by Cassie Leonard

To Aunt Anne, for being an engineer, leader, and mom, and inspiring me to do the same long before I had any idea it wasn’t the norm.

To all my wonderful mentors who have donated their precious time to support me. You are so appreciated.

Introduction

For STEM Moms+

I am Cassie.

I am an engineer, leader, and mother. And because I’m an engineer, I decided there really should be an acronym for this… ELM.

During the 26 years since first choosing STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics), I have regularly felt completely unique—being the only woman in a class or meeting is unfortunately the norm.

When I chose to have children and pursue management, I unintentionally set myself apart yet again. As a STEM mom in growing leadership roles, I found I was quickly running short on role models. As you might have experienced yourself, this was very disheartening.

The first time I worked for a senior leader who was also a mother was an eye-opening experience. I realized how isolated I had felt up until that point, even though I had never taken the time to ponder it. I had assumed it was just the way it was.

In 2021 this new boss of mine and I were invited to participate on a panel at the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) National Conference in Indianapolis. We shared the stage with three more fantastic moms with highly technical leadership roles. The panel was called “Shared Experience as Women Leaders and Working Moms.” Despite over-hearing a few snickers in the hall and even one young woman quipping, “who would even go to that,” the room was packed. I was both thrilled and nervous.

Thankfully, it turned out to be an hour of engaging questions, conversations, laughter, and highly personal sharing. It reminded me (or maybe taught me for the first time) how many women out there have similar hopes and goals. It also made me wonder how many of us might occasionally feel like we are on a one-woman island, forging our own path blindly.

I have written STEM Moms to empower women, mothers, engineers, STEM goddesses—whatever title you resonate with. This book is offered as a tool to help you find your footing and to do it in such a way that you flourish!

I present this through the lens of a woman who has built a career in a male-dominated technical field, but I hope many take-aways are transferable to any situation.

I offer the tools and methods in this book humbly. I am not a scholar, and up until now I didn’t consider myself a writer either. I am however a woman who has personally found that STEM leadership and living a fun and fulfilling life at the same time is a future worth pursuing.

A bit more about me, following the now well-established ELM acronym:

Engineer: I earned a bachelor’s in aerospace engineering from UCLA and a master’s in aerodynamics from the University of Sheffield in England. I started at Boeing in 2006, structurally analyzing commercial derivative aircraft. The coolest title I held was P-8 Delivery Captain—I wish that one came with a hat.

Leader: Eight years into my career, I opted for management. I stepped into formal leadership with a team of 33 engineers. From there I progressed to senior roles, leading across programs, customers, contracts, and coasts. My focus is always the people, as I wholeheartedly believe the best products come from engaged teams.

Mom: I am a mother of two wonderful boys. I have an awesome husband, my partner in life, who is crushing a technical leadership career of his own. We have a very loving supportive family scattered across the country and globe (great for vacation destinations, not useful at all for date nights).

When Seattle Public Schools shut down in March 2020, we adjusted. I spent 18 months with two kids staring at me while I tried to work. I led design reviews while secretly listening to hear if my kindergartener was staying focused on Zoom. I learned tools and tricks to maintain sanity and cope with the inevitable guilt. I dug deep into my bag of skills to manage day to day and keep focused on what really matters.

Now that schools are back, I have time to share that learning with you!

And a secret fourth trait I encourage everyone to build:

Mentor: (Queue the new acronym: ELMM!) I was lucky enough to be paired with a highly successful engineer-leader-mom-mentor when I was just starting out. She guided me from new-hire to my first management role. I started mentoring others as soon as anyone seemed to care what I had to share, which was surprisingly early in my career.

Today, having “retired” from corporate aerospace, I am a full-time mentor. As founder of ELMM Coaching, I work with STEM moms to help them grow fearlessly and to connect whole-heartedly. Much of what I offer in coaching and within this book is rooted in lessons I learned from my own mentors. I listened closely, asked questions, and put each concept to the test. While many tools have grown and changed from the first mentoring meetings, the original concepts are still intact.

Creating Our Space

Congratulations on being amazing already!

If you picked up this book, it is likely you are excited by technical challenges. You might have a family, or maybe you don’t. Maybe you are curious about the idea of potentially maybe sort of someday having a variation of a family. All are valid and welcome in this space.

On top of STEM skills and an interest in caregiving, I’ll wager you also have, or want to develop, leadership skills. As industries change and grow, leadership is becoming an essential skill set for everyone, not just those at the very top.

By investing now in communication, organization, sincerity, passion, and trust (to name a few), you will lay a foundation for your ability to create your best life.

If you are pursuing a life that incorporates parenthood, leadership, and technical challenge, and you don’t identify male, you are part of a very special community. One friend whimsically referred to three of us at an ad hoc technical women’s happy hour as “a herd of unicorns.”

Currently more than 3 million US-based women and LGBTQIA+ people work in STEM fields.[1] I hope that by sharing my story, and supporting you in yours, we can build momentum to grow our community.

This book is intended to be a beacon for anyone seeking solutions to live their best life. We will celebrate our skills and achievements, and with personal stories and activities throughout, you will quickly discover you are not alone!

Who is this Book for?

Short Answer: You!

Longer Answer:

Moms and caregivers who are searching for balance. This includes, but is not limited to, people just starting to plan for a family and those who want to spend more time with the loved ones they have. Parenthood has many different and beautiful expressions. I use the term Mom because this is my lens (actually, my children call me Momma). If you don’t resonate with this word choice, please know you are still welcome.

If you are earlier on your journey, you might not know if you want any of this. Don’t worry, the tools and stories coming up are shared as only one perspective. Consider them as you see fit.

Allies:

You’re welcome too! Do you want to gain understanding of the challenges others at your workplace face? You might be the partner of someone who is charting a course in STEM. While much of this book’s narrative will not specifically be directed to you, I am thankful you are here and committed to learning.

Watch for this ally badge throughout the book for thoughts, ideas, and relatively simple actions you can take today to make a difference.

Still not sure?

Here is a quick quiz for you. Hopefully it reminds you of a magazine quiz from your youth, or maybe your team’s more recent awkward but slightly fun ice breaker.

[1] 3,083,097 to be inaccurately precise. Unfortunately, there is almost no data on how many LGBTQIA+ people in the United States work in STEM. We do know from an Imperial Medical Blog study is that LGBT people are under-represented by roughly 20%. As the representative study’s title suggests, “STEM needs to face up to its problem with LGBT diversity.” blogs.imperial.ac.uk. 2019.

See Chapter 5, “Being Us” for expanded details on this calculation.

This excerpt is from STEM Moms: Design, build, and test to create the worklife of your dreams. Get your copy today at AMAZON.com

Cassie Leonard https://www.elmmcoaching.com