Embry‑Riddle junior Skylar Wardlaw — who is majoring in  with a concentration in Spacecraft Instrumentation and minors in  and  — joined the Society of Women Engineers to serve as a strong advocate for solidarity among women studying engineering.

“Being a woman in an engineering degree does feel very fulfilling, but it also feels a bit daunting at the same time,” Wardlaw said. “My girls inspire me every day. Seeing the incredible things that they have accomplished really keeps me going on hard days, and I couldn’t ask for a better support system.”

At the recent 2024 Society of Women Engineers (SWE) conference in Chicago — which Wardlaw attended with 47 other Embry‑Riddle students and faculty advisor Claudia Ehringer Lucas — she received two internship offers for this summer. She and her classmates participated in 87 interviews at the conference, walking away with 25 internship or job offers.

Ehringer Lucas, assistant professor of , said that one of the most important benefits to attending the conference is interacting with members who have gone on to careers and "to understand the struggles and experiences that they have had in industry, as well as to learn and improve the field by sharing knowledge and nurturing connections."

Ehringer Lucas said Embry‑Riddle graduates who are Society of Women Engineers members contact her to help current students attending the conference and share information with them.

Wardlaw said she worked on how to make herself stand out among thousands of attendees at the conference. In addition to highlighting the credentials on her resume, she wanted to demonstrate her people skills and passion for engineering.

“Attending a conference like SWE gives you the opportunity to sell your skills to recruiters over and over again,” Wardlaw said, “until you find that perfect balance between professionalism and personality that works for you.”

Both Raytheon Technologies and Northrop Grumman offered Wardlaw internships in systems engineering. Having chosen Northrop Grumman, Wardlaw said she will be assigned a mentor who will be personally available to her throughout the internship.

“Having a personal mentor gives me the reassurance that, even if I run into obstacles during my internship, I’ll have someone there to guide me through the entire process,” she said.

Skylar Butler — a junior majoring in  and  and minoring in Applied Mathematics and  — was offered an internship with Lockheed Martin in guidance, navigation and control, and she received a letter of intent for an internship with L3Harris. Butler agreed that the interviewing process and the support from other women at the conference were extremely valuable.

“Being able to talk to possible future employers in person allowed me to get to know them face to face rather than just through a screen,” she said. “The support from other women in STEM was also important because it emphasized that sometimes, as a woman in a male-dominated field, you know that there are other women out there just like you trying to break the norm.”

Eeman Abid, a junior majoring in  with a minor in , was offered an internship by Airbus. She said the connections she made at the conference were the most critical aspect of her experience.

“I learned so much from the different people at the conference, and, most importantly, I built connections with them so I can learn more about engineering and stay in contact with them for future opportunities,” Abid said.

Chloe Litteral, a senior in Aerospace Engineering with a concentration in Astronautics, said she joined the Society of Women Engineers to “ensure scholarship and career-building opportunities.” She said scholarships she obtained through the organization account for much of the external funding she has received, which pays her tuition in full.

At the conference, Litteral interviewed with Lockheed Martin and was immediately offered a full-time position as a mechanical design engineer in the company’s Missiles and Fire Control division. She was also recommended for positions in the company’s space sector and said her interviewer passed her resume to other hiring managers to expand her opportunities within the company.

For all four of the young women, the Society of Women Engineers served as a conduit to job opportunities. At the same time, it nurtured mutual support among them and others who have chosen engineering.

“We all understand the struggles that come along with our chosen career paths, and it brings us closer together,” said Wardlaw. “Looking back on all that these SWE girls have done for me inspires me to act as a role model for other young women who want to pursue similar passions in their lives.”