Last week, I received a message from an early-career structural engineer—let’s call her Sarah. Despite graduating near the top of her class and landing a position at a prestigious firm, she was considering leaving the profession. “I just don’t feel like I belong here,” she wrote. “It’s not any one thing—it’s a thousand little things.”
Sarah’s story reflects an escalating workforce challenge. Employee engagement hit a 10-year low in 2024, costing an estimated $8.8 trillion in lost productivity globally. For structural engineers, NCSEA’s SE3 committee found that 55% of structural engineers have considered leaving the profession, with even higher percentages among women and non-white engineers. Only 30% consider our profession “attractive” compared to other STEM fields, and the top reasons cited for considering leaving were 1) stress and 2) work-life balance. Yet, those terms mean different things to different people, even those with identical qualifications. Successfully addressing these challenges requires understanding each individual’s unique context.
As structural engineers, we pride ourselves on systems thinking. We understand that structural performance depends on both individual components and how these components interact within the larger system. We analyze load paths, consider multiple failure modes, and account for how various elements influence each other. Yet, when it comes to supporting the people in our profession, we often forget these fundamental “systems-thinking” principles.
Ethical obligations within our profession are one place where systems thinking is commonly applied. For example, ASCE’s Code of Ethics, which I helped author, requires us to “treat all persons with respect, dignity, and fairness…” This professional obligation aligns with our core mission of protecting public health, safety, and welfare. Just as we wouldn’t design a structural component without understanding the complete system, we can’t effectively support our profession’s talent without understanding the personal, historical, and societal factors that influence workplace experiences.
The demographic trends speak to urgent action needed related to that talent pipeline. By 2030, the U.S. population over 65 will exceed those under 18. By 2045, the U.S. will be “minority white,” yet our engineers and architects together currently are 76.8% white and only 17.2% women. The impending student “enrollment cliff” will further reduce our talent pool, with U.S. colleges expecting a 15% drop in students by 2039. These trends point to fewer structural professionals in the future; if we don’t create an environment where talented individuals want to stay, there may not be enough of us to meet demand—even if interest in STEM careers grows overall.
In structural analysis, we don’t assume every beam experiences the same loads or every foundation rests on identical soil conditions. Instead, good engineering requires us to investigate the specific site context, understand the unique challenges, and design solutions accordingly. Similarly, supporting individual success in our profession requires understanding each person’s unique context and creating environments where they can fully contribute their talents. Historical examples (severely limited due to max word count) demonstrate systemic barriers to success:
- Women’s financial autonomy was severely limited, with loans and credit cards requiring male cosigners until 1974.
- Discriminatory redlining prevented racial and ethnic minorities from accessing loans needed to buy homes or start businesses (illegal since 1968, with recent legal settlements as late as 2023).
- Escalating engineering education costs consume a much higher percentage of income and starting salaries compared to 20+ years ago.
These contexts do not define an individual’s potential to contribute to our profession, yet they (and many more often unseen challenges) directly impact how individuals relate to work. Instead, they represent systemic barriers that have historically constrained our profession’s ability to recruit and retain top talent.
The U.S.-based structural engineering profession’s nonprofits—ASCE’s SEI (of which I am currently President), ACEC’s CASE, and NCSEA—are uniquely positioned to address these challenges. With intentional, collaborative efforts and the ability to transcend regional political differences due to a broad national reach, we create pathways for learning, mentorship, and professional growth.
At SEI, our Professional and Technical Communities were designed to minimize silos. These communities serve as platforms for professional development. Focuses include developing codes and standards, creating sustainable design resources, cultivating leadership, improving engineering education, and implementing mentorship programs. By bringing together people across the profession, we’re actively working to strengthen our profession’s talent pipeline.
Our path forward as a profession requires applying the same systems thinking we use in structural design to our professional ecosystem. This means:
- Creating intentional mentorship structures.
- Developing communication skills that bridge generational and cultural differences.
- Taking daily actions that recognize individual strengths and unique perspectives.
Our profession’s future depends on creating systems that value the contributions of all types of structural professionals. We cannot allow political polarization to distract us from our fundamental ethical obligation to protect public health, safety, and welfare—an obligation that requires attracting and retaining talent from all backgrounds.
Take action today: join one of our professional associations like SEI, where you can mentor others and build connections across geographical and experiential boundaries. Seek out colleagues with different backgrounds and experiences. Understand that every human connection we build makes our profession stronger and better equipped to serve our communities. And remember—that small gesture of caring you make today could be the reason a talented engineer stays in our profession tomorrow. We all have this power. Will you use it? ■
About the Author
Stephanie Slocum, PE, is the President of SEI and the Founder of Engineers Rising LLC, a firm that specializes in leadership and communications training and coaching.
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