What do you see when you look around your office, your project team, your industry today? I see a profession standing at an inflection point—one where the comfortable certainties of yesterday no longer apply, but where our fundamental purpose has never been more vital.
This year brought substantial challenges: political shifts, continued workforce shortages, and moments that made us collectively wonder, “What can I do about this?” If you’re waiting for the world to return to a simpler, more predictable environment, I have news for you: we are not going back to a non-VUCA world. Volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity—what business leaders call a VUCA environment—aren’t temporary disruptions. They’re the new operating conditions for our profession.
Consider the challenges we face: accelerating frequencies and strengths of storms that threaten our communities, a talent pipeline crisis where 55% of structural engineers have considered leaving the profession, the downward trend of structural engineering college graduates compared to other STEM fields, and the urgent need to transform our carbon-intensive industry. These are interconnected challenges that require us to lead with an adaptive, systems-viewpoint approach that engages the collective knowledge of those inside and outside our profession.
That’s what I witnessed throughout my year as SEI President: in every challenge, I saw structural engineers determined to lead. I saw structural engineers embracing their role as protectors of both our communities and our profession.
Individual Leadership = Collective Impact
Throughout the year, I was inspired by the over 3,000 active volunteers who power our profession through SEI’s Technical and Professional Communities—people serving on 100-plus committees. I witnessed the 155 firms in the growing SE 2050 movement choosing to lead on carbon reduction, engineers evaluating inefficiencies, and inventing solutions. These professionals proved that we don’t just react to what’s happening around us; we shape what happens next.
Here’s the uncomfortable truth: if you want to see change in our profession, you’ve got to BE that change. The skill of adaptation becomes THE essential leadership skill in a VUCA world—one that relies on curiosity, a beginner’s mind, and the willingness to learn, qualities that define great engineers at every career stage.
Fifteen years ago, I was frustrated and felt like I no longer belonged in this profession. I wasn’t involved beyond my immediate work. Then I made one choice—I applied to SEI’s Business Practices Committee despite feeling unqualified. That single act of stepping out of my comfort zone connected me with other structural engineers who transformed my career trajectory.
The power to transform our profession begins with our individual choices. You chose to be part of this profession. You face a daily choice to connect or withdraw, to make the profession better or to complain about the status quo. You decide if you’ll build a better future or settle for “this is the way we’ve always done it.”
The Multiplier Effect of Showing Up
Every time you choose to engage by joining a committee, mentoring a colleague, encouraging a struggling coworker, advocating for sustainable design practices, or making a new connection, you’re not just advancing your own career. You’re strengthening the entire structural engineering ecosystem.
Connection across organizations amplifies our impact.
Recent examples of this type of work at SEI include:
- Collaborating with NCSEA and CASE through joint leadership meetings and joint initiatives like the current AI webinar series and the updated Joint Vision for the Future of Structural Engineering (currently under review by our boards).
- Supporting CROSS-US, which helps professionals make structures safer by providing confidential reporting for structural failures.
- Advancing flood resilience in codes and standards with FEMA and ASFPM.
- Co-hosting the Towards Zero Carbon Summit and Symposium with the University of Colorado Boulder.
- Defining the next generation of design via the NIST Forward Looking Codes and Standards Workshop series.
These activities demonstrate SEI’s role as a convening organization, bringing together practitioners, academics, government officials, scientists, and materials organizations (to name a few!). In a VUCA world, this collaborative work positions us to be recognized as both technical problem-solvers and inclusive leaders who are essential to building resilient communities. This vision becomes reality through our individual choice to show up.
Your Moment to Lead
The question isn’t whether you’re qualified to lead. The question is: Will you choose to exercise the power you already have?
Start where you are. Spend 1 minute today to do something that elevates someone else in the profession. Say thank you, make an introduction, or offer an encouraging word to a colleague.
If you’re looking to make a bigger impact, SEI’s technical and professional committees offer direct national pathways, and our local SEI chapters allow you to connect with professionals in your own community. Learn more and join us here: www.asce.org/communities/institutes-and-technical-groups/structural-engineering-institute.
The future is ours to build, one structure—and one leader—at a time. ■
About the Author
Stephanie Slocum, PE, recently completed her term as FY25 President of the Structural Engineering Institute and is Founder and CEO of Engineers Rising LLC.
