She Engineers: Outsmart Bias, Unlock your Potential, and Create the Engineering Career of your Dreams

by Stephanie Slocum

Are you a female engineer or a manager of female engineers ? Are you working hard but not getting ahead? Do you feel you aren’t getting the recognition you deserve? Are you frustrated that you can’t seem to penetrate the “boys network” at work? Are you searching for a practical career guide that goes beyond social commentary on gender issues in engineering? One written by a female engineer that has been in the trenches just like you? A guide with tactics that actually work if you aren’t the boss? One that will give you immediate results? Then She Engineers was written for you. Imagine a life where YOU choose your own career path. You love what you do. You are an influencer , a go-to person at your company and in your field. You aren’t working ridiculous hours. You have a life outside of work. You may even have a couple of young children if you so choose, while still enjoying a well-paying, impactful career in engineering. Sound like a pipe dream? It’s not. This book will show you how. As a fifteen-year engineering industry veteran and mom of 3, Stephanie Slocum uses a conversational and down-to-earth approach to teach you how to succeed as a female Each chapter concludes with actions you can do in 30 minutes or less for immediate results. As a female engineer herself, she knows first-hand the value of your time and has packed her years of experience, stories, and lessons learned into one concise, easy-to-read resource for other female engineers. Don’t hesitate to pick up your copy today by clicking the BUY NOW button at the top of this page!

Genres: Engineering, Professional Development

208 pages, Paperback

Published January 19, 2018

Reviews

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I will say this book did hit on some topics that will help me in my career, but as a woman of color in engineering I don’t feel like this book did enough to give me all of the keys to move my career forward. The author does note many times that the statistics are different for women of color, but she gave no pertinent suggestions on how to overcome the issues that we face. All in all I would say that this book is good for general insight but not really geared towards women of color.

[Rin · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF at 27%

This is an angry review so if you liked the book it would be best to skip reading my thoughts. Additionally I'd like to say that reviewers are for readers and not authors. This is not a personal attack and I don't want Slocum's day ruined by my thoughts. Please click away if 1* is triggering in any way. Thank you.


I wanted to like this and I tried. I found a few pieces of advice I thought were good (for everyone, not just engineers or women) but overall this felt like it was written by someone who has been out of the loop for at least five years.


This book is awful. This would've been decent advice back when my 60 year old mother first entered the field and had to deal with openly sexist issues, but the environment since 2015 at least is different. The sexism in engineering workplaces is made up of microaggressions and subtlety. "Lean In" was criticized for being behind the times when it came out and this seems to double down on all its mistakes. And really, I'm sorry but I can't take someone seriously when they try to make CEOs role models for engineers. No engineer I've spoken to, of any generation, has respect for people that high up on the food chain.

Finally, I need to say that the bibliography was questionable at best. Wikipedia articles should *never* be included in a nonfiction book, and several other sites were less than reputable. The editing was inconsistent to the point that I have to wonder if the editor was only allowed 1 pass of grammar and spelling and not allowed to touch developmental or copy edits.

Overall, I do *not* recommend this book for anyone within their first ten years of their careers. I also do not recommend this to male allies who are trying to do better.

[Sara Rastakhiz · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a really really helpful book!
It helped boost my confidence and also helped me to have a clearer idea of what I want and What I have to do.
This book acted as a very HUGE reminder for me and also It came to me in a very good time!
This book single handedly lifted me off the puddle of sadness I was drowning myself into.

I do recommend it!

[MindOverMatter · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is an attempt to approach a difficult topic. It provides a few nice and promising ideas to try and a lot of optimism. Since there are not many such books out there (because there are very few female engineers with a career out there), it is a very necessary and important book!

It remains to observe that Slocum was very lucky to find her very supportive husband early. Her husband is working also as an engineer and sure was of great help in developing her understanding what to do and what not to do in a male dominated area. Somewhere she writes her success came because she is a woman - compared to her husband, sure. But given the fact that most women do not get as far as she did due to lack of support and difficulty to understand what exactly it is that men do differently because they are stuck in a female body and in a sexist society, being a woman has absolutely not been her main advantage, but rather having been supported as a woman and certainly also a big dose of luck!

I had a few credibility issues with the way she presents herself in the beginning (i.e. in the first 3-4 chapters), but she won me over in the end. I especially liked her description of how she started out as a female engineer and encountered bias the first times. So, it is worthwhile to stay with her to the end. Her suggestions on how to deal with bias are also very worthwhile, but she has only 5 of them which is not enough. I couldn't adapt everything she recommends in her book to my own area of engineering (Slocum is a civil engineer and much of her advice is specific to her area and the US and some was a bit useless (asking literally everyone for feedback, really?!?)). Nevertheless I was able to take away some new ideas to try and work out for myself and some encouragement.

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One negative thing though: it was a bit off-putting to read Hitler as an example of an outstanding speaker. Aren't there enough good speakers to be used in such a book as role models, who didn't commit genocide?

[G. Darnell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Must read for female engineers and diversity and inclusion champions everywhere!

Stephanie does an amazing job laying out a framework for female engineers to follow. Full of great case studies, guidance and advice, she gives recaps and practical application suggestions at the end of each chapter. Well done!

[Carolee Slocum · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not just for women/ not just for engineers

This is an excellent step by step guide written specifically for female engineers. However, as a retired school teacher, I found a lot of information that would have been helpful in my career, also. There are even lessons I learned that will be useful at this point in my life. I especially liked the end of chapter summaries and challenges. The challenges were easy enough to do, while involving you in making worthwhile changes in your life. Reading a book won't help you change if you don't put into action what you have learned! I would recommend this book for anyone, male or female, who wants to get ahead in their chosen profession.

[Hunter Radecki · Rating 4 out of 5]

[Audiobook]
Direct and in your face.

Which is great! The industry is dominated by men, and the culture can be very boyish at times. There is a dire need for diversity, for equity by the sake of what is right and what is necessary.

I’m happy to work for a company that provides a platform for women to succeed - a company with progressing culture and opportunity for all. Books like this one are a great compass for those looking for one.

Glad I read it.

[Radical Rena · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a good read. Very helpful for those thinking about going into engineering. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it.
The author dived into subjects that don't often get covered in other books.
If I could say anything to the author it would be this,
Thank you so much for not using this book to bash men! It was so refreshing to read your work.

[Victoria Mejia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Inspirational

Thank you so much for writing this! I’m still an engineering student, but I have found so many inspiring things here to help me grow into what I want to become. Definitely a must read for those who may be having second thoughts about engineering, and for those who are needing some insights on how to succeed.

[Danyelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very nice advice and info that is DEFINITELY necessary for women in engineering or women in S.T.E.M. in general. Even though I'm only in college, I will make sure to apply these skills throughout my engineering journey.

[Tadas Talaikis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good advice, even better than from male engineers :) If someone believes prejudice is against women or LGBT only, it is not, there are biases against independent motherfuckers also.

[Krystal Bantugan · Rating 5 out of 5]

An awesome book for female engineers! Highly recommend.

[Nasrin Attar · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked this book. I suggest for all the women and girls to read to be successful in their career.

[Christine Yaromich · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am inspired. Good book to start the year.

Going to take away the don’t and dos and connect my values and strengths to find success

[Julia · Rating 2 out of 5]

While some chapters were helpful, the majority of this book honed in on topics I felt were less relevant to success in the field as a woman in 2025.

[Corey Condardo · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think it's 50% as advertised, and 50% "how to have a great career." It's great nonetheless, but it's not exactly what I hoped - I wish it went deeper into bias, and the life of female engineers. But as an engineer starting your career, this is a great read.

[Vilina · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book feels like an older mentor casually giving you advice about your STEM career as a fellow female in the field. Pretty straight to the point which I appreciate.

[Virginia Ritterbusch]

As a woman married to a Nuclear Engineer, I was always interested in my husband's stories about the female engineers at the company he worked at. We had many discussions about the work differential between the genders. So when I saw the title of Ms. Slocum's book, it grabbed my attention.

She has done a great job of illustrating, organizing and streamlining the book's content: Slocum provides 4 Tools for Maximum Achievement; The 4 Secrets to Success; She stresses the importance of learning excellent communication skills with recommendations; Presents the concept of a dynamic mindset; Lists the 3 characteristics needed to be an engaged employee; Tips on improving technical writing; She offers a significant amount of material on how to navigate having a family, keeping a healthy marriage, and balancing both worlds; and most importantly, she recommends aligning personality traits to your specific career paths by matching the job tasks you most enjoy with your personal value system to find a company that matches your needs. In other words "put a round peg into a round hole."

Stephanie Slocum's passion, beliefs, and experience shine through every page. Her need to help fellow female engineers is palpable. Another benefit of this book is that all of her content would be helpful in every career to both genders and all types of businesses, so I would recommend this book to all adults.

[Michał Węgrzyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a book about many things and definitely not only for females. It's about soft skills that will help with engineering career, about self-development, about females in male-dominated roles, about leadership.
I would recommend it to any engineer, regardless of gender, seniority level or role in an organization.

It gives hints on how to be a better communicator, a skill that is so invaluable in today's world.