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The following is a Q&A with Sarah Steib, PE, Manager of FPA’s Bridges & Water Resources Department. Sarah has over 15 years of experience on bridge and transportation-related projects, and has served as the Manager of the Bridges & Water Resources Department for over four years. She studied at Lehigh University where she graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Civil Engineering and a Master’s Degree in Structural Engineering.

Can you share your journey and what motivated you to become an engineer?
Growing up I absolutely loved math and science, but STEM programs didn’t really exist when I was a kid so I didn’t have much exposure to engineering. One summer in middle school I went to what I dubbed as “smart camp” at Vassar College. I vividly remember designing bridges out of straws and found it fascinating. I would say that triggered my interest in engineering. I went to Lehigh University for engineering and took an intro class to explore all the different types of engineering like civil, mechanical, etc. It was only after that class that I understood with a civil engineering degree I could design bridges and that is what I wanted to do.

How have you seen the landscape change for women in engineering throughout your career?
Growing up I never followed the typical mold for girly activities. I was the girl playing sports at recess with the boys, building a tree house in the backyard, and helping my Dad with DIY projects around the house. I was even the only girl on the baseball team since softball didn’t exist when I was a kid. I think as a result being a female in a male dominated industry never really phased me during College and even early into my career. I just followed what I wanted to do regardless of stereotypes. When I first started working, you didn’t see a lot of women in the higher levels of leadership, and I do think that has been slowly changing. I am heavily involved with a few women in engineering organizations, particularly WTS and ACEC Women in Engineering. Through those organizations I have seen more women in leadership which for me is important because it highlights different paths toward leadership that I can follow. In general there are just fewer women in the workforce due to kids and home. As a working mother of two boys I can personally speak to the difficulties of balancing work and juggling kid activities, etc. With fewer women in the engineering workforce in general, there are even fewer women that can take the steps into leadership. We need to be models for students and young women in engineering to show them they can accomplish anything they want.

Can you share a significant project or accomplishment that you are particularly proud of?
I don’t just have one signature project or accomplishment, rather I take pride in helping my community and bettering the transportation network within for the traveling public. I love to drive through projects that I have worked on and talk to my friends and family about them. Telling them that I worked on this project doing such and such and seeing how much safer it is gives me pride.

What advice would you give to young women who are considering a career in engineering?
Just do it. I think that the engineering field is versatile and that most people don’t realize all that you can do with engineering. I think that no matter what passion you have, engineering can be an outlet for that interest and passion.

Have you had any influential mentors or role models in your journey as an engineer? If so how have they impacted your career?
My first boss at my first company was definitely a role model for me. Not only was she brilliant in the engineering world, but the way she managed projects and the people that worked for her. She looked out for them. A lot of what I try to do now especially as a manager is mimic what I saw her doing. I have also participated in a formal mentoring program through WTS which is a great group of women within the transportation field to learn from. At this point in my career I have other women that I have met either through WTS or other engineering organizations, who are at similar levels of their career, that I lean on fairly often for advice.

How can we encourage more girls and young women to pursue STEM fields, particularly engineering?
I think it’s all about early outreach. Children get a lot of exposure at a young age to doctors, policemen. This gives them the ‘hey this is what I want to be when I grow up kind of idea’. I think we need to get engineering in that category. This will help children understand from an early age that engineering is such a broad spectrum that wherever your interests align, engineering can do that for you. I think the best time to introduce it to children would be late elementary school into middle school. I am involved with a program called New Jersey Future Cities where I mentor middle school students. Girl Scouts also has a STEM outreach program. But the overall outreach is spotty. We need to implement the outreach in every school.