Get to know the Early Career Professionals Affinity Group
SWE Early Career Professionals Affinity Group
Our mission is to foster a welcoming, supportive, and inclusive culture for early career professionals within SWE.
No matter how long ago it was, you likely still remember moving to that new city right after college, or the nerves of the first day of your first professional career. New goals, a new routine, and a new network defined those first years on “your own”. SWE’s Early Career Professionals (ECP) Affinity Group was formed to address the gap from collegiate to professional SWE, and to equip individuals with the support, resources, and inclusive community they need to excel in the early stages of their career. Again this year, the group saw an increase in membership and engagement, connecting early career professionals across industries and geographies.
Members involved in the ECP AG represent a wide range of engineering disciplines (Figure 1).?The most frequently represented industries are split nearly equally between Chemical Engineering and Software Engineering or Computer Science. Trailing right behind are Mechanical, Biological/Biomedical, and Civil/Environmental Engineering. Members also represent other fields ranging from Business Analytics to Naval/Marine Engineering or Human Resources. This diversity in industry involvement allows us to provide a variety of workshops and content relevant for various professionals and exposes members to new opportunities they may have never considered prior.
One third of ECP AG members are recent college graduates, with less than one year of professional experience under their belt (Figure 2). Approximately another third represent graduate students or those in the first 1-3 years of their career. We also have engagement from individuals with up to 10 years of experience. This diversity in tenure fosters an organic mentorship environment, where members can share experiences and successes together along the way.
The ECP AG, founded in FY 2021, has experienced significant growth over the past 3 years (Figure 3). As with our mailing list, LinkedIn, and Slack growth, our event attendance has also increased. We hosted Conference 101, a workshop that provided members with tips and tricks for success at the WE23 conference, had over 100 attendees!
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Our growing community allows us to find outstanding speakers and workshop leaders, and share other resources that further develop our members. Notably, most of our members find out about the group through LinkedIn, the annual WE Conference, or through a friend or mentor (Figure 4).
And we’re just getting started! The ECP AG is always welcoming new members and open to potential collaboration. Connect with us through any of the following:
Katrina Bliss (she/her/hers), is a Clinical Development Engineer at Intuitive. In her work, she is passionate about designing innovative surgical technology and ensuring that the operating room becomes a space where considerations of diversity lead to better patient outcomes. Katrina is a leader in various professional organizations within Intuitive and the Society of Women Engineers, and recently facilitated Intuitive’s first career fair booth at We23. Katrina is a member of the Santa Clara Valley SWE section and is the SWE Early Career Professional AG’s Membership co-chair.