2016 Issue

She talked about the importance of being nice and working with others in the workplace and in the classroom, right down to where you sit at lunch, offering suggestions on lunchtime conversations and how they can be times to learn new things about the world around them. “Criticizing on technical grounds or proposing alternative ideas is not bad behavior,” she said. She also spoke specifically to women and how it has been to be one of a handful in most of her workplaces through the years. She has noticed that women work to be managers rather than stay in the technical field and when asked why, they say they aren’t smart enough to stay in the technical field. “It is so sad, and not true,” she said, but also noted that plenty of men feel the same way. “It is an intimidating field,” she added. She advised women not to expect special treatment and told them they shouldn’t get special treatment either. Niki LeClair is in the engineering field at Hill Air Force Base and came to listen to Perlman’s address because of her chosen field. “She hit on a lot of points that I can relate to as woman and an engineer,” she said. She also liked the real-world advice of how to deal with people in the workforce and in life. “She was very encouraging,” she added. Elaine Cope is a WSU student and secretary of the Society of Women Engineers. “She was very fascinating and inspiring,” Cope said of Perlman. “It’s hard to find women as humble and as accomplished,” Cope said. She liked that Perlman encour- aged the women to continue to be themselves in spite of the low numbers of women in the field. WSU student Ashley Fern could also relate to Perlman’s speech. She is also an engineering student and felt inspired by Perl- man’s words. “A lot of the stuff she said I can correlate and use,” she said. “The industry is truly lucky to have her,” she added. Submitted by Marilyn Marshall of Greater Salt Lake Section of SWE by permission to republish from editor. ©2015 by the Standard-Examiner, used with permission. ADVICE | continued from page 57 58