audio by artist jill tietjen sandra scanlon kristy schloss

Jill Tietjen asks Sandra Scanlon how she has balanced her engineering career with her family. Scanlon explains that after realizing that she didn’t want to juggle it all, she started her own company in order to be in charge of her own destiny and have the ability to control how she spends her time. Kristy Schloss notes that the three of them are bound by their unique decisions to leave large corporations and start their own engineering firms. Tietjen and Scanlon explain that by owning their own companies they have more flexibility to volunteer for the causes that are important to them.

Tietjen is the president and CEO an electrical engineering consulting company. She is a Fellow and past president of the Society of Women Engineers and has received the Society’s Distinguished Service Award. Scanlon is the president of an engineering consulting firm. She is a Fellow of SWE and has received the Society’s Distinguished New Engineer and Entrepreneur awards. Kristy Schloss is the president and CEO of an environmental equipment design and manufacturing company. She is also SWE Fellow and a recipient of the Society’s Distinguished New Engineer and Entrepreneur awards.

This recording is Clip 1 of 4. Click on the "Tietjen / Scanlon / Schloss Interview" link above to find all clips from the interview. Click on the "2008 StoryCorps Interviews" link above to find all audio recordings from the 2008 SWE StoryCorps interviews.

This oral history interview was recorded November 7, 2008 at the Society of Women Engineers WE08 National Conference in Baltimore, Maryland as part of StoryCorps (www.storycorps.net), a nationwide initiative of Sound Portraits Productions to record and collect oral history interviews. This excerpt was selected and produced by the SWE Archivist. The excerpt may have been edited for length and clarity. Audio excerpts may be used for research and educational purposes only.

Sandra Scanlon explains why it’s important to host career guidance events for young girls and women to introduce them to opportunities that engineering offers. Jill Tietjen explains that more work needs to be done to help the public understand what engineering encompasses and describes a poll in the early 2000s that found that two-thirds of women and one half of men did not know what engineers did. Kristy Schloss discusses the varied industries that engineering touches.

Tietjen is the president and CEO an electrical engineering consulting company. She is a Fellow and past president of the Society of Women Engineers and has received the Society’s Distinguished Service Award. Scanlon is the president of an engineering consulting firm. She is a Fellow of SWE and has received the Society’s Distinguished New Engineer and Entrepreneur awards. Kristy Schloss is the president and CEO of an environmental equipment design and manufacturing company. She is also SWE Fellow and a recipient of the Society’s Distinguished New Engineer and Entrepreneur awards.

This recording is Clip 2 of 4. Click on the "Tietjen / Scanlon / Schloss Interview" link above to find all clips from the interview. Click on the "2008 StoryCorps Interviews" link above to find all audio recordings from the 2008 SWE StoryCorps interviews.

This oral history interview was recorded November 7, 2008 at the Society of Women Engineers WE08 National Conference in Baltimore, Maryland as part of StoryCorps (www.storycorps.net), a nationwide initiative of Sound Portraits Productions to record and collect oral history interviews. This excerpt was selected and produced by the SWE Archivist. The excerpt may have been edited for length and clarity. Audio excerpts may be used for research and educational purposes only.

Jill Tietjen, Sandra Scanlon, and Kristy Schloss discuss the aspects of their careers that they are proudest of. Tietjen explains the satisfaction she feels when prospective power plants that she has provided consultation services for are certified by regulatory agencies. Scanlon recalls a time when she received letters from a third grade class after she designed the electrical system for a computer lab in a poor school. Schloss describes how she feels after hearing from women who succeeded after taking her advice.

Tietjen is the president and CEO an electrical engineering consulting company. She is a Fellow and past president of the Society of Women Engineers and has received the Society’s Distinguished Service Award. Scanlon is the president of an engineering consulting firm. She is a Fellow of SWE and has received the Society’s Distinguished New Engineer and Entrepreneur awards. Kristy Schloss is the president and CEO of an environmental equipment design and manufacturing company. She is also SWE Fellow and a recipient of the Society’s Distinguished New Engineer and Entrepreneur awards.

This recording is Clip 3 of 4. Click on the "Tietjen / Scanlon / Schloss Interview" link above to find all clips from the interview. Click on the "2008 StoryCorps Interviews" link above to find all audio recordings from the 2008 SWE StoryCorps interviews.

This oral history interview was recorded November 7, 2008 at the Society of Women Engineers WE08 National Conference in Baltimore, Maryland as part of StoryCorps (www.storycorps.net), a nationwide initiative of Sound Portraits Productions to record and collect oral history interviews. This excerpt was selected and produced by the SWE Archivist. The excerpt may have been edited for length and clarity. Audio excerpts may be used for research and educational purposes only.

Sandra Scanlon recalls that early in her career she was frequently mistaken for being an administrative assistant instead of an engineer and felt that her knowledge was tested more because she was a woman. She explains how she overcame those perceptions by ignoring these pressures and doing her job well. Jill Tietjen explains that during her first job at a power company she had to walk through a men’s locker room to get to the control room because the building designers had not considered that a woman would need access to the room. Kristy Schloss explains that women engineers earn their stripes by surviving these encounters and working to change negative perceptions of women engineers.

Tietjen is the president and CEO an electrical engineering consulting company. She is a Fellow and past president of the Society of Women Engineers and has received the Society’s Distinguished Service Award. Scanlon is the president of an engineering consulting firm. She is a Fellow of SWE and has received the Society’s Distinguished New Engineer and Entrepreneur awards. Kristy Schloss is the president and CEO of an environmental equipment design and manufacturing company. She is also SWE Fellow and a recipient of the Society’s Distinguished New Engineer and Entrepreneur awards.

This recording is Clip 4 of 4. Click on the "Tietjen / Scanlon / Schloss Interview" link above to find all clips from the interview. Click on the "2008 StoryCorps Interviews" link above to find all audio recordings from the 2008 SWE StoryCorps interviews.

This oral history interview was recorded November 7, 2008 at the Society of Women Engineers WE08 National Conference in Baltimore, Maryland as part of StoryCorps (www.storycorps.net), a nationwide initiative of Sound Portraits Productions to record and collect oral history interviews. This excerpt was selected and produced by the SWE Archivist. The excerpt may have been edited for length and clarity. Audio excerpts may be used for research and educational purposes only.