Why Engineering Isn’t Connecting with Girls: Episode One
In this episode of The Conversation, I sit down with Julie Newman, accomplished aerospace engineer and bestselling author of Pull Don’t Push, to talk about a question worth asking: After decades of encouraging more girls to pursue STEM, why haven’t we seen the progress many expected?
Julie believes the problem isn’t a lack of encouragement. It’s how we’re communicating about engineering in the first place.
Too often, we lead with the obstacles—how difficult engineering is, how few women are in the field, or how much perseverance it takes to succeed. While those challenges are real, Julie argues that constantly emphasizing them may unintentionally discourage the very people we’re trying to inspire.
What if, instead, we started with possibility?
Julie and I discuss what engineering actually looks like: creativity, teamwork, communication, curiosity, and solving meaningful problems. We also explore the difference between pushing someone toward a particular path and creating an opportunity so compelling that they’re naturally pulled toward it.
And while our conversation begins with engineering, the lesson extends well beyond STEM. Whether you’re leading a team, developing young talent, or trying to influence someone toward a new idea, how you communicate the opportunity matters.
This is Part One of my two-part conversation with Julie Newman.
About Julie Newman
Julie Newman is an engineer, author, and champion for women in STEM. She has been recognized as one of the aerospace industry’s “20 Under 35” leaders.
Julie is the Vice President of Engineering at Outpost, a space startup developing a returnable space platform for manufacturing, defense, and global logistics applications. Before Outpost, Julie served as Chief Engineer for a major satellite program at Boeing. Over her career, Julie has worked on a wide range of space programs, including the Space Launch System, Starliner Crew Vehicle, SWOT earth-science satellite, and the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. At NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), she served as Lead Engineer for the radar instrument on the Europa Clipper Mission, which will study the oceans of Jupiter’s moon, Europa, and search for extraterrestrial life.
Julie is the author of the best-selling book titled “Pull Don’t Push: Why STEM Messaging to Girls Isn’t Working and What to Do Instead”. From over a decade of experience in K-12 STEM Outreach, Julie has become the leading expert on how to effectively market STEM careers to young women. Today, she serves as a board member for the Engaging Girls in STEM program with the Los Angeles County Office of Education and as a national advisory committee member for Science Olympiad.
Julie lives in Los Angeles with her husband and their growing family – twin boys and a baby girl who inspire her daily work to make space more accessible for future generations.
