In this Diverse podcast episode, FY19 SWE President Penny Wirsing speaks to Dr. Kristina Ropella, Opus Dean of the Opus College of Engineering at Marquette University. Over the course of her career, Dr. Kris Ropella has been the first woman in several college leadership positions—full professor, chair of the Department of Biomedical Engineering, and now as Opus Dean. As she has progressed throughout her career as a female in a male-dominated field, she has developed a keen interest in female leadership and a mission to “change the face of engineering” to create a field that is more representative of the diverse world in which we live.
“As a female in engineering, I know how daunting it can be to enter places where you do not see others like yourself; it can make you doubt your success and your “right” to be there. Underrepresented backgrounds in engineering need to see mentors and people who look just like them, succeeding in engineering and showing them that they, too, can be engineers.”
Dr. Kristina Ropella
Check out more SWE podcasts:
- Podcast: The Experience of Being an Asian-American Female Engineer
- Podcast: President Penny Wirsing Looks Back at Her Career
- Podcast: Dr. Kerri Phillips Encourages Girls to “Stay in the Game”
- Podcast: Elizabeth Loboa, Mizzou’s First Female Dean of Engineering
- Podcast: Meet eXXec 2019 Speaker, Rose Hollister
- Podcast: PepsiCo Chemical Engineer Crea Kitcher
