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Six years ago, ENGINEERING CH∆NGE® started with a simple idea: create the kind of conversation you might have over coffee with a colleague about the challenges—and opportunities—facing engineering and other STEM organizations.

In this season finale, my co-producer Quincy joins me behind the mic as we look back on six seasons of the podcast, the lessons learned along the way, and what might be next for ENGINEERING CH∆NGE®. We discuss why I shifted to a solo format for Season 5, how the companion ebook Engineering for Society influenced the season's content, the realities of producing a podcast while balancing a demanding professional life, and why some of this season's most difficult conversations were also the most important.

We also explore how the podcast has evolved from a focus on engineering education to broader conversations about organizational systems, leadership, culture, technology, and change—and why listeners both inside and outside STEM continue to connect with these topics.

In this episode, we discuss:

• The origins of "Grab a Latte and Listen"
• How ENGINEERING CH∆NGE® has evolved over six seasons
• Why Season 5 shifted to a solo format
• Lessons learned about balancing impact, perfectionism, and self-care
• The emotional story behind What Systems Lose When Fear Leads
• Why systemic challenges often appear in different forms but share common roots
• How the Engineering for Society ebook helped shape Season 5
• Possibilities for Season 6, including guest interviews, panel discussions, and research-to-practice conversations
• Why your feedback will help shape the future of the podcast

I'd Love to Hear From You
What topics, guests, challenges, or conversations would be most valuable to you in Season 6?

Use the fan mail link in the show notes and let me know. Your feedback will help shape the next chapter of ENGINEERING CH∆NGE®.

Resources
Request your FREE copy of the ebook, Engineering for Society at EngineeringChangePodcast.com

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ENGINEERING CHΔNGE® is a registered trademark held by Dr. Yvette E. Pearson for producing and providing podcasts.

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In this episode of ENGINEERING CH∆NGE®, I take a systems-centered look at one of the biggest conversations happening across engineering organizations and society right now: AI.

While many organizations are focused on AI models, tools, productivity, and technical readiness, this episode explores a deeper question:

What happens when AI is introduced into systems that already struggle with communication gaps, lack of trust, inequitable processes, or flawed decision-making?

Drawing on examples from industry and recent research, we'll discuss:

• The disconnects AI adoption is exposing between leaders and employees
• How AI acts as an amplifier within organizational systems
• Why “human in the loop” must involve accountability, not just oversight
• How people-centered organizational systems shape AI outcomes
• Systems-level questions leaders should be asking before scaling AI adoption

I also introduce MESA® (Measure, Evaluate, Strategize, Act), a framework we use at The PEER Group to help organizations navigate change and continuous improvement.

If you’ve been thinking about AI primarily as a technology issue, this episode invites you to consider the organizational systems shaping what AI will ultimately produce.

Grab a latte and listen.

Request your free copy of the ebook Engineering for Society at engineeringchangepodcast.com.

If this conversation resonates with you, follow ENGINEERING CH∆NGE® and leave a five-star review to help more engineers and leaders join the conversation.

Support the show

ENGINEERING CHΔNGE® is a registered trademark held by Dr. Yvette E. Pearson for producing and providing podcasts.

Send us Fan Mail

Is engineering really a meritocracy?

We’re taught that hard work, strong performance, and clear metrics determine who advances. But what if the system isn’t as objective as it seems?

In this episode of ENGINEERING CH∆NGE®, I break down how “merit” is often interpreted, or even manufactured, not measured and how the systems we trust to evaluate performance can actully distort it.

In this episode:

• Why performance without context is incomplete and often misinterpreted.
• How shifting standards and uneven scrutiny reshape who advances.
• What happens when metrics become targets and start driving behavior instead of reflecting impact.

Through real-world examples - from internship decisions to NSF review panels - this episode reveals how evaluation systems can manufacture merit instead of measure it.

If you’ve ever questioned how decisions really get made in academia, engineering, or leadership, this conversation will change how you see performance, potential, and fairness.

Ask yourself:
Are we rewarding true impact, or just what’s easiest to measure?

Grab a latte and listen.

If this conversation resonates with you, follow ENGINEERING CH∆NGE® and leave a five-star review to help more engineers and leaders join the conversation.

Visit the ENGINEERING CH∆NGE® podcast website to learn more and to request a free copy of my new brief, Engineering for Society.

Support the show

ENGINEERING CHΔNGE® is a registered trademark held by Dr. Yvette E. Pearson for producing and providing podcasts.

Send us Fan Mail

Engineering outcomes don’t happen in isolation—and understanding how engineering systems and organizational systems shape those outcomes is critical for effective engineering leadership.

In this episode of ENGINEERING CH∆NGE®, I challenge one of the most persistent, misleading and, quite frankly, aggravating phrases in engineering: “soft skills.”

There is nothing soft about teamwork, communication, and other people-centered professional competencies that determine whether engineering work succeeds.

Using a systems lens, this episode examines how engineering outcomes are produced through interactions among people, across roles, and between organizations and the communities they serve. It also explores how narrow definitions of merit obscure the very contributions that hold teams, projects, and systems together. (More to come on this in Episode 32).

Through real-world examples and personal reflection, I make the case for eliminating the term “soft skills” altogether and replacing it with a more accurate understanding of what engineering work actually requires, and thus, what our organizations should recognize and value.

In this episode:

• Why the term “soft skills” fails to describe critical engineering capabilities
• How people, relationships, and context shape engineering outcomes
• What traditional definitions of merit overlook
• Why expanding what we value strengthens engineering systems

If this conversation resonates with you, follow ENGINEERING CH∆NGE® and leave a five-star review to help more engineers and leaders join the conversation.

Visit the ENGINEERING CH∆NGE® podcast website to learn more and to request a free copy of my new brief, Engineering for Society.

Support the show

ENGINEERING CHΔNGE® is a registered trademark held by Dr. Yvette E. Pearson for producing and providing podcasts.

Send us Fan Mail

What happens to engineering systems when fear shapes the conditions under which people work, or are allowed to work?

In this episode of ENGINEERING CH∆NGE®, I examine how fear-driven decisions inside organizational systems can reshape their capacity to produce research, education, and societal outcomes, and not for the better.

Drawing from lived experience and patterns emerging across institutions, this conversation explores how organizational systems lose capacity, expertise, and knowledge when silence replaces truth and optics replace accuracy.

This episode invites listeners to reflect on the often invisible organizational inputs that shape engineering outcomes and what leaders must be willing to see if our systems are to serve society effectively.

In this episode:

• How fear reshapes organizational decision-making
• What happens when systems lose people, knowledge, and capacity
• Why engineering outcomes depend on organizational conditions
• A “System Check” reflection for leaders responsible for engineering and research outcomes

If this conversation resonates with you, follow ENGINEERING CH∆NGE® and leave a five-star review to help more engineers and leaders join the conversation.

Visit the ENGINEERING CH∆NGE® podcast website to learn more and to request a free copy of my new brief, Engineering for Society.

Support the show

ENGINEERING CHΔNGE® is a registered trademark held by Dr. Yvette E. Pearson for producing and providing podcasts.

Send us Fan Mail

ENGINEERING CH∆NGE® is Back!

If you checked out the reboot trailer, you know this season is more focused, more structured, and more intentional.

This episode is a reminder of the foundational framework for ENGINEERING CH∆NGE®... REDEFINE.

REDEFINE helps us examine the dimensions of engineering work that shape outcomes:

• RE-image who we see as engineers and what we see as engineering;
• DE-silo our approach to academic programs, research, and problem solving;
• FINE-tune organizational conditions so people with different backgrounds and perspectives can contribute fully to outcomes that serve all of society.

Throughout this season, we’ll return to these three elements as we explore leadership, ethics, convergence, community engagement, and other aspects of our organizational systems. This episode lays the foundation and context for what's to come.

The System Check

This episode also introduces The System Check, a closing reflection you’ll hear each week.

It’s a structured pause to help you look more clearly at the system you’re operating in. This episode asks:

• How is engineering defined in your context, by language, imagery, and context?
• What conditions shape who is able to contribute meaningfully, and when?
• How often do you step back to examine whether the system you’re part of is designed to support the outcomes it claims to value?

Because change begins with how clearly we see.

If You’re Glad ENGINEERING CH∆NGE® Is Back

• Follow the show so you don’t miss the rest of the season.
• Leave a 5-star rating and short written review; it helps other agents of change find the podcast.
• Share this episode with a colleague who cares about strengthening engineering from the inside out.

Thanks for being part of this next chapter of ENGINEERING CH∆NGE®!

Visit the ENGINEERING CH∆NGE® podcast website to learn more and to request a free copy of my new brief, Engineering for Society.

Support the show

ENGINEERING CHΔNGE® is a registered trademark held by Dr. Yvette E. Pearson for producing and providing podcasts.

Send us Fan Mail

We're gearing up for the launch of Season 5 on Wednesday, February 25. We have a new format that builds more strongly than ever on our REDEFINE℠ framework and centers people-centered change in organizational systems. Check out this trailer to discover what we have in store!

Visit the ENGINEERING CHΔNGE® podcast website to learn more and to download a free copy of my new brief, Engineering for Society.

Support the show

ENGINEERING CHΔNGE® is a registered trademark held by Dr. Yvette E. Pearson for producing and providing podcasts.

Send us Fan Mail

This is a continuation of our conversation from Episode 27, where we introduced current and past participants in conversations about the National Science Foundation's Alliances for Graduate Education and the Professoriate (AGEP) program. In this episode, we discussed the importance of institutional change and the scholars shared their advice for program officers and project leaders on programmatic strategies for advancing equity in the STEM professoriate and for new and prospective scholars on how to thrive as graduate students, postdoctoral scholars or early career faculty members.

Our guests include:

• Dr. Luis De Jesus Baez, Assistant Professor of Chemistry at the University at Buffalo
• Brianna Gonzalez, Integrative Neuroscience Ph.D. Candidate at Stony Brook University
• Gretchen Johnson, Biology Ph.D. Candidate at Howard University
• Diego Padilla-Garcia, Ph.D. Candidate in Psychological and Brain Sciences at the University of California Santa Barbara
• Dr. Lecia Robinson, Assistant Professor of Biology at Tuskegee University
• Dr. Tammi Taylor, Assistant Professor of Biology at Jackson State University
• Dr. Shavonn Whiten, Lead Scientist at Booz Allen Hamilton
• Dr. Michael D. Whitt, Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering at California State University – San Luis Obispo

When you listen, please do these three (3) things for me:

1. Take a moment to SUBSCRIBE, leave a 5-STAR RATING, a GREAT REVIEW, and SHARE with others.
2. Follow me and #EngineeringChangePodcast on Twitter.
3. Visit engineeringchangepodcast.com for more information and to connect with me.

Support the show

ENGINEERING CHΔNGE® is a registered trademark held by Dr. Yvette E. Pearson for producing and providing podcasts.