North Carolina DOT opens education office to engage youth in transportation careers

By Julie Sneider, associate editor

Nadia Aboulhosn's first job after graduating from North Carolina State University with a civil engineering degree in 2010 was at the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT).

There, as she trained to become a drainage design engineer for the state highway system, she realized the myriad career possibilities the field of transportation offers to people with degrees in STEM fields — science, technology, engineering or mathematics.

"It was really good training for people just out of college," Aboulhosn says of her experience at NCDOT. "Honestly, before working there I had no clue what kinds of jobs were out there for me."

Today, Aboulhosn works as a design engineer in national aviation services at Atkins, a global engineering firm. She's also active in the North Carolina chapter of WTS, through which she's mentoring middle and high school students interested in STEM — and possible careers in transportation. WTS, or "Women's Transportation Seminar," is an international organization dedicated to advancing women in the transportation industry.

Aboulhosn is the kind of young professional that NCDOT officials hope their new Office of Education Initiatives will inspire students to want to emulate. The office — which opened early this year — aims to advance STEM programs and activities for students in kindergarten through high school, college and beyond in order to develop a future labor force that can replace boomer-age transportation workers now approaching retirement, says Ashley Goolsby, the office's director.

NCDOT has long offered internships to college-age students and sponsored "Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day," which invites girls to attend workshops that offer activities in engineering and opportunities to meet women engineers working in transportation. But the Office of Education Initiatives' emphasis on introducing students to the field at a younger age will improve the possibility that they’ll consider pursuing transportation work down the road, Goolsby says.

"In everything we provide for our students — whether it is through an internship or job shadowing opportunities — we want to engage those students as early as possible and get them interested in career paths with the Department of Transportation," she says.

Goolsby's office plans to work on increasing the number of internships, apprenticeships, mentorships, job shadowing, volunteer and other opportunities available to students across North Carolina. The office also is looking to form additional strategic ties with the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, K-12 schools, colleges, transportation businesses and industry associations to encourage students to pursue studies in STEM subject areas.

"Our main focus is to help support students in the STEM fields in any way that we can so that they are interested and engaged," says Goolsby.

The WTS North Carolina Triangle Chapter has partnered with NCDOT for several years to educate girls and young women about transportation jobs. The partnership led to an expansion of Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day to include additional cities — initially the program was available only in Raleigh — and to more than just one day a year, says Paddy Jordan, a roadway designer for Hatch Mott MacDonald in the Raleigh-Durham area and a WTS member.

The chapter also has worked to implement Transportation YOU, an initiative between the U.S. Department of Transportation and WTS that introduces girls ages 13 to 18 to all modes of transportation. Transportation YOU uses mentoring and interactive programs to help spark girls' interest in STEM and educate them about transportation jobs. The USDOT, NCDOT and WTS chapter signed a memorandum of cooperation to implement the initiative in North Carolina in 2009, Jordan says. The chapter offers four Transportation YOU events annually and stands ready to assist NCDOT with its new Office of Education Initiatives.

"We've been working with [NCDOT] for a long time and we're getting even more involved," says Jordan. "Our members find it very rewarding, especially when it comes to mentoring the girls. … We're really looking forward to seeing what new programs and initiatives NCDOT is going to do."

NCDOT's attempt to reach out to students earlier in their education is key to stirring a lasting interest in STEM and transportation careers, says Aboulhosn, who chairs WTS North Carolina Chapter's Transportation YOU initiative.

"There is a huge gap of understanding among middle school students about what we engineers do — and about transportation careers in general," she says. "Middle school is when you can get students interested in a career. I think we as engineers can do a good job explaining what it is that we do every day and that transportation careers can be exciting and fun. It's important to communicate that message to students to get them excited about STEM and transportation."