Jody Hall started her career in the 1980s. At that time, there were approximately 10% women studying engineering and far less than 10% women practicing engineering. Fast forward to today and the numbers are a bit different, certainly overall the number of women in science fields has increased. However, there are many areas where there are curiously lower numbers, such as in metallurgy - a subfield in Materials Science & Engineering. When I retired in February 2020, I found I was still hearing too many stories about how women felt they had to work harder to achieve the same status as men. Although I’ve heard a lot of encouraging news about changes in the work environment, I feel sharing conversations with women who have had interesting career paths will help mentor and support others, especially in these areas where there aren’t a lot of role models or mentors . My focus is on why women choose these fields, what they can bring to the table, and why it is a good fit.