SEI Executive Director Conducts Interview On Women And Careers with Purdue University

On Aug. 18, 1929, the 19th Amendment was ratified. To honor the 100th anniversary of the amendment that gave women the right to vote, FORCES  asked Susan Bryant, executive director of Strategic Education International, to discuss challenges faced by women seeking careers as security strategists. SEI is a nonprofit that works to improve current and emerging national professionals’ understanding and practice of security strategy, and Bryant is a retired military officer with decades of experience as a security strategist.

"I currently teach in two graduate level programs that focus on global policy and security studies. My advice to my female students is simple. First, it doesn’t matter if you didn’t play war games in high school and you have no military experience. It’s irrelevant. Most of what your male counterparts bring in with them is tactical knowledge rather than strategy and they have a tendency to overestimate their respective skill sets as much you have a tendency to underestimate your own. If you apply yourself, you will make up the gap within in a semester."

Read the full interview here.