Upstream Dream

Sally Goodson's dream centered on one thing: a professional engineering career. Now, read the telling memoir of her journey from a young, upstart college grad, to a seasoned engineer in the challenging 1980s offshore oil and gas industry. This experience led her to achieve later success as an influencer of global energy standards.

IN THE 1970s, STEM and the oil and gas industry might have been a man's world, but Sally Goodson didn't let that stand in her way.

Sally attended engineering school in the 1970s, after the passage of Title IX when universities began to accept more women and women began entering the workforce in non-traditional roles. After graduating with a Degree in Engineering, she entered the offshore oil and gas industry shortly after the "oil shocks" of the 1970s as one of the first women to design, build and install offshore oil rigs.

With boundless determination, Sally's work in the offshore oil and gas industry, known as part of the "Upstream Segment," gave her the foundation of knowledge she needed to catapult herself to greater heights later in her career.

Working offshore, Sally learned to adapt her persona to survive in an all-male environment and be respected as an equal.

Sally's unequivocal determination to succeed as an engineer motivated her to conquer the technical challenges of the 1980s oil and gas industry-but it was her innate enthusiasm and personality that allowed her to overcome some of the biases she encountered along her career path.

Upstream Dream is a memoir with lessons for everyone. For students pursuing engineering degrees and readers interested in autobiographies about women's varied careers, the memoir provides an unparalleled personal look at the oil and gas industry in the 1980s and beyond, the gender bias in STEM careers, and the determination it takes to over- come obstacles to find success.