It was 2017, and Dr. Rupal Mehta was invited to speak at a National Defense University briefing in Washington, D.C. The event was a public conversation about national defense. As she walked into the grand, richly paneled conference room at Fort McNair, she felt a bit intimidated.
"I was nervous, because all of the other speakers were very well-established, respected scholars – and all men," she said.
Then she reminded herself that she had been in many similar situations throughout her life and career, and she knew exactly what to do — be the leading scholar she had worked so hard to be.
- Read "Diversifying national defense researchers: Equipping a new generation of scholars and policy leaders" on the National Strategic Research Institute website.
