We quickly notice that none of the words in the list appear anywhere in the grid. The flavor text suggests history for the month. March is Women’s History Month in the US, so each of the careers clues a historically significant woman. The leftmost column of the grid reads FIND LAST NAMES ONLY, which saves some time when searching the grid.
The women featured are as follows:
Activist: Susan B. ANTHONY
Astronaut: Sally RIDE
Athlete: Billie Jean KING
Comedian: Lucille BALL
Diarist: Anne FRANK
Doctor: Elizabeth BLACKWELL
Host: Oprah WINFREY
Judge: Sandra Day O’CONNOR
Pilot: Amelia EARHART
Programmer: Ada LOVELACE
Scientist: Marie CURIE
Sharpshooter: Annie OAKLEY
Solvers who are unfamiliar with any of these people are encouraged to look into them further. They are each extraordinary in their own right.
The names connect or touch in three groups in the finished grid.
The hidden names spell out the answer SHE.
(When originally published, BALL appeared in the puzzle in two separate locations. The puzzle has been updated to fix this. Thanks to everybody who pointed it out.)