lack of female engineers

[flot]

I'm going to say that I'd honestly theorize there really are gender differences at play in the way men and women think, and men tend to fall more into the engineering mindset. (trial and error, "figuring things out", wondering how things work, the whole scientific method methodology)

I am not in any way saying this in a BAD way. There are plenty of great female engineers, and there are plenty of dumb male engineers. But _as a whole_ I suspect that there are real "physical" differences at play in the way men and women think.

 

[OJ]

If you think mechanical or chemical engineering has few women try manufacturing engineering, women are few and far between in this profession.

 

[weezerdude]

Its true the lack of female engineers is tremendous throughout the Univerisities in America. In my case at University of California, Irvine.

If you see how men and women differ, you can see why. Humans are brought up with gender roles as well as inequalities. Socially women and men are more brought up with different types of elements and conformities. Be it from a young age, your gender is heavily burden on. If you are a boy, you get the gijoes, sports equipment, and nintendo. If you are a girl, you get the barbie, dollhouse, and makeup. So as time progress and children age into men and women, there roles really states their profession. Men and women change and excel in things that fit into their self, sex, and status. Hobbies, and interest from a very young age might help the individual seek out and overcome obstacles and glass ceilings yet it is very limiting. This is a generalization not always true. Far from it, there is statistics and evidence that shows it.

Easy way to see it, "Girls like to have fun, and engineering is boring!!" (Some girls may see engineering as fun, rare...)

 

[thomsbrain]

Originally posted by: jteef
While I was in school I thought the lack of girls in the engineering programs was astonishing. There are even fewer practicing.<BR><BR>What do women find so undesirable about working in the this profession?

the soul-sucking material coupled with the intensely geeky guys don't add up to the most attractive line of study.

 

[mchammer187]

its kinda like driving and reading a map

 

[Ilmater]

Originally posted by: Imdmn04
woman + logic = incompatible

*OFFICIAL* :thumbsup:

 

[SacrosanctFiend]

Almost no female engineers here, they're all in the medical program with me or the business program trying to find a husband.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Originally posted by: jteef

Originally posted by: BingBongWongFooey<BR>Women's minds are biologically and socially pushed away from the traits that would make a person want to be an engineer.

<BR><BR>There are plenty of girls who are good at math, but for some reason they don't choose engineering. Hell, they rarely choose accounting. I'm just trying to understand why.<BR><BR>Certainly I've met a few attractive women in the field, but you can't deny the tremendous void relative to the general population. (emphasis on few)

Bah, I'm in accounting and I'm one of 3 men in a department of 15 people.

 

[TheLonelyPhoenix]

Samuel Florman (author of "The Civilized Engineer") wrote an article on this topic (not just women, but minorities in engineering too). He said that the general consensus out there was that, if you're smart enough to be an engineer, you're too smart to be an engineer. Meaning, if you could get through an engineering education and practice successfully in it, you could have been a lawyer or doctor and gotten more money/respect for the same time and effort. I think that may very well be a part of it.

The main reason is probably just that traditions are hard to break. Historically, engineering has been a male dominated profession, and most of us choose our careers based on knowing someone who exposed us to that line of work. Men are more likely to be encouraged to take it up as a career, whereas women are probably going to be nudged more towards being a doctor or lawyer.

Nowadays, engineering schools are trying hard to attract women and minorities (as my Engineering Cultures TA put it, "we used up all the white men"), so in time I think it will level out.

 

[jaydee]

I go to an engineering school and the ratio is 8:1.

I go an engineering school and they're are pretty much 3 reasons that girls attend:

1. They know the ratio and want the attention.
2. They're good at math/science and although they plan on being housewives when they get married, they want a career until then and since they're a minority in the field, they're able to afford school with the scholorships they get because of it.
3. They want to have a career in engineering.

I'd say up to 30% of all the girls I've talked to are going for number 2 (a little conservative if anything), there's at least 10% that's obviously going for number 1 and the remaining for number 3.

All of the men that go to my school, go because they're persuing a career in engineering. That's why there's an even greater ratio of guys/girls in the field. Not to mention if all else equal, women will usually be promoted to management quicker than men. It's just the way it works.

 

[CrazyDe1]

The ChemE ratio at my school was like 50/50 and a lot were hot. The CompE / EE ratio was like 2:100 and one wasn't considered a girl and the other had a boyfriend so it was 0:100

That and hot girls know they can just marry someone rich...

 

[Triumph]

Originally posted by: TheLonelyPhoenix
Samuel Florman (author of "The Civilized Engineer") wrote an article on this topic (not just women, but minorities in engineering too). He said that the general consensus out there was that, if you're smart enough to be an engineer, you're too smart to be an engineer. Meaning, if you could get through an engineering education and practice successfully in it, you could have been a lawyer or doctor and gotten more money/respect for the same time and effort. I think that may very well be a part of it.

Now that's just garbage, for a number of reasons. By most measures I am an excellent problem solver, but I can't remember facts and details to save my life, thus I would make a horrible doctor. Would you trust me as your doctor if our conversations went like this?
"Doc, what is this rash?"
"Um...that looks like something I saw back in school. I knew it at one time, so all I have to do is refresh my memory a bit. Hang on while I go look it up."

How about a lawyer? Well, most engineers are by nature introverted, they get their energy from themselves and not from other people. So I can't really see them excelling as a trial lawyer. They would dread being in front of the jury rather than feeding off of it.

It takes different skills to do different things. I don't believe an excellent engineer would necessarily make an excellent doctor, laywer, or president. There are some people who are just excellent at everything they do, but they are few and far between and not worth considering.

 

[TitanDiddly]

Originally posted by: Imdmn04
woman + logic = incompatible

Quoted for unfortunate truth.

 

[imported_weadjust]

My sister is an electrical/computer engineer at NASA. Makes good money and has traveled the world. Started out at Rockwell in Hunstville, AL

I am the only one in the family without a degree in eng. I have a BA in business and own my own business. My dad has a PHD in ME and teaches at MS State

 

[z0mb13]

intelligence is inversely related to boob size!

 

[TheLonelyPhoenix]

Originally posted by: Triumph

Originally posted by: TheLonelyPhoenix
Samuel Florman (author of "The Civilized Engineer") wrote an article on this topic (not just women, but minorities in engineering too). He said that the general consensus out there was that, if you're smart enough to be an engineer, you're too smart to be an engineer. Meaning, if you could get through an engineering education and practice successfully in it, you could have been a lawyer or doctor and gotten more money/respect for the same time and effort. I think that may very well be a part of it.

Now that's just garbage, for a number of reasons. By most measures I am an excellent problem solver, but I can't remember facts and details to save my life, thus I would make a horrible doctor. Would you trust me as your doctor if our conversations went like this?
"Doc, what is this rash?"
"Um...that looks like something I saw back in school. I knew it at one time, so all I have to do is refresh my memory a bit. Hang on while I go look it up."

How about a lawyer? Well, most engineers are by nature introverted, they get their energy from themselves and not from other people. So I can't really see them excelling as a trial lawyer. They would dread being in front of the jury rather than feeding off of it.

It takes different skills to do different things. I don't believe an excellent engineer would necessarily make an excellent doctor, laywer, or president. There are some people who are just excellent at everything they do, but they are few and far between and not worth considering.

I totally agree its garbage, the point is that its also the prevailing attitude.

How many girls are told "You'd make a great engineer"? Not many. How many are told they'd make a great lawyer or doctor? Plenty.

How many guys steer away from engineering because of their gender? None. How many girls are told to take up something besides engineering, where they won't have to deal with gender issues? Plenty.

 

[glugglug]

Originally posted by: jagec
I don't get it...because there are a good number of women in my department, and they're competent enough. I don't know what happens between school and work that changes things...

What year are you in? My freshman engineering-related classes were about 1/3 women. When you get to the junior level that drops to below 1 in 10, and at graduation there were 3 girls out of about 150 people graduating in comp. eng. that semester.

 

[z0mb13]

when I went to berkeley, I always notice how the south side girls are MUCH hotter than the northside girls

reason: social science buildings are on the south side, engineering and physical science buildings are on the north side

unfortunately, I dwell on the north side

 

[ManSnake]

Usually the very few female engineers out there are ugly anyways...

 

[Martin]

out of 330 people in my program, there are exactly 2 good looking girls. Not even amazing, or hot, just good looking.

 

[0roo0roo]

different sexes tend towards different professions. millions have been spent pressuring women into engineering programs and have still failed. its misguided bs. i don't see them setting quotas for men in areas where their numbers are deficient. and there should be plenty since women outnumber men in college now.

 

[Dudd]

There's one cute girl in my aerospace engineering classes. One. And, at least last year, she already had a long term boyfriend. Sadly, my one joke class this semester, intro to film and television, has zero cute girls in it, and only a couple who are even above average. It's sad, really.

 

[Cattlegod]

women are dumb.

 

[Mik3y]

Originally posted by: Yossarian
let me tell you, I met one of the cutest women EVAR today and she's an engineer where I work.

then there is hope for me!

 

[Kibbo]

Originally posted by: DaWhim
that's the nature. men are better in math than women.<BR><BR>I have a nephew(4y/o) and niece(3/0), they are totally different. my nephew doesn't care what he looks. my niece does. I never believe men and women can be equal. <BR><BR>btw, women are better in literature than men.

I blame attitudes like this.

According to cross-gender psychological studies, the deviation curves of most traits overlap to such a great degree that the difference in means becomes almost irrelevant. If we get to the point where the gender split in engineering is closer to 45/55, then I'll blame the gap on predisposition.

Until such time, I would say that a great deal of it is due to either sexist attitudes, or the perception of sexist attitudes.

The latter can affect the choices of women as greatly as an actual sexist act can. If a girl encounters a few dramatic incidents of sexist behaviour (demonstrated in the above post) then that can make her overestimate how many people actually have those kinds of attitudes. If in high school she believes that a lot of people think that way, that will dissuade her from following that path, even if her estimation of how prevalent it is is skewed. Of course, after reading this thread, maybe that attitude is more prevalent than I thought.