I am a first-year student enrolled in the College of Engineering at The Pennsylvania State University. My intended major is industrial engineering, a branch of engineering concerned with the improvement and optimization of complex processes related to busines-oriented disciplines. I am also a female. I have long blonde hair, and I am in a sorority. I enjoy shopping and getting my nails done, and my favorite movie is How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days. When I tell people I am an engineering student, I often receive puzzled looks. I hear “You don’t remind me of an engineer,” or “I don’t think you will fit in with those kids.” Even Dr. Scarlett Miller, who obtained her PhD in Industrial Engineering, had a similar experience. When she applied to her first internship at UPS, they asked her “Do you realize you will have to wear a brown uniform and get dirty everyday?” The “boys club” mentality has dominated the engineering field for years. A recent study by the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee found that women comprised only 20% of engineering graduates and 11% of practicing engineers. The absence of women from the workforce is greatly undermining the potential success of the nation. Women are assets in engineering design because they are attentive to detail and perceptive to human need. In addition, women generally excel in organization of project management and communication among all group members. The addition of women to engineering would also diversify the workforce, allowing different perspectives and unique approaches. The truth of the matter is that the United States is in need of technological expertise to stay competitive in the global market. In Asia, 21.5% of college graduates are engineers, compared to 12.5% in Europe and 4.5% in the United States. If the United States is to keep up with the present technological age, an increase in the quantity, quality, and diversity of engineering must take place. More women will be attracted to engineering if a fundamental shift occurs in women’s pre-college, college, and post-college years.
The outlook of women engineering is in part dependent on a child’s K-12 development. Boys develop their spacial awareness skills at a young age by playing with construction toys such as legos and linking logs. Girls are immediately put at a disadvantage because they are not exposed to task-oriented projects during play times. While barbies and dress-up foster a young girl’s imagination, she should be exposed to toys that cultivate 3D design and visualization, as well. The current toy market has attempted to reach girls by making identical products pink. Even though girls undoubtedly like pink, toy producers have failed to recognize that boys enjoy building and hands-on activities, while girls enjoy reading and using their imaginations. Debbie Sterling, engineering graduate from Stanford University, recognized the need for toys to get girls excited about engineering, so she created Goldieblocks. Goldieblocks is a book and construction box combined, which stars Goldie and her friends as they go on adventures and solve problems using simple machines. In an interview, she stated “Girls are more than princesses, they have the potential to build the future.” Debbie Sterling’s prototype raised over $250,000 in just two weeks. Similar innovations should be considered to revolutionize the ways girls view the engineering world.
Misconceptions of the different types and facets of engineering have resulted in a generation underwhelmed and uninterested in pursuing the field. In one study, a majority of K-12 students expressed views that engineers build and fix cars, and 10% of the participants believed engineers drive trains. Another study revealed 25%-35% of people connect engineering to irrelevant tasks such as cleaning teeth, arranging flowers, and selling food. How can we expect innovative, intelligent women to pursue engineering if they don’t even have a basic understanding of what the profession entails? Recognizing this problem, The National Academy of Engineering launched a collaborative effort to change the face of engineering called “Changing the Conversation.” They have been working to shift public views about the profession, stressing the vital role engineers play in shaping the future. These same messages need to resonate in the ears of women as they chose career paths.
Women should realize that engineering, like shoes and jewelry, comes in all shapes and sizes. There are numerous engineering sub-disciplines and interdisciplinary subjects branching from the traditional chemical, civil, electrical, and mechanical engineering subjects: biomolecular, materials, molecular, process, environmental, geotechnical, structural, transport, computer, electronic, optical, power, aerospace, acoustical, manufacturing engineering, thermal, vehicle, agricultural, biological, energy, industrial, petroleum, and nuclear. Major specialties are broken down into sub-disciplines where one can combine areas of study to create a specific concentration of interest. In other words, there is a branch of engineering for everyone. If girls are raised thinking civil engineers build bridges and electrical engineers fix cars, then the profession will never attract a strong female population. Dr. Scarlett Miller, a professor in the College of Engineering at The Pennsylvania State University, originally wanted to be a psychology major. After attending an industrial engineering seminar in high school, she was introduced to Human Factors, a specification of industrial engineering which concentrates on human-centered design. The major combines the areas of psychology and engineering to develop technology and product features to cater to human wants and needs. Because of this seminar, Dr. Scarlett Miller attained her PhD in industrial engineering at the University of Illinois, and she is now currently at the forefront of user-center design research. Dr. Miller has been able to shape her interest in psychology into an exciting, innovative profession that allows traveling, teaching, and researching. We need to make sure prospective, female students are aware that the goal of engineering is to creating a happier, more productive society by solving the world’s most complex problems in a variety of situations.
Additionally, we need to implement community programs, inner-scholastic events, and summer camps to abolish the engineering stereotype and expose how essential the field is to our health, happiness, and safety. Penn State has a program called “Engineering Ambassadors,” in which current engineering students go into local high schools and introduce real world applications to topics they may be learning in their math and science classes. The students are excited to learn and engage in these hands-on activities. Additionally, the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) organizes a two-day SWE Stayover. Prospective high school, women engineers are given the opportunity to shadow first-year engineers to their classes and other activities. I hosted a high school student for the event earlier in the Spring, and found the mentoring experience to be extremely rewarding and beneficial for the high schooler to really see what the major is like. These types of programs should be spread throughout the U.S. to help change common perceptions and recruit future engineers. Although these projects do a fine job at spreading awareness of the major, I believe there is still much room for improvement in the kinds of ideas being presented. I have noticed that many of the activities introduced relate back to traditional applications of circuits and bridges. We need to sell the idea of what engineers can be, instead of selling the idea of what engineers have been in the past. Engineering is such an exciting field because one has the capability of defining the future. Rather than rudimentary physics examples, the design, innovation, and creativity components of engineering should be emphasized. If young women could fully grasp the endless possibilities of engineering, I believe we would see a surge of talented, intelligent females exploring the profession.
As women chose to pursue engineering degrees and begin college, universities must ensure equal opportunities for success among males and females by offering female-oriented courses and student-run programs for women engineers. Research shows that most women engineers drop out before ever taking an engineering class, explaining that the material is boring and irrelevant. Engineering has a lot of math and science prerequisites that often implement applications geared toward men. As an engineering student, I can relate to feelings of living in a “boys world,” as we discussed car collisions, bullet impacts, frictionless hockey pucks, and rocket ships. While engineering applications can be seen, felt, and heard all around us, I find it sad that there has been no attempt to relate any material to those of female interests. Many universities have started requiring their first-year students to take an engineering course to teach teamwork, presentation, and design tactics. First-year engineers at Penn State are enrolled in Engineering Design 100, to give new students a glance at the profession. This first-year class may be an excellent outlet to offer a variety of courses with a female slant. Tufts University offers a course entitled “Gourmet Engineering” for first-year students, which explains heat transfer through kitchen lab experimentation. The course has gained overwhelming support and appraise from female students. Not to mention, Tufts University has a 32% female population in its engineering department, twice the national average! I believe other universities would receive similar results if they were to make strides towards equalizing the content between genders.
Student programs for women engineers create communities for individuals to seek friendship, encouragement, and counseling throughout their academic careers. Women engineering programs differ from school-to-school, but they all have the same mission to provide necessary resources for women to succeed. The Women in Engineering Program (WEP) and the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) are the student services here at Penn State. These programs offer an open environment for girls to relate to similar people sharing their circumstances. They also provide excellent networking opportunities to attain internships, co-ops, and actual jobs after graduation. Upon my arrival at Penn State, I participated in a first-year orientation program through WEP. I was introduced to basic modeling and programing concepts as well as future study abroad, internship, career fair, and teaching-assistant opportunities. I was given a mentor who is a third-year Industrial Engineering, as well. She has given me great encouragement and advice unparalleled to that of a guidance counselor or parent because she understands the difficulties I face. During WEP orientation, I also met one of my best friends who is currently in all of my engineering classes. We have been able to supplement each others’ weaknesses and collaborate on work-intensive, time-consuming assignments. In my estimation, WEP has been essential to my success thus far. By providing critical support for women engineers, student-run organizations enhance a woman’s overall experience as a member of the college community and work force.
Other efforts may be made to change the culture on college campuses. The national average of women faculty in engineering colleges is 4%. If we are serious about increasing women enrollment, then the staff should reflect similar values. Additionally, restrooms should be equally distributed between male and female, for currently many engineering buildings have predominately male facilities. The university should also make an attempt to squash all hostile and prejudice behavior toward female engineers. A zero-tolerance policy for students and faculty should be the standard across the board. If necessary changes are made, engineering colleges have a great opportunity to attract female engineers.
The engineering workforce has also failed to retain its female graduates. A study by the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM) found that nearly half of all female engineering graduates work in an unrelated field. An additional report by SWE stated that 1 in 4 females leave engineering as opposed to 1 in 10 males. These women once believed in the value of obtaining technical careers, and thus persisted through rigorous classes at the college level. They expected an engineering degree to produce positive outcomes for their lives. So what caused them to change their minds? The Project on Women Engineers’ Retention (POWER), led and co-authored by Nadya Fouad, UWM Distinguished Professor of Educational Psychology and Romilia Singh, associate professor of business at UWM, sought to answer this question. The study surveyed over 3,700 women with engineering degrees and found that workplace climate made women switch professions. One respondent stated “Most of management is a male-dominated culture (male conversation topics, long hours, demanding lifestyle, career-focused expectations)….women usually chose to leave without fighting the uphill battle to make improvements. It is a self-sustaining cycle!” Women reported the lack of other female colleagues and mentors made the engineering field lonely and unwelcoming. Males tend to group together, leaving females at a disadvantage to engage in critical networking opportunities. Another participant spoke “You have to be a bit tougher when you are around the guys, you feel you have to do better than them to be accepted.” Somehow, women feel like they have to prove themselves to be “just as smart” or “just as talented” as the men of the team. The truth of the matter is these women are smart, hard working, talented individuals whom have met resistance and judgement on every front of their educational and career paths. They are just as capable as men to perform and contribute to the team. The workplace must eliminate disrespectful, rude, and derogatory actions related gender discrimination by establishing an anonymous reporting system. A fundamental shift must occur for the engineering world to recognize their need for women and encourage their uniqueness and diversity.
The survey revealed additional factors that lead to a woman’s decisions to withdraw from the profession. Women expressed discontent in the lack of clear, defined goals. Objectives and responsibilities were ambiguous, which made women feel unproductive and invaluable. In addition, defined paths for advancement need to be addressed upfront. Some survey participants felt overlooked for promotions despite qualifications. Companies need to ensure equal opportunities for advancements to entice talented, capable women to stay in the profession. Finally, women reported stress trying to balance family life with an inflexible, demanding work schedule. One participant commented “I have left because I don’t like working longer than 12 hour days and have been made to feel like a lazy employee unless I put in 14 hours a day plus time on the weekends.” Another stated “There is a lot of pressure to get things done and little sympathy for personal issues at work.” Engineering careers often involve extensive travel with little to no notice; responsibilities at home have to come secondary to job responsibilities, which makes raising a family difficult while maintaining a role in engineering. Flexibility in the work place such as part-time, telecommuting, and leave are all possible options to make engineering careers more possible for women. If the profession is to attract more females, companies need to create a supportive climate for fulfilling multiple life role obligations.
“At my last engineering job women were fed up with the culture: arrogant, inflexible, completely money-driven, sometimes unethical, intolerant of differences in values and priorities. I felt alienated, in spite of spending my whole career trying to act like a man.” I believe women have an extraordinary opportunity to change the world through the engineering profession. We need to overcome obstacles in our pre-college, college, and post-college experiences in order to achieve equality for women in the field. ***still have to finish conclusion***
