What is Engineering: Women in Engineering

written by Yiran Li

Engineering is a traditional male-dominated field. History of women working in engineering in the US starts from World War II, because men were drafted into the armed forces. Currently, only 14% of engineers are female in the US. The shortage of female engineer caused by lack of confidence in science subjects. The gender stereotype makes women confused about their abilities and avoid choosing engineering related majors. Also, female engineer is that women need to spend more time on their family and children. It is hard to re-enter the engineering work after a period of absence. From my personal experience, I was interested in mechanical engineering when I selected my major, but many people, including my parent and advisor, tried to convince me to give up this idea because "This major is unsuited to girls". Therefore, I think it's quite important to break this gender stereotype in engineering.

To break this stereotype, the most important step is that we need to explore women's interest in engineering and encourage them to be confident of themselves. Lockhead Martin developed a program helping K-12 students' success in STEM in the future. The program is designed to inspire the next generation of innovators, explorers, inventors and pioneers to pursue STEM careers. They have a special branch, Girls Inc., to aid girls who have trouble. The mentors helped girls to be more confident and overcome physiological difficulties. I think it's quite an excellent project because it's the first step to help balance the ratio of women and men in engineering.

Reference: http://www.ieee.org/membership_services/membership/women/index.html