On being a girl in engineering
Being a female in an engineering program rocks and also sucks.
Rocks: When people ask what you are studying and you answer, they say, "Oh wow! Good for you!"
Sucks: My male classmates, after answer that question, receive a "oh, cool."
Rocks: There's a club called "Women in Engineering" that is meant to address the issues that surround females in engineering programs
Sucks: When we get together, we feel the need to watch movies like Sleepover (especially watching Steve Carell in a role he is way too good for) and paint toenails.
Rocks: At a party if you see two other girls from your class, you can say "50% representation!"
Sucks: Yeah, because there are only 6 girls in your class.
Rocks: Engineers have cheers and chants and secrets and symbols
Sucks: Right except the songs are really misogynistic and homophobic, like Godiva's Hymn. And lots of people feel that The Tool is a pretty sexist mascot, too. And while I'm usually more than willing to call people out on that sort of stuff, when the attitude of ERTW (engineers rule the world) is so institutionalized, you feel way more helpless. So when people make sexist "jokes", instead of pointing out that it was offensive and lame, you give them a furrowed brow look but then laugh it off because it feels like nobody at all is on your side. I definitely encounter more sexism and WAY more homophobia within the engineering world than I do ANYWHERE else.
Rocks: You have an automatic bond with all other female engineers
Sucks: Even if they're annoying. Just because we both studied the same thing we have to be friends?
Rocks: You know a lot about a lot
Sucks: Say, theoretically, at a party, somebody wonders why pop bottles are shaped the way they are, and you start talking about longitudinal and hoop stress, they call you cute. I mean, call me a nerd or something. There's nothing cute about thin walled pressure vessels.
Rocks: The TAs learn your name first
Sucks: ... alright, that one is just a Rocks.
13 comments:
The boys get better as they get older. Promise.
The patriarchy is exhausting. Good thing you're a triathlete.
It's funny to me that Engineers consider themselves to be superior intellects yet are unable to turn a critical eye to their own rituals.
Women's Studies should be compulsory.
Ooh. I went to a school with a one to 12 ratio of boys to girls. I was the usual teacher's pet just because I was the only one they could keep straight.
There's a really good engineering program at VA Tech and one of my Fraternity Brothers (who was female as we were in a co-ed service Fraternity) would always complain about this kind of thing. Hopefully, in the near future, such stereotypes will dissipate.
One of my BFFs is an engineer and these rocks/sucks issues continue pretty consistently into the work world. She does get a lot of attention for her successes, though!
my sister's one of 3 girls in her genetics phd program. she, uh, has a lot of the same problems.
Three of my best friends from university all went in for engineering (all three are mechanical). Everything you said was everything they had mentioned.
And any time I would complain about the lack of men in the Education program, they would gloat.
Are the TAs cute? :)
This is one of my favourite lfar posts of late (well, maybe except for the word videos which are both darling and hilarious)! You're awesome. I'm a fan of the rocks/sucks format - I might stea^H^H^H^Hborrow it, mmmkay? :-)
Out here there are so many girl goin for engineering it's no big deal anymore.. When I tell people I've done my Bachelors in Science, they ask, why didnt you go for engineering? Like its a compulsion for all science students to go for engineering and if you don't, you're just dumb and didnt get through.. Now that sucks..
It's the same thing on production. I was one of 2 females on a 50+ production crew for an event. It Rocks.
I feel like you could send these guys to the library to give them a taste of their own medicine. Since they're a definite minority in library world, they hear more about shoes and baking than they probably ever want to. That'll teach 'em to appreciate engineering girls.
I've had the same 4 girls in all my engineering courses since freshmen year. I think they have become more comfortable with the habits of the guys. Guy to girl ration at my engineering school: 8:1.
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