<p>Hey. I'm a female from new jersey and I'm looking into applying undergrad in engineering schools. Is mechanical engineering a popular major? From what I have read, it seems very interesting. Are there many women in this area of engineering? Information would be greatly appreciated!</p>
<p>Yes its a popular major. Not that many girls, a few. I'm an EE and there are no girls in my class year... a few a year above and below me.</p>
<p>If you want to be an engineer where girls are most predominate, Bioengineering/Biomedical engineering is #1, I think. Mechanical is kinda up there.</p>
<p>In my year, there were lots of girls in chemical engineering and civil engineering... right around 50%. Fewer in mechanical (maybe 30-40%?), and almost none in electrical engineering (less than 10%). My school did not have a biomedical engr major.</p>
<p>Wow, 50% of girls in any engineering discipline? Amazing. What school is this?</p>
<p>Not most schools, I'll tell you that. BioE and ChemE tend to have the most girls (I think it's about 40% here), and MechE is third. I don't think I've met a girl in EECS before...</p>
<p>My son is mechE and he has some girls in his class, but less than half. They seem to blend in just fine with the guys. If you are interested in the area, you should not let the fact that women are a minority deter you (in fact, it might help you). Most schools probably even have groups to support women in engineering.</p>
<p>Yep, it's called SWE - Society of Women Engineers. It is composed of women engineering students from all different disciplines of engineering - Electrical, Mechanical, Biomedical (if you have this), Industrial/Systems, etc.</p>
<p>Just for reference, 37% of undergrad MechE majors at MIT are women (one of my housemates is a female MIT MechE alum). The highest percentage women of any engineering department there is Materials Engineering at 70%, the lowest is Computer Science & Engineering at 21% (though oddly, straight-up Electrical Engineering is 41%).</p>
<p>I think ken285 is reffering to Cooper Union. Most of the girls here ar usually in ChemE and CivE, while there are some in MechE, we only have 5-6 in my year in EE. I don't know much about the biomed "major" here, you can concentrate in it if you are a ChemE. Though there is a thread floating around on CC about the problems with BioE.</p>
<p>i really wish there would have been more good looking engineering girls</p>
<p>now im about to graduate</p>
<p>i guess thats that.</p>
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Just for reference, 37% of undergrad MechE majors at MIT are women (one of my housemates is a female MIT MechE alum). The highest percentage women of any engineering department there is Materials Engineering at 70%, the lowest is Computer Science & Engineering at 21% (though oddly, straight-up Electrical Engineering is 41%)
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<p>Yeah, but I think we can all agree that MIT is a highly unusual school and women who go to MIT are a highly unusual, self-selected group of women. Many (probably most) women would never once consider attending MIT.</p>
<p>In my mechanical engineering courses, there is a solid female percentage, around 25-30% or so and we have a very strong SWE chapter.</p>
<p>Thanks so much for replying!</p>
<p>At my school 3% of the EE's are women.</p>
<p>I came across Cornell's figures: <a href="http://www.engineering.cornell.edu/student-services/registrar/enrollment-statistics/upload/Fa06_en_3rd_wk_class_major_gender.pdf%5B/url%5D">http://www.engineering.cornell.edu/student-services/registrar/enrollment-statistics/upload/Fa06_en_3rd_wk_class_major_gender.pdf</a></p>
<p>The top 3 majors (in the senior year) in terms of % female are biomed, chemical, and civil. 13% of mechanical engineers are females.</p>
<p>Hi, I started a thread here awhile ago (more like 6 months ago lol) and let's just say it got a little controversial and wacky. It was the one entitled "Why aren't there many minorities in engineering?" Since then I haven't really visited the site much but I've had more free time and decided to start lurking again. </p>
<p>But, anyway, as a girl I'm interested in majoring in chemical engineering and I too was wondering if there are many females representing in the great field of engineering. Also, i was recently accepted to UTAustin and I'm curious about the experiences and numbers of girls in engineering there. (I don't mean to hijack your thread francoid lol)</p>
<p>Grrr! Real men work here only! Urg! Real men do the building!</p>
<p>...</p>
<p>What I'm trying my hardest to do is show you just how much sense it makes to think you are not suited for mechanical engineering just because you are a female. If you have the right qualities and interest in the feild, do it.</p>
<p>Quite simply, you don't have to be male just to be a mechanical engineer. I suppose if you didn't have any qualms with it, you could use the female part to your advantage, what with colleges that want to be diverse and all. </p>
<p>Let's see... Try to be the part of that small fraction, do the work like any other student, and apply yourself.</p>
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What I'm trying my hardest to do is show you just how much sense it makes to think you are not suited for mechanical engineering just because you are a female. If you have the right qualities and interest in the feild, do it.
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<p>I doubt that's the issue. When women are a small minority or a field is perceived as being very macho (and thus attracts people who like that idea), the climate for women can become very unwelcoming. It's not always because of intentional sexism, either. Being the target of excessive flirting/advances by your classmates (because you're one of the only girls in their classes), or not being taken seriously if you dress femme, or listening to the guys in your classes talk about how ugly women in engineering are, can get old very quickly. In general, if not always, larger percentages of women mitigate these potential problems.</p>
<p>But these days, many schools have significant numbers of women in engineering, and strong support networks for women in engineering. I think that the important thing for a woman who's an aspiring mechanical engineer in this regard is to check out the particular school, maybe talk to current female engineering students, or the school's chapter of SWE or a similar group, to find out what the environment is like.</p>
<p>For complete data on the numbers of women, men, minorities, by year, by enginering sub area (ME, EE, Rob, AERO etc) to go the ASEE website. </p>
<p>ASEE.org</a> - American Society for Engineering Education or <a href="http://www.profile.asee.org%5B/url%5D">www.profile.asee.org</a></p>
<p>under K-12 look for class enrollment or degrees awarded. you'll have to poke around a bit but once you find the data website, the information is amazing.</p>
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Yeah, but I think we can all agree that MIT is a highly unusual school and women who go to MIT are a highly unusual, self-selected group of women. Many (probably most) women would never once consider attending MIT.
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<p>Actually, I didnt like it when I was invited to attend one of their seminars. The alumn I talked to, as soon as he heard the high school I came from, made me reference the website (which I had already reviewed) for any questions I had. I thought that was abit rude. Also, during the seminar they mentioned something that more or less came off to me as "we base your decision on whether you went to a public or private school", which to me, sounded discriminatory towards those with lower socioeconomic status. Also, I was thinking I wouldnt fit in. </p>
<p>Electrical/Computer Engineering Major, Female. (Carnegie Mellon, BTW)</p>