<p>I frequently hear that the number of black engineers and black engineering students is very low. I'd like to hear from black engineers or engineering students about their school experiences and/or work experiences. Just what it was like.</p>
<p>I'm a black male and plan on majoring in engineering. Hopefully the low number of black males in college overall, let alone engineering, can help me get into some of the schools I want.</p>
<p>Well, my cousin wanted to be an engineer a few years ago and attended a lot of workshops and everything. I’m guessing he still wants to be one, and he’s going to attend Cornell. </p>
<p>It can help you to just research some programs to get involved with and add them into your ECs.</p>
<p>I am actually considering Applied Mathematics, but seeing how I’m going to a school known for it’s engineering… I think that I’m going to consider it even more…</p>
<p>You really should :)</p>
<p>My father was a black engineer. He’s been retired for about 7 years now. Maybe 6. He was able to retire when he was 56, when he still had two minor children to send to college, so that gives you some idea of the level of financial security the job offers. He worked at Proctor and Gamble, started in paper, I believe, but spent most of his time working with soap. It was somewhat of a challenge to get the job because Proctor and Gamble, like many institutions of the time, wasn’t so big on hiring people who weren’t white and male. I mean, maybe there were some white female secretaries, but that was as “diverse” as it got. He had a very successful career there for nearly 30 years. It always seemed to me that he went to work too early and came back to late. They wanted him to move half way around the world (Vietnam), but they were okay when he didn’t. One sucky thing was that the had him working in Louisiana building a plant for 2 yrs and I only saw him on the weekends. But yeah, over all, it was great.</p>
<p>My dad (83) was a mechanical engineer. He designed for the Big 3 (r.i.p.). He was particularly proud of his Corvette parking brakes (!). Understand that he was a rarity being a Black engineer in 60’s and 70’s. Even now, he does applied mathemaics stuff for relaxation (!). </p>
<p>My best friend has a masters in electrical engineering. She (yes, she) likes building robots (still). I attended college with several Blacks in the Engineering school and they are successful, although many of us are thinking about retiring soon. </p>
<p>If that’s your passion, go for it. Bottom line, if you like, go for it.</p>
<p>Yeah that’s been my experience for my math/science/engineering classes. There will be more black students in the intro classes and then the numbers start to dwindle as you go higher up. I would guess the most I’ve ever had was 10-15. 15 is pushing it.</p>
<p>I know that was a vague description of my experience, but I not quite sure what you are looking for. Could you ask more specific questions?</p>
<p>Well, I’m black and I’d like to be an engineer.</p>