Actually he was the head of the department. And he’s been there for 30+ years. We checked out lots of engineering programs. Never ran into this. And many have resolved this issue. Doesn’t have to be 50/50 representation. But it can’t be run like the 1950’s these days. You do realize if you have a daughter and the kid gets this prof, it’s likely to be a problem. Lots of things around this including access to internships, disparaging remarks (which if he felt comfortable to share in the meeting with parents were definitely going to be present in the classroom. Just a dinosaur. A dinosaur, leading the department. No thanks. My kid laughed and said no way.
I’m not looking for equality across the board for women in engineering. But I am and the other women in the audience were looking for parity and R-E-S-P-E-C-T. The other parents in the honors break out were talking about its so it definitely hit a nerve with multiple people. Also, the women on the board did have some insights that I actually thought could indicate that EE and ME women transferred into other types of engineering( possible to get out of that dept). A red flag. Who knows.
My kid went to a separate break out and said same. There was a huge problem with the communication style. This is a kid who has been on teams of 80% male ( and been the Captain of a national level team). There’s no issue, IMO, at all, unless there is an issue. IMO, there was an issue. Helpful for prospects to know, IMO.
And I won’t. Because the remarks were not worth repeating but they incensed me, my kid ,other parents and a couple of other kids.
And I didn’t think there was any issue at any of the six other engineering programs my kid attended. All seemed happy to accept the best students.
I appreciate your candidness. That would have been a huge red flag for us too.
Since you were so upset by what you heard, I hope you provided feedback to the engineering school.
I did provide feedback. But you have to realize that the person leading an organization, department etc, sets the tone. This is very important and doesn’t change readily.
And that’s the thing kids need to look at once accepted. What does the program feel like? Would I be comfortable there? Lots of options for my kid. As I said, kid laughed and said no way, no how. Since our thoughts were the same, we moved on. We taught our kids, trust your instincts. I’m sure some kid was very happy to get the honors spot in engineering.
Let’s return focus to the OP, please
Good idea. UMass Amherst is the instate option for the OP’s family. The info provided here about perceptions of the school are important, in particular, to many instate applicants. As an instate option, OP, I would encourage you to visit and explore for yourself, to form your own opinions (if you have not done so already). Perhaps your daughter can reach out to other women in engineering, etc. There are women engineers that are available for outreach, according to the website. Your daughter will have great opportunities. Good luck and enjoy the process!
If she wants something near a big city, Penn State, URochester, RPI and UConn would not be good choices.
Don’t know if anyone mentioned UPitt yet. I’d strongly suggest checking it out. Also, WPI. They have a dean who is really interested in female representation. Gave me a card when my kid was in 6th grade. I said wait, my kid’s only in 6th grade. And she responded We can wait. Lol. My kid didn’t apply there but my kids have gone there for various things and Summer camp and it’s a good place. I’d check out Rose-Hulman also.
Also, if your daughter cares about M to F ratio, you can find that in the listings. Some might come right off the list like RPI, despite being great engineering programs. Your daughter might not care. Very few programs are evenly split but some are wildly imbalanced. Our factor was anything more than 60/40 was off the list. YMMV.
Based on the results of DS2’s applications, last year, I would definitely suggest NJIT as a backup. She would probably get Honors College admission with lots of merit. My other son attended NJIT, so I may be a bit biased 
Stevens is also a good choice. Not sure about music stuff though at either universities.
My suggestions , in no particular order, and with some consideration for costs, would be:
- Umass amherst w/ another Umass as backup
- Stony Brook U. (1.5 hours to the city )
- UMD - but you MUST apply by Nov. 1 Early Action deadline; merit not easy to come by
- Pitt: some merit possible
- UDel: some merit possible
- Rutgers NB - I hear they are trying to attract OOS students, so maybe they’re giving money? My DS2 was in-state and he got $0
This is so true. We just went through this with my daughter. Several engineering schools/departments were 50/50 but some were 75% male/25% female. That is a big difference!
My daughter’s school was at about the 75 male/25 female break. At bigger schools, even if the engineering department isn’t 50/50, often the school is.
It didn’t bother my daughter at all except that if she had to work in a small group, she was almost always the only female. She was on an athletic team and in a sorority, so had plenty of female friends.
The impact of the relative M/F population in Engineering at student level varies considerably between schools. It’s as much a culture thing as a numbers thing: at some places female students are fully part of the program, fairly treated, and comparably rated; at others, not so much. The reports back from older students put one of our collegekids right off a couple of high profile programs- and raised her evaluation of others. It’s worth asking- and watching. You can learn a lot in summer internships!
I’m a female engineer. While I understand the desire to be in a more evenly split classroom environment, you should realize that once she graduates, she is most likely going to be in a predominantly male environment. I am frequently in meetings where I am the only woman. I have worked in departments where I was the only woman. Any female engineer is going to have to learn to be comfortable in that environment and learn how to navigate it professionally.
Good (and certainly important) discussion about diversity in engineering schools, but since OP never asked about it, can we:
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