<p>Recent trend? Are girls more interested in engineering?</p>
<p>It’s easier for girls to get into engineering school than A&s.</p>
<p>It doesn’t seem to be the case in computer science. The WiCS chapter (Women in Computer Science) at my son’s school will have to disband for next year if they can’t get enough board members. I haven’t looked at the IEEE numbers for a few months but they looked pretty dismal when I last looked.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>That’s hard to believe. In any case, getting into Engineering is the easy part.</p>
<p>Most schools try to have 50-50% when it comes to G/B ratio. We have seen through out the application process where boys with lower stats have easier time getting into LAC, and girls have easier time with schools like MIT or Cornell Engineering. But you are right, it is easier to get in than to stay in.</p>
<p>As a women engineering manager who graduated many years ago with a degree in computer science I still don’t see a lot of women engineers in the work place. Most (if not all) of my manager meetings I am typically the only women in the meeting. We do not see a lot of women applicants when we are hiring. Still the minority by a long shot.</p>
<p>I am a female high school senior planning to major in engineering, and from all the visits I’ve done in the past few months, even if a university is overall close to 50/50, most engineering schools (if not all!) have more males than females. But it’s definitely getting better. I know someone who graduated from MIT in 1951 and said there were 9 females in his class of 1000; my aunt graduated from Wash U engineering in 1983, and said she was the only female in some of her engineering classes.</p>
<p>I think that’s the case in any management meetings. More senior you get, less women you see. I do see more women applicants and I do try to hire more women. IT is a great area for our daughters to get into. It is the type of profession that could allow flex hours, work from home. I switched from business to IT in finance after my daughters were born. I worked from home for 7 years without having to take any pay cut. It was very easy for me to go back to work full time when I was ready. Now I am back, I have moved away from technology, more into managerial. Overall engineering, CS are very good skills to have. You could have different career paths.</p>
<p>Engineering is promoted to girls who are interested in math and science, in an effort to get more women engineers. This has been going on since before I graduated from high school (1980). I majored in engineering, loved school (did very well), but after 3 co-op jobs decided I really didn’t want to be an engineer. I ended up in tech support/applied research facility. I quit to stay home with my kids and have never had the desire to go back. In retrospect, I feel I may have been better off as a math or science major instead of engineering. I mention engineering to my girls as a possible career, but have not pushed it over other options.</p>
<p>Just tell me that when DD completes her engineering degree a year from now, she will be able to find a job. That’s all I REALLY want to hear!!</p>
<p>Well Thumper, my company is hiring and out look is good for the next year. We especially love to hire women. About 2 years ago management held meeting with all the engineers to alert them to the fact that the white male will no longer be the status quo at work. They are actively hiring minorities, including women. But, right now I am ususally the only women in any meeting I attend. It is a long slow process.</p>
<p>Slowly but surely, I believe more girls are looking at engineering as a possibility. In D2’s 10 member sorority pledge class, 3 are declared engineer majors and 1 is info systems. It’s getting the small mass in terms of numbers so that there is internal support amongst them. And, Treetopleaf is correct, the easy part in getting into the program…the challenging workload is another story… ;)</p>
<p>When I was thinking of law school int he 70s, my cousin said she was one of the very few females in her class. When I attended in the 70s, it was about 50-50. Now, at many law schools, females outnumber males (as it now does for many med schools). The shift has been much slower in engineering.</p>
<p>Both of my Ds are engineering (CS) - one graduated and one still in school. At their colleges (UCSD, UCLA), the percentage of females in CS is very low - maybe 15% at best. It wasn’t unusual for them to have classes where they were the only females in the class or the only non-Asian females in class. This didn’t bother either of them though although my D felt some affinity for another classmate when she was the only female in several classes and he was the only AfAm in the classes.</p>
<p>However, I’ve heard the ratio is higher in BioE and possibly some other engineering disciplines.</p>
<p>Thumper - your daughter will be supporting your son, not to worry.
I have a few women working from home 3 days a week. We do what we can to keep our women employees.</p>
<p>Off topic, but I remember it was amusing that S was the ONLY male in his AP US history course so everyone knew when he wasn’t in class (& he missed often due to health). He had a male friend who initally started in that course but dropped down to non-AP US history.</p>
<p>Don’t have numbers about female engineers but understand there aren’t as many as S would like. He did briefly have a GF who was an engineering student at a different U.</p>
<p>
The flexibility of many engineering positions, especially CS, can allow some people to work at home. This can come in handy for someone who wants to stay home with their kids and still work so it can be somewhat of an ideal industry for many females.</p>
<p>Through out my career, I have always looked for work or projects that are not so popular. Employers tend to be more accommodating and willing to pay more. As soon as it becomes a “hot” area, I move on. I like to go where no man has gone before.</p>
<p>i’m a female engineering major at a (mostly) LAC. our engineering program has about 25% women, which is on the high side, but the college as a whole is 50/50. there are more girls in biomedical and chemical engineering than electrical or computer science.
but there’s only 1 out of 100 other girls in my hs class that is also in engineering school…</p>
<p>The other day I noticed that a lower-division (sophomore level) electrical engineering course here at USC was probably about 1/3 women - way more than most engineering classes when I was a sophomore.</p>