<p>does it give you an advantage? lol</p>
<p>In getting into school? Yes
Once you get into school? Yes
Getting a job? Yes
In salary? No</p>
<p>To me girls in engineering are smarter.</p>
<p>Being fewer female engineering students, I think it helps them stand out a bit. Both in classes and finding jobs. I was shocked there were so few female students in engineering overall. Many were in chemical engineering. (I have no proof or explaination, but it just seemed to be the case.) Also, I would have thought they would have had to prove themselves more than the male students, but they fit in fine. The professors seemed to give them a bit more attention.</p>
<p>I will be starting as a female engineering freshman very soon, so I don’t know much about anything other than undergrad admissions - anyway, in terms of getting into schools, you have to be qualified to start with. But if you are qualified, you have much better chance of getting in. There are so, so many qualified males applying, and very few qualified females. Obviously, it’s not always that simple, but that’s the general idea. </p>
<p>I got in/was waitlisted at some schools where I’m not sure I would have gotten in otherwise. However, I also got in to UC Berkeley and got the Regents scholarship at UC Davis, and UCs are banned from using any kind of affirmative action, including gender based - so it’s not as though I was unqualified to start with.</p>
<p>I wrote a longer post on this on another thread here; actually, if you just do a simple search on the engineering boards, there’s a good amount of discussion on this topic.</p>
<p>tractorfarmer,</p>
<p>I agree that there definitely seems to be a disproportionate amount of females in both chemical engineering and materials science in my experience. Why that is is anyone’s guess.</p>
<p>As for your comment about the professors giving them more attention, I think it has to do with your other statement about trying to prove themselves. While they certainly don’t need to, I feel like a lot of them subconsciously have a chip on their shoulder so to speak, and so they are more likely to be active participants in class. Then again, maybe they are just genetically more likely to participate. Either way, participating more will draw more attention from the professors.</p>
<p>I was told that there’s something about Chemistry which appeals to females more than males, and the reverse is true for Physics… I don’t really know anything about it myself though.</p>
<p>
that’s cause females who choose engineering usually choose the field for intellectual and academic reasons, whereas males tend to do it for the salary and the “coolness” factor. also, most females in engineering get in on it later, when they’ve realized that engineering was the “right profession” for them, while guys kinda jump in when they’re 6 and stick to it…and of course there’s the whole “girls are more mature” thing</p>
<p>just my observations…</p>
<p>To me girls in engineering are smarter.</p>
<p>Females, in general/overall, have a slightly higher average GPA than males - this is across all areas of studies/majors.</p>
<p>The reasons for the out-of-the-norm proportion of females in Chemical Engineering is because of pre-meds. The chemistry appeal could be a slight reason as well, but the former is the main reason. As for Materials Science, I have no clue nor know or heard about that one.</p>
<p>As to the orginal question, most engineering schools treat women as URMs for the purpose of admission (exceptions are public colleges in states that do not allow URM consideration such as the UCs). How much of a factor varies but you should not assume it is some huge advantage. An MIT admissions officer once charecterized as like being given an extra 20 points on your SAT which is not a huge in the overall scheme of things.</p>
<p>I have to agree with most of the above. I believe that being a girl going into engineering can be advantageous, most schools appear to be looking for more females to accept into their programs. This doesn’t mean that you can have sub-par stats and still get in to the program. But I would believe, and I have no evidence for this, that if a spot were to be between a male and female, with the same stats, the spot would probably go to the female.</p>
<p>Also, there are scholarships specifically for female engineers, and there is a smaller applicant pool for these scholarships.</p>
<p>The further you go into your studies, the less of an impact being female is going to have. I find that most female students are more motivated to do well in their programs. I don’t know why that is.</p>
<p>Personally, I didn’t start studying engineering until I was 21 (the second semester of my junior year). If I started when I was a freshman, I would have burned out playing Counter-Strike (oh, how I miss it sometimes) and other computer games. I’m glad that I waited until I was ready to really pursue some serious academics before studying engineering.</p>
<p>I’m a girl in chemE, and it’s very advantageous! The engineering buildings are the only place I’ve ever been where there’s no line for the girls bathroom when there’s a crazy line for the guys!</p>
<p>Haha. I saw a study that while there are fewer girls in engineering, the ones who are in it typically do better since they have a “harder” mindset. I’m only a freshman though, so I can’t say how the in-class interactions go. I would imagine that it’s a tad easier to get what you want since you’re considered a minority, but then, it’s not like tons of girls are competing for your spot. It’s only the highly self-motivated…so while you may have less competition, that’s not to say that the competition is less tough.</p>
<p>Edit- I definitely was a late comer into the engineering field. I just decided when I was 17 that I wanted to…I was thinking of chemistry or pharmacy or something, but then realized that I do like physics. I’m pretty sure I wasn’t encouraged to build things as a kid as much as the guys were. Although I don’t have much background in it, I’m sure we’ll all be on even playing fields within a few weeks of classes. At orientation, I only saw 3 other female chemEs. (250 at orientation x 6 sessions…big eng. school). I’m surprised to hear that chemE is highly populated with females…I would have thought biomedical engineering. I’m certainly not looking to go into the medical field anymore, but if I were going to do an engineering for that, I’d do BioMed…</p>
<p>I’m a female in EE. Most of the female engineering majors I know are in ChemE, and I think just looking at the coursework, chemistry classes are just more appealing to girls then the type of classes in mechE for example. After my engineering mechanic class, which I hated, I definately realized it took a special kind of girl to love it. </p>
<p>Being one of the few girls in engineering, definately helps you stand out among your classmates. If it will help me get a job after I graduate, that would be nice.</p>
<p>Do the girls in engineering like being around a bunch of guys? Or are the guys in engineering not “date-able material”? Someone brought this up in a conversation, if anyone could answer that would be great.</p>
<p>I believe they call the phenomenon “The odds are good but the goods are odd.”</p>
<p>what was your GPA and SAT to get into Berkeley engineering as a female freshman?</p>
<p>Overall, girls are the minority in engineering but they are concentrated in certain fields of it. Biomedical, chemical, and civil are the areas where i see the most female students. Electrical, computer, and mechanical have the least. </p>
<p>But why do people care so much about it? I always here people say “there aren’t enough blacks in engineering, not enough hispanics, not enough women”. Why should it matter? I’m personally offended as a gay person. I never hear people say “there aren’t enough gay people in engineering”. The place is so full of straight guys it’s nauseating at times.</p>
<p>^Usually schools want to appear diverse. Since you can’t see gay (well… you know what I mean) no one cares. A gender balance really would be preferable to straight people, who make up the vast majority of the population. I personally don’t really understand why a student would care to see more Blacks or Hispanics or whatever ethnic group unless it was their own, but then again, I never hear people saying that. I hear schools and private interests saying that.</p>
<p>I don’t like hearing people preaching about “minority in engineering”. The repetitive talk of social 101 is just unnecessary today LOL</p>
<p>Well my point is if the multiculturalism-obsessed administrators (and some students) care so much about “diversity”, don’t limit it to blacks, hispanics, and women. They should go all out since it’s only fair. Include gays, bisexuals, transgenders, etc. Hey, they add diversity too! It’s only fair.</p>
<p>These diversity initiatives are so pointless. How can we ever consider ourselves all one people if we continuously divide ourselves by superficial things like race, gender, etc.</p>