<p>i'm sure it's biased (everything is biased as long as we are human). towards the female engineers</p>
<p>There will always be less girls just due to the nature of society. Except in chemE. For some reason we've got all the girls. It's really strange. Everybody was going around asking how many girls they had in their specialized [insert engineering major] 101. EE: "5", CompE: "7", Aero: "4", ME: "14" it went on. Get to ChemE "Umm ours was about half" "You mean you couldn't count all of them." "Actually there may have been more. I'm not sure" It is kinda funny. and awesome. I root for women engineers.</p>
<p>ya, chemE, industrial engineering, and BME definitely have the most girls. MechE has a good percentage of girls as well. BTW, i generally dislike female engineers, anyone else notice how cocky a lot of them are, just because they are in engineering and they are girls?</p>
<p>Some of them not all but I have noticed. Especially the ones that think they're attractive enough to get away with it but aren't.</p>
<p>I think females don't go into engineering becuase they know its male dominated and society tells them to stay out of it. I know out of 113 girls in my grade, I know of 2 that are going into engineering. Me, and one other girl. Yes, the advanced science classes might be filled, but does that mean they will go into engineering? no. They will take the science class to get out of the credit in college. I wish society would change and help encourage women in engineering. That is where the change has to come from. Most people either think I'm strange, or are excited when they hear im going into engineering as a female. My mother still isn't happy, but she'll deal. Being a female in engineering does have its advantages. Most of the time if i am equal to a male in every way, I will get into college or get the job over him. This annoys my guy friends to death. The industry is that desparte for female engineers.</p>
<p>I think women don't go into engineering because of guys (like some of the ones on collegeconfidential) who hold stereotypes that they're all stupid, underqualified, cocky, and ugly....hhhmmmm....</p>
<p>most of them are ugly...gotta agree on that atleast</p>
<p>for some reason when my senior class was asked what major they wanted to do most of girls said psychology or criminal justice...weird</p>
<p>LauraN, you sound like a very smart, confident, attractive female going into engineering! So am I! Who's sick of the sterotypes? <raises hand=""></raises></p>
<p>... I'm picturing a Charlie's Angels thing - smart, sexy women who are kicking butt.</p>
<p>this is not a stereotype, there are plenty of attractive female engineers at my school, but most of them think too highly of themselves. Note: This is my observation.</p>
<p>Sorry for reviving a really old thread, but I just want to give potential female engineers some encouragement.</p>
<p>I'm currently a girl double majoring in mechanical and materials science engineering at Berkeley and I'm having a great time. I still remember the crazy admissions process and the fears of going into engineering and a big research university and thought I'd share a few of them...</p>
<p>It's harrrrrrrd. Yes. Yes, it is. Classes are tough, most engineering courses are on a curve. Midterms, finals, problem sets, projects, yada yada. But you quickly learn to deal with it, and most of my friends and I are enjoying it. My first semester was the only time I pulled all-nighters--a week straight with a few naps here and there. Procrastinated on a big project. Learned to simply not do that to myself and haven't since then. (Yay.)</p>
<p>Big lectures, lots of TA's, scary professors. A lot of the intro classes were huge, but I personally didn't mind. Whether it's big or small, it's still just a guy talking in front of you, and almost all of them encourage you to yell 'Professor!' if you have a question. The big classes come with a bunch of TA's that lead you in smaller discussions, and you'll learn to love them. The lectures will teach you how to derive it, the TA's will teach you how to use it. The professors are also always there to help. It's definitely scary talking to a professor for the first time, but then you learn that they're just normal (usually friendly and enthusiastic) people. Yes, they all do big, important research things, but they also know that part of their job is to teach and they really do want you to do well. They don't mind sitting down with a few students and going over confusing material.</p>
<p>Too many boys! Now that I think about it, most of my friends are guys (no drama!)... But my closest friends are mostly girls. I think engineering girls tend to find each other and stick together. A natural thing to do, I guess. In my experience, none of the guys look down on you or anything. It's just class as usual... not a big deal at all. Plus, you have plenty of opportunities to meet people outside of class.</p>
<p>I'm going to be stuck in a corner of some smelly library for 4+ years. There's a lot of studying involved with engineering (especially compared to some other majors), but you can totally make time to do other things. Next week, I'll be... rockclimbing, cheering on some friends' in their dance troupe/concert/thing, going to yoga and tae kwon do classes, presenting research at a poster session, maybe go dragonboating again... It'll be E-Week (Engineering Week), so there will be some barbeques and games (nerd contest!), and a date auction. If you want to party, it's all around, and as long as you know when to stop, you'll be fine. None of that interests you? Hundreds and hundreds of other clubs and groups out there waiting for you.</p>
<p>Competition. For some reason, a lot of people think engineering students are really competitive with each other. For the most part, we're not. In a lot of cases, you basically have no choice but to work with your classmates, or you're putting yourself at a huge disadvantage because it's just too damn hard to do it all by yourself. We're constantly messaging each other on AIM about problem sets. There are a lot of projects and they always stress group work. I have a lot of premed and business admin friends, and they definitely seem a little bit more competitive with each other than the people in my classes.</p>
<p>I think there was some other stuff I thought of while reading the thread, but I can't remember, haha... But, if you're a girl who likes science and math and understanding how the world around you works, definitely considering engineering. Don't let it intimidate you, because there's really not that much to be afraid of.</p>
<p>Good going flippity a woman not afraid to just tell it like it is, not just to women but that is what it is like for almost all engineers. As a guy, I admire the women in my class. I never look down on them. You're just another one of the guys in our class whether you like it or not (academically that is, on looks, now that's a whole different story). Most girls do tend to stick together just like any other minority.</p>
<p>Actually, the ones that engineers look down on the most are people who act stupid or dumb b/c they just don't have time for that. I act dumb accidently a lot b/c that's how I am and b/c of that I have lost a lot of respect that my colleagues had (if they ever did) b/c I said or did something stupid. That is the worst feeling. So as long as you don't act dumb nothing bad will come of you.</p>
<p>I am female and am seriously considering a career in engineering!</p>
<p>flippityflop-</p>
<p>You take Tae Kwon Do classes? Awesome! I'm planning to take some when I get to college.</p>
<p>i've met a few hot chicks that are pretty smart in engineering. most of em are in civil or industrial engineering, but one of them is ece. anyways i think its pretty hot. actually @ my old h.s. this is how our science/math classes panned out. i think generally girls did better than guys did. i think girls are better @ time managment and multitasking. however, the top of our class was dominated by guys. in the top 5% of our class we had maybe 5 girls. all 10 national merits were guys, and we haven't had a female valedictorian in at least 5 years. even though there a number of girls in my AP calc bc class, none of them went into engineering. even the two girls who took calc 3 went into pre-med. i have a theory that the nature of engineering does not quite fit standard personality types for females. i can elaborate in another post if you like.</p>
<p>I go to RPI, a mostly engineering school in upstate NY. The incoming freshman class is 78% male. RPI does have a med program, but it's very small, and mostly female. Doctors seem to be female (and hot ones too).</p>
<p>someone had stated that a lot of women are in med school etc... while this is true, it is also true that the most aggressive fields are still vastly male dominated. statistically, women are more likely to go into fields such as family practice/pediatrics/psychiatry/gynecology</p>
<p>hey RunningWater. yeah, i took tkd for a year but i think i'll be too busy next semester. it's a lot of fun, though. i definitely recommend it.</p>
<p>most people i've talked to seem to have had the same experience in HS as hdotchar. more girls than guys in AP classes, but the guys always come out on top. it was about even at my high school, but that doesn't seem typical. </p>
<p>in college, there are very few girls in engineering, but the girls tend to do at least as well as the guys. at least that's what i've noticed. then again, i've only met one or two girls in engineering who are major slackers. quite a few guys who are slackers, though. not sure how the %'s would actually work out. it seems like there are a lot of girls who would like engineering but don't go into it because it's intimidating. a lot of my female friends are premed and whenever i mention engineering, they wince and start yabbering about their respect for it, etc. even though they don't know anything about it.</p>
<p>that's pretty much my understanding of what's going on. i think girls tend to have better time management and generally work harder than most guys. at least in all the group projects that i've worked on this has been true. when i'm with all guys, we tend to procrastinate and fool around more, and end up doing a lot of work in a short amount of time, whereas whenever i'm with girls we always manage to finish a few days early. </p>
<p>i've also noticed other patterns; guys tend to split up teamwork and work independently and then come together to show everyone what thye did, whereas girls tend to be more communicative and like to work together. in addition (i dont know if this is a general trend), a lot of girls tend to have lower self-esteem when it comes to a lot of the subjects in engineering, despite the fact that they do fairly well. its pretty odd if you ask me.</p>
<p>if women stay away from engineering it's better for us...so it doesn't bother me that there is a lack of female engineers.</p>
<p>ehh... i'd much rather be hired for my brains rather than my gender...</p>