WashU Engineering experience for women?

College Search & Selection
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My D is considering WashU for ED, and trying to get insight into the experience of women in the engineering program. They enroll a significantly smaller % women compared to some (Mudd, USC, Tufts, Stanford all at or near 50%). I’d love to hear from parents, alums or students about the experience of women in the engineering classes, project groups, advising and majors at WashU.

For context, she is very committed to engineering but not yet decided on a specific major within it. Strong preference for collaborative v competitive vibe. Used to being one of a handful of young women in her HS engineering program and advanced math and sci classes— but knows from this experience that she doesn’t want to be one of just a couple of women in a classroom. Loves connecting STEM to creative field, and the potential for interdisciplinary work/ dual major at WashU makes it very appealing.

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I have a patient whose daughter graduated from there. She had nothing but positive things to say about the whole experience.

As for the 50%, that’s actually pretty rare. Schools that hit 50% actively manage their gender balance.

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Thanks so much. Having 50% of women overall in engineering undergrad is rare, but meaningful when you account for the fact that women then are highly represented in some majors (civil, environmental) and much, much less in others. Even Stanford, with 50% women overall, still has only 10% women in Electrical Engineering and 30% in MechE. Since these are two of the key areas of interests for my D, it would be great to hear about women’s experiences at WashU Engineering since it is I think only around 30% women overall. Once she’s the only woman in the class, it really does start to feel less inclusive. (Doable, but not ideal by a long stretch.)

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I was a female engineering major in the early 80s, when there weren’t many women at all. I had a wonderful experience. I tell parent not to stress out their daughters by telling them what a hard time they will have. Pick a school based on its quality, period. Your daughter will be fine.

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See this thread: Women in Engineering

Look at the posts from women engineers, not the second hand stories.

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My daughter is a junior engineering student at WashU and her experience has been nothing short of fabulous. She’s very involved in SWE (Society of Women Engineers) and in her department. Though women are the minority in her particular major (and in all engineer’ing majors at WashU except for CS, which is over 50% women at this point), they are incredibly supportive of each other, enjoy strong departmental support, and definitely hold their own within the program.

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