I’m thinking about going to SMU for Computer Science or Mechanical Engineering and I was wondering what the gender ratio is.
According to http://www.smu.edu/Lyle/AboutUs/FactsandFigures the Lyle School of Engineering has “twice the national average” percentage of women in engineering and will reach gender parity in 3 years, but according to http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-the-engineering-and-science-gender-gap/ the national average is 30 percent. So would that mean 60 percent of engineering majors at SMU are female?
I can answer for the comp science question. My son graduated a year ago from SMU engineering - comp science. He says there were about 2-3 women per 20-30 men. Very low. However, 3300 women and 2900 men enrolled at SMU in the 2014. I wouldn’t let that bother you (if you are a woman). In fact that’s a plus. Ha ha! Also, my son says that is pretty common for CS.
I’m an SMU alum and recently took my daughter there to tour the university and, particularly, the engineering school. I don’t remember the exact numbers but based on my discussions with the engineering school staff, my best guess is about 40% female computer science. I think they said they had the 2nd highest female enrollment in the country. I’m sure someone in the department (Mickey Saloma, etc.) could answer that for you though. We talked a lot with some of the female engineering students in the SMU chapter of Society of Women Engineering and that seemed like a great resource at the school…if you end up there, I would look into that. Best wishes!