<p>Just out of curiosity, what does everyone think of girls in engineering? What do you think of the ratio? Do you think girls are treated differently? If you're a girl do you like it? etc.</p>
<p>I'm a girl and I just finished my freshman year as a MechE major. I actually really like engineering in general and I find most guys to be pretty nice and friendly. Just wanted to hear (read?) about others' experiences!</p>
<p>I don't know, but I will soon find out this fall! </p>
<p>But I'm ready to kick butt and take names. No man is going to step on me!</p>
<p>civil and biomedical at my school actually has more girls than guys. girls are treated fairly, though nerds tend to be shy, so dont be surprised if they seem standoffish</p>
<p>Not that many girls in EE, 10:1 guys to girl ratio at best. So the dating</a> odds are in your favor.</p>
<p>
[quote]
So the dating odds are in your favor.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>We're not in it to date, first off...</p>
<p>There are good points, and there are bad points, to being a woman in engineering. You'll encounter some jerks when you're in the extreme minority, no matter which minority you are. </p>
<p>There's pretty much the good, the bad, and the ugly.</p>
<p>For the ugly part, I've had guys ask, when I wasn't there, "Why are those women in this class, anyway? They're just going to end up as housewives." I've been in situations where I've kept a sexual harassment log that made my superiors blush and gasp. I've been asked repeatedly by a former superior, "But what's going to happen with your career after you get married?" I've been asked out on dates by construction foremen while wearing a carat of diamonds on my left ring finger (same foreman pointed to a tenant's cat and suggestively told me, "You can pet the kitty if you want to." Eww!)... The list goes on, but I've been on the engineering path for... yeesh, nearly a decade now. I'd say something truly offensive only happens at most every six months on average, and can happen far less often if you find a good working environment. It can happen more often if you find a bad one.</p>
<p>The bad-- I've found that even if the guys aren't outright insulting (and they're usually not... very few are bad at all), if they're fairly traditional, even if they're younger, those with stay-at-home wives who haven't really had any experience with working women don't really know what to do with me. They treat me as a good worker, but they flirt with me significantly more than they would with their male coworkers (obviously!), and there's a tinge of confusion as to what my ultimate motives are. Luckily, there aren't a ton of these, and they're getting fewer and fewer as each of these guys becomes a convert to the idea that women can really be good at this stuff, too.</p>
<p>The good: the large majority of the guys you'll run into, and likely most if not all of your college classmates, will fall into the 'really good guy' category. They treat you as a colleague and as a friend, and they'll almost entirely ignore the oddity of your being a woman in a male-dominated field. Good firms tend to attract these guys.</p>
<p>There are a lot of good apples. The bad ones sometimes get to you. If you find the career rewarding, and if you're aware of which situations are bad for you and which are good for you and can pick out a good situation for you to stay in, you'll make it just fine. It's a good career!</p>
<p>Uh...I hate narcissist threads like this.</p>
<p>I hate police officers. <em>glares at fatpig554</em></p>
<p>don't hate me because I'm fat...and a pig...</p>
<p>I have been an Engineer for over 25 years at various aerospace, microelectronic and consulting firms. Things are quite good for women nowadays as opposed to in the past.</p>
<p>When I first started out, I was the only female at the company who was not a secretary. I hung out with the other engineers at coffee break, but it was oftentimes awkward being the only woman. There were some upsides as well, as I had two marriage proposals within the first six months! A few years later I transferred to a larger plant. There was a smattering of women engineers here and there, but I was still the only one in my department. Men were much more sexist back then. The Engineering Magazines all had "bimbo ads" featuring scantily clad women standing next to microelectronic testing devices, etc. Also, it was common for the men to post naked centerfolds on the insides of lab cupboards, read Hustler magazines at their desks, and things like that.</p>
<p>At another company where I subsequently worked, signs went up advertising the newly formed "Women's Engineering Society". An organizational meeting was called by a Vice President who was a woman. We had never heard of this woman, but her photo was suddenly all over the company newsletter, talking about this new Women's Engineering Society that she was starting up. Then word got around that the Vice President had recently had a sex change operation. That explained why we had never heard of her before, as she/he was using a different name. We thought that it was a hoot that the Women's Engineering Society was headed up by a man!</p>
<p>Today things are much better. Companies hire and promote many more women engineers, and we are treated with respect. The company I am now working at not only has women managers and a woman Vice President, but a woman Division President as well. And yes, they are all natural born women, too! ;)</p>
<p>Yeah, I think girls are treated differently. Most girls will probably feel that the guys around them think that they are dumb or something... but they're usually not trying to insult your intelligence. They're just trying to help you, but they might be a bit over the top annoying about it... I suppose its natural. I'm a guy.
Personally, I feel that an engineering project should have at least one female. In my experience, they tend to look at things from angles that guys normally don't.
Also, I think working with girls makes some guys very uneasy... especially the "engineer" type. Most other guys will welcome the occasion, however. And you can expect to get "hit on" every now and then in very awkward ways (my female engineering friends tell me).
Its pretty normal for the most part though.</p>
