The situation varies wildly from discipline to discipline and company size and culture. I think the mechanical, gaming, and computer fields need women the most right now. And as far as older engineers being the main culprits, I haven’t found that at all. I think the blame can be spread around pretty evenly. Some of my best mentors have been older men. They can be a little more mellow and willing to share their knowledge after years in the workforce. And younger workers can be more aggressive in walking over a quieter woman. Good and bad across the generations. I work at a small company and I think my boss’s attitude towards me is contagious, again in positive as well as negative ways. I’m heartened to hear of women’s positive experience in engineering. I just know that if you saw a company staff photo for each of my company’s 20 years of business, you wouldn’t think there was much progress. Just first hand, personal experience. I’m typing this at my desk surrounded by my great male coworkers right now. The only other women in the building is the receptionist and I think the boss’s daughter might come in this afternoon to help during her college break. Nothing anecdotal here.