I guess I was just lucky that UT-Austin was so nurturing back in 1980.
I can recall only two negative comments I’ve received as a female structural engineer in my 33 year career.
This is an interesting question. DD is a h.s. senior and going into an Engineering major/school, so I posed the question to her; she said this was not a thought or factor when she researched engineering programs. She looked for labs, research opportunities, internship opportunities, alumni networks, career services, graduation and employment rates, location and cost. She met with professors and students and felt welcomed and respected at every engineering school she visited and every summer academic program she attended. Being one of the few females in her college level engineering classes her freshman year of h.s. was actually a positive experience; she was able to find a group of friends (mostly male with a couple females) who loved the same things, without the pressure of social convention to find a friend group based on gender. They’ve remained her core friend group because they have similar interests. She’s thankfully never experienced a downside of being the (often) lone female in her ECs, classes, jobs, etc. I’ve discussed the possibilty of roadblocks she may encounter in the future; as a former exec in a male dominated field who started her career in the late 80’s, I had quite a few stories to tell. I used the discussions as opportunities to teach her “how to handle and overcome” these situations when she encounters them. Hopefully, I’ve prepared her well. Obviously, everyone is different in what is important to them and our experience is not everyone’s. Keep us updated, and let us know what she decides. Good luck in your search; I hope she finds the right fit for her!
Looking back, my parents did a lot of good things while raising me and my siblings. But one thing that I can appreciate now is that my gender or race was never an issue. I was good and math and science - period. It was never “wow! You’re a girl who is in good in math or science.” Gender was never spoken about when it came to education. And thus, it was something I never thought about one until I saw some study on the news in high school about girls struggling and thought it was stupid.
So college was a bit of a shock when I was often the only girl in room. But i never felt negative or discouraged (except for one Prof who I just chalked up to being an old fart). I just went to class and did my thing as always.
And like @MaineLonghorn I have had very few negative encounters in the last 25 years. A lot of the time it seems there contractors are more afraid of me, worrying that they may say something wrong and offend me. I found if there was discrimination it was more age related. Experience is everything where I work. So being 22 would be more of a hindrance than gender.
And just yesterday I had a good chuckle. My boss bailed on me at the last minute and I had zero notice to present at an airport commission meeting. The board was mostly made up of old retired guys. They were very nice and it went well. Someone I doubt they would have been as nice to my boss.
@skibunny2 Thank you so much for the very thoughtful and helpful response! Your input and insights alleviated several of my concerns. We have family already at Penn State in different majors. I think the school would be a great fit for my daughter.
Best of luck to your daughter.
@ClassicMom98, I’m glad you’ve had a similar experience to mine. I think it’s important to let girls hear OUR stories, too. I will ask a couple of other female structural engineers I know what their experiences have been.
@MaineLonghorn and @ClassicMom98 - It is helpful to hear the positive stories!
I started a thread on “Women in Engineering” in the engineering forum. http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/engineering-majors/2163398-women-in-engineering-p1.html?new=1
My D has an engineering degree from Illinois Tech, one of those schools with a less than balanced M/F ratio. She never expressed to me that she felt disrespected or unsupported by her peers or her professors. She did sometimes feel a bit isolated socially and wished there were more women in engineering at her school, in spite of the fact that her (small) major was closer to 50-50. When she was in school she tended to avoid the women in engineering clubs and such where she could have found more support. At the time she didn’t want an all-girls club any more than sh wanted to surrounded only by guys. Now that she’s working, she is involved with WISE and some of the other women in engineering groups and is enjoying that and finding more female mentors.
She works at a smaller firm where I believe she is the only female engineer. There are other women on staff as architects and who are engineers but currently working in other capacities. She feels valued and respected at work and loves her job. She’s had to deal with negative comments from non-engineers on site visits more than once.
My other daughter has an economics degree and works in economic research. That field is skewed very heavily toward men as well, and I think she’s struggled with that aspect more than my engineering daughter has, both while she was in school and in the work environment.
@Parentof2014grad and other women who have posted personal experiences, could you copy and paste in the Engineering forum thread I linked to in post #26?
It’s SO important to counter the negative messages that girls are getting about going into engineering. I know parents are trying to help their daughters succeed, but I think they’re part of the problem when they imply the girls will need extra help and face lots of challenges. I wouldn’t want to go into the field if I kept hearing that!
@MaineLonghorn - My D definitely has heard the messages that she’ll face obstacles and challenges but that just fuels her fire. For her it’s a positive to go out and prove those people wrong and break the stereotypes.
Despite some challenges with some male classmates, she has had wonderful female engineering profs at schools. She has coffee weekly with her mass balance prof and feels she is a fabulous role model. (She already has connections to family friends who have had great career success in engineering).
She is also an active member of SWE, which she thought she’d not like but has ended up LOVING. She is on the outreach committee and works in the local schools to reach younger girls early with positive messages about engineering and to get them excited about STEM.
I think I worry about her more in the workforce but she’s a dynamo and I know will rise up to any challenge she’ll face. I can report back when she starts her co-op this summer as she’s been told she’ll probably be the only woman on the project team, as well as the youngest.
@MaineLonghorn yes I too in the investment banking industry- had one minor incident
In high school my daughter was in a STEM Academy- the only female- she was rather comfortable in fact she really has always gotten along better with males, but for college she wanted to be open to meeting females that had same interests- she loves it.
Now last summer she interned at a top tech firm that had just been slammed in the press about women to say her experience was affected by that is putting it lightly. She received red carpet treatment- she just wants to be treated like a human being- and recognized for her incredible skills. Thankfully she reached out to friends, professors, and mentors to help figure out how to “change the red carpet treatment “ into a better functioning professional relationship.
Ex. Six interns were grouped together, five males and her, throughout their internship they would go to lunches to meet with different management groups. The second she walked into the room she was bombarded by all the executives, her male counterparts had to figure out on their own “how to interact”. Here’s the thing - this is one of her strengths and she had no way of showing that. She didn’t want to be remembered as the female they helped feel comfortable. Luckily she had a male mentor who agreed to contact the “attendees “ prior to each week - not sure what he said- but it changed and she was empowered to be recognized as herself.
Here’s the thing these girls are deciding what they need to empower themselves to be the best future employee they can be- And I think it’s great that they search for these programs at their colleges.
YES Skibunny. Thank you. I’m not sure I feel comfortable with what is implied above- “but I think they’re part of the problem when they imply the girls will need extra help and face lots of challenges.”
Ignoring sexism when going into a program with very few women is not exactly being part of the solution. My daughter has been in classes in high school with boys who constantly tells her that her place is in the home and that if she goes to college she’ll be too old to have children. Of course she doesn’t believe any of it and this is extreme, but if she is in a program that supports women where she can have more women professors and fellow students that would be a wonderful change for her. My daughter has been raised knowing that she is strong and capable and can do whatever she wants to do!! But giving her more tools to do so can’t hurt. I am not preparing her for failure. I am trying to help her to prepare herself for success!
I am relieved to hear that many of the engineers above are succeeding whether they have women in their programs or not and I really appreciate all of the helpful suggestions being offered.
thank you all.
@Susanb33 just to share in college the guys start telling you that want to marry you because of your earning potential. Same awkwardness but makes you laugh.
Also my daughter found college confidential about 4 years ago and it was a post from @MaineLonghorn that she connected with (very positively). I sort of get her point based on what she thought was being discussed, but I didn’t think that is what I was discussing (not sure if I explained that correctly).
I really appreciate MaineLonghorn starting the other thread for posts by women who are making it in engineering. It will be a great one for my daughter to read.
It’s tough to know where to draw the line. Though I would rather think that nobody will notice she’s a she and that everyone is colorblind, that unfortunately is not the world we live in. It sounds as though perhaps I do not need to be concerned as long as my daughter is a sturdy person, which she is. I am really glad to have the conversation about all of this, though, and do find the mention of finding a mentor, finding SWE, taking summer classes, etc as very helpful.
Thank you everyone!
Virginia Tech has a living/learning community for women called Hypatia. The corresponding community for men is Galileo.
My D just hosted a high school senior for an overnight through her school’s SWE outreach committee. The student arrived on campus early Friday morning and went to classes all day with my D. The student was paired with my D because of a common interest and my D set up a meeting with the director of that program and introduced her to a number of students in their group. In the evening, there was a nice dinner and presentation for all the HS students overnighting. This morning was a send off brunch. Very nice event and a great way to see if a school is the right fit.
Am thinking this is probably something that SWE does a many schools so may be worth asking at the schools your D has on her radar.
I have had the pleasure of 2 female electrical engineering recent grads from our local state university reaching out to me after I posted on SWE looking to talk to female electrical engineers in industry. They have both been emailing D establishing relationships. One working in Aerospace for large Defense Contractor in Denver area and one in Austin for world’s largest chip maker (it’s inside your computer)…So thankful these young ladies are taking time out to encourage D.
“The Penn State Society of Women Engineers received the 2019 Outstanding Collegiate Section (OCS) Gold Mission Award for the sixth consecutive year at the WE19 National Conference on Nov. 8. This award is the highest possible collegiate recognition within the Society of Women Engineers (SWE).”
My DD has been accepted to University of Pittsburg engineering and in she’s been invited to participate in a Women in Engineering day. We are really happy that they are sponsoring such an event and my daughter is really looking forward to it!