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When you look around at various professions, you probably see more women than ever: the head chef at your favorite restaurant, a leading expert on particle physics and even a presidential candidate. At first glance, the same could be said of women in engineering. After all, according to Asme, 18 to 20 percent of engineering students are women. But before you start chanting Beyoncé’s “Run the World (Girls),” you should consider some of the recent studies explaining why there aren’t more practicing female engineers.
When you hear the term “group project,” what comes to mind? Painful hours spent organizing ideas? Doing most of the work while others coast? This negative reality of group projects may be one reason why the engineering field isn’t as female-friendly as it first appears. In a recent study, MIT researchers wanted to explore why, even though more women are studying engineering, fewer are staying in the profession for very long. Their findings? Women aren’t diggin’ the negative dynamics in group projects. Think back to school and ask yourself if this sounds familiar: Men snag the challenging assignments while women are dealt routine or managerial tasks.
Now imagine what career you want to have – whether as an engineer or a school teacher. Most likely, you want your work to make a positive impact on the world. The same MIT study found that women interested in engineering share the same goal. However, because female engineers often receive more menial than fun or challenging work, they begin to question whether a different job is the key to making a difference in society. The sexism they experience also makes them doubt that engineering is as “socially conscious” as it claims.
The lack of a mentor also often translates into a lack of female engineers, according to The Washington Post. A recent study found that even women who do stay in the engineering field – compared to the 40 percent of female engineering graduates who quit the field or never used their degree – often consider leaving because they don’t have a supportive supervisor. Worse than that, the 5,500 female engineers who were surveyed also reported having uncivil colleagues who “belittled” or “undermined” their work.
The absence of support also applies to women’s personal lives as they struggle to balance a career in engineering and a family. Out of the surveyed women who left the field, one-third became stay-at-home moms because their companies didn’t accommodate for work and family conflicts. The study also emphasized the long hours female engineers were expected to put in at the office.
Have you ever wanted to trade place with a man, if only for a day, just so he could experience what it feels like to be a woman? As TheWashington Post explains, the lack of understanding from male engineers is another problem plaguing their female colleagues. Because men presently hold most of the power in the engineering field, they are the ones who can change the engineering environment and protocol. However, who wants to work for change when you haven’t personally experienced any reason why you should? Recognizing the problem is the first step in making engineering a more welcoming field for women.
How do the struggles female engineers face apply to you? To put it simply, they act as a reminder that, regardless of the progress women have made, we still – as Rihanna might say – have to work, work, work to make jobs – whether in the field of engineering or otherwise – more enjoyable and fair for both men and women.
