According to this sessions Talk Topics, there are many stereotypes of engineering and other science oriented careers. These stereotypes have been developing over years and are currently demonstrated in various pop culture TV shows. For example, in the show The Big Bang Theory, the scientists are portrayed as white males who are nerdy and smart, while the smart women are depicted as crazy and psycho (Hero Complex). Within my major, Engineering, there is a dominance of males but not as much as pop culture depicts.
Within the field of engineering there is about a 1:5 ratio of women engineers to male engineers, as we can see in the figure below:
Why are there more male engineers? Well according to a study conducted by Nadya Fouad, a psychologist at the University of Wisconsin, she found that the engineering work environment is not oriented for women. Fouad found that compared to men, women are not given the opportunity to grow and develop as an engineers. Also, due to the hinderance of their developments, women lack a self confidence in the work field and therefore feel compelled to quit an find a new job. In conclusion, women should be treated respectfully and should be given the same opportunities as male engineers.
Sources: Many Women Leave Engineering, Blame the Work Culture
Blog by Brooks Beattie
Interesting read. I find it no surprise that women are far outnumbered by men in this field, but at the same time it is alarming that women are such a minority. While everyone would like to say that issues like sexism are a thing of the past, that is clearly not the case. This also shows how little our society has evolved, as other things like racism still exist alongside sexism. I have no idea how we could fix this issue completely, or if that is even possible. It is just disheartening to see this today, and I hope more women want to compete in this field and make a name for themselves and help society overcome these issues.
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