Girls in Engineering: Will I Be Surrounded by Guys?

[Shackleford]

Oh okay just checking. Nothing wrong with that.

Yeah, it's all good. Well, I was going to hit up that chick on AIM, but she took her screenname off her profile. Too bad.

 

[mcknia07]

Haha, It's back, lol

 

[Shackleford]

Haha, It's back, lol

10-4.

 

[mcknia07]

10-4.

Ok, This may be dumb, but what's that? lol

 

[Shackleford]

Ok, This may be dumb, but what's that? lol

That is two numbers in the base-10 system with a punctuation mark known as a hyphen in between them.

 

[Moonbear]

That is two numbers in the base-10 system with a punctuation mark known as a hyphen in between them.

That's not going to get you a date, that's going to get you a smack!

10-4 is CB lingo meaning "understood."

 

[mcknia07]

That's not going to get you a date, that's going to get you a smack!

10-4 is CB lingo meaning "understood."

Haha

Oh, ok, thanks, I gotcha now I kinda thought it might have been something like that, but was't positive

 

[aquitaine]

I think (at least in the US) the reason why gender ratios in science and engineering are so skewed is young women are under intense pressure to "be stupid", because after all, "girls with glasses don't get dates". On all sides you have the media and celebrities telling them "smart is bad" and "you should care about the latest fashion styles, not studying electromagnetism". Maybe not exactly those words, but the message is the same, and it is very pervasive.

I wouldn't be caught dead dating that kind of girl.

 

[Moonbear]

I think (at least in the US) the reason why gender ratios in science and engineering are so skewed is young women are under intense pressure to "be stupid", because after all, "girls with glasses don't get dates". On all sides you have the media and celebrities telling them "smart is bad" and "you should care about the latest fashion styles, not studying electromagnetism". Maybe not exactly those words, but the message is the same, and it is very pervasive.

I wouldn't be caught dead dating that kind of girl.

I really don't think that's true. Sure, there is some trend in general that it's uncool to be smart, but I think that pressure applies equally to both genders in today's society. It also doesn't explain why we don't see such gender inequality in other fields that require a lot of intelligence...in medicine and biology (even neurosciences, that other "hard" science...y'know, rocket science and brain surgery that everyone equates with being super-smart...or as our newer member puts it, rocket surgery ) we not only see gender equality, but in many programs, women are starting to outnumber the men.

All the old reasons seem to be dwindling away. I really think it's now a lack of role models in the field, maybe some inhibitions about being the only female in a class, even if they are only perceived and not real. Maybe it's some physical aspects of the major when it comes to engineering (not so much physics though). For example, engineering labs involve things like lifting heavy cylinders of concrete for mechanical testing, and maybe relative physical strength leads to the women still getting picked on a bit or having a tougher time of it (then again, my own field of research is very physical as well, and I just teach the other women who train under me to work smarter rather than harder...you need to build some strength, but you don't have to be as strong as the men to do the same job, we just do it a little differently...while they lift and throw and destroy their backs, we roll, drag, and use carts...in fact, after watching us, the men have adopted more of our approaches because they're realizing that looking macho isn't really worth the injuries).

 

[chuy]

Why do you think that there are more women in chemistry than engineering or even physics? At least in my University in math and chemistry there is more female students than male.

I was thinking that in chemistry it is because existed a great influence that maybe could change the point of view of many women about chemistry (and also men). I am referring to Marie Curie.

Don't you think so?

EDIT: By the way, here in the Campus, it don't seem to be very good for most of the women:



And this is every day...

 

[rootX]

don't know about other countries but definitely not in Canada :)

 

[bubbles]

"I don't want to be in a room full of nerdy guys" was what some girls told me about not wanting to be in engineering. Nobody likes being the minority.

 

[rootX]

I wonder if nerdish girls have stronger commitments?

Personally, I wouldn't invest in some girl that's hard to keep and needs lots of time-money and has 50 IQ and is artsy ... ;)

So, there's a reason for preferring nerdish over hot girls!

 

[undrcvrbro]

I wonder if nerdish girls have stronger commitments?

Personally, I wouldn't invest in some girl that's hard to keep and needs lots of time-money and has 50 IQ and is artsy ... ;)

So, there's a reason for preferring nerdish over hot girls!

Haha, I think you're over generalizing here. Just because a chick has a nerdy personality does not mean she's ugly. There's plenty of hot smart chicks out there. Believe it or not, there are some good looking girls out there who are intelligent and who are looking for more than money in a man.

Oh, and a 50 IQ would make it hard to be artsy. Unless she's one of those autistic children who are for some reason artistically inclined.

 

[mcknia07]

I can honestly say, being the only girl, is pretty awesome! All the guys are so friendly in my classes, I never thought they would be, and they always try to treat me as an equal, lol. It's like everyone needs a little time to open up and be themself. That's the big thing

Money sure doesn't make a man. It defantly has more to do with the personality.

 

[Barfolumu]

Since we have a nice audience of women in science here, I'm going to recommend to all of you...study groups! (And the same to the men here who want to meet more women...just keep it focused on studying, and let nature take its course AFTER the regularly scheduled study session.) Women do well in cooperative learning settings, so study groups can be more effective for women than studying alone. You do still need to study alone, of course, and show up prepared for the group meetings, but that added group discussion can really solidify your knowledge and recall.

I want to thank you for this piece of advice. Since coming back to college, I've been throwing most of my time into my studies, and have had little time for dating.

Study groups... genius! I'm not neglecting my studies... and it's free! :D I'll be doing this when I come back in Fall.

 

[mjsd]

Are you sure that would work?
nerds will always be nerds, no matter which reference frame they are in.