Engineering What's the most represented group in the world wide engineering group?

[GreenPrint]

Hi,

When I applied to college they heavily took into consideration race and gender. I'm going into engineering at the moment. They gave out scholarships and stuff while taking into consideration race and gender. I think this is a good thing and should be done. They gave out more scholarships to groups of people that are underrepresented in the worldwide engineering community, they put it something like that. Is it really true however that white males are the most represented group in the engineering community because I don't think this is true. Is it?

 

[JakeBrodskyPE]

Yes, white and asian males tend to be very over-represented in Engineering. I don't know why there aren't many women or disadvantaged minorities in this career track. I have heard that such differences can start as early as pre-school, but this is only a sociological observation, so it will take more studies before I believe any of this.

However, engineering is one of those fields that doesn't care who you are. The products either work as planned, or they don't. Nobody gives you credit for your creed, race or sex. If I were you, I wouldn't advertise your background when you graduate.

Any place that gives you extra credit for such things isn't a place where you'd want to work, nor is any place that counts it against you. You don't want co-workers thinking you got to where you are for who you are and you damned sure don't want your co-workers thinking that you're unqualified because you're not an Asian or white male.

Giving a person a hand up is one thing. However, when you reach the working world, there are no more hand-ups. You have to make them yourself. If you have learned the stuff in your classes well; and you are eager to learn more on the job, no matter who teaches you or how; you'll do fine.