lack of female engineers

[johnjbruin]

There are very few women in engineering school and specially in industry. But - my experience with them has been this:

70 % of them are below average looking (these are the 3/10)
25 % of them are average looking (these are the 6/10)
4.5 % are pretty hot (these are the 8.5-9/10)
0.5 % are really-really hot (I know of 5 personally at least that I can say are 10/10)

 

[johnjbruin]

Originally posted by: z0mb13
when I went to berkeley, I always notice how the south side girls are MUCH hotter than the northside girls

reason: social science buildings are on the south side, engineering and physical science buildings are on the north side

unfortunately, I dwell on the north side 🙁

Its the same at UCLA.

North Campus is the arts type side. Much better looking girls.

South campus is sciences/engineering - average looking girls.

<-- used to like going to classes in north campus for the beautiful scenery 😉

 

[Kibbo]

When did this become the "Why are there no hot girls in engineering" thread?

 

[habib89]

as a senior level ME, there are like.. literally 5 girls in a calss of maybe.. 50.. so 1:10.. none are hot.. one is decent... the rest are.. well they're nice people...

the next generation junior level ME's are pretty freakin hot.. i don't know many of them.. but of the 7 or 8 i see regularly, 5 are hotties.. so i dunno.. it's wierd..

however i'm sure there are no girls in industry.. i think in ME, it's like 98% male dominated.. sigh

edit: i think engineering girls are very attractive.. i mean like i said, even the non attractive ones are nice.. btw, weezergirl, where is this house you live in, and how do i get there?? 😉

 

[Triumph]

Originally posted by: johnjbruin

Originally posted by: z0mb13
when I went to berkeley, I always notice how the south side girls are MUCH hotter than the northside girls

reason: social science buildings are on the south side, engineering and physical science buildings are on the north side

unfortunately, I dwell on the north side 🙁

Its the same at UCLA.

North Campus is the arts type side. Much better looking girls.

South campus is sciences/engineering - average looking girls.

<-- used to like going to classes in north campus for the beautiful scenery 😉

For such a liberal, diversity-promoting-to-the-point-of-insanity university like UCLA, you'd think they'd do something obvious like, I dunno, LETTING YOUR STUDENTS MINGLE.

 

[0roo0roo]

Originally posted by: Kibbo

Originally posted by: DaWhim
that's the nature. men are better in math than women.<BR><BR>I have a nephew(4y/o) and niece(3/0), they are totally different. my nephew doesn't care what he looks. my niece does. I never believe men and women can be equal. <BR><BR>btw, women are better in literature than men.

I blame attitudes like this.

According to cross-gender psychological studies, the deviation curves of most traits overlap to such a great degree that the difference in means becomes almost irrelevant. If we get to the point where the gender split in engineering is closer to 45/55, then I'll blame the gap on predisposition.

Until such time, I would say that a great deal of it is due to either sexist attitudes, or the perception of sexist attitudes.

The latter can affect the choices of women as greatly as an actual sexist act can. If a girl encounters a few dramatic incidents of sexist behaviour (demonstrated in the above post) then that can make her overestimate how many people actually have those kinds of attitudes. If in high school she believes that a lot of people think that way, that will dissuade her from following that path, even if her estimation of how prevalent it is is skewed. Of course, after reading this thread, maybe that attitude is more prevalent than I thought.

probably only taking into account very narrow traits such as math skill. choice of profession involves far more then that. to ignore all the other possible social and psychological factors /preferences makes it rather silly. people are not blank slates. there are always exceptions to the rule, but they are exceptions. you might be able to give 10 little girls and 10 little boys a choice between dolls and guns, but its likely most of the boys won't pick the doll. it doesn't mean anything is wrong, it just means we are different.

and what is sexist is always only wondering why male dominated fields are the way they are and trying to force change and never why women dominated fields are the way they are. perhaps its the judgement that some fields are superior to other is sexist.

 

[PingSpike]

Originally posted by: 0roo0roo
different sexes tend towards different professions. millions have been spent pressuring women into engineering programs and have still failed. its misguided bs. i don't see them setting quotas for men in areas where their numbers are deficient. and there should be plenty since women outnumber men in college now.

Thats what I always think.

They go "Oh no! There's more men than women in CS/Engineering!"

So fvcking what. Shouldn't we spend more time making the programs better, and less time fvcking around trying to get girls who don't want to do engineering to do it?

Yeah, part of it is definately norms involving what women and men are suppose to do...but do they seriously think they can just throw money and advertising at that 'problem' and expect it to magically disappear?

This is a step towards an affirmative action for women and I think its retarded. Women will or will not gravitate towards these fields regardless of anything thats really done.

and what is sexist is always only wondering why male dominated fields are the way they are and trying to force change and never why women dominated fields are the way they are. perhaps its the judgement that some fields are superior to other is sexist.

Exactly. I never hear anyone b|tching about the lack of male nurses...even though we KNOW there is a huge shortage of nurses in general and the field could really benefit from not having half the population shut out from it. I wonder why.

 

[bluehorizon]

Because 90% of engineers are indian, and indian men think they're superior to women, so that doesn't create a friendly work environment.

Yea, that's it :-D

 

[0roo0roo]

i don't know about that, engineers tend to be more educated, and more liberal in their views. women in india aren't barred from education or anything, there are tons of indian women doctors and such. and yes the medical field is now being flooded with women.

 

[ArmchairAthlete]

You think you engineers have it bad, look at programmers. Almost no girls in our CS department at school.

Shouldn't we spend more time making the programs better, and less time fvcking around trying to get girls who don't want to do engineering to do it?

I agree, same for CS.

 

[jessicak]

I'm a female engineer and I know about 40 other female engineers...however I am usually the only female (sometimes there's 2) in any of my engineering classes.

 

[HokieESM]

This is an age-old question. Lots of money has been spent on it. LOTS. Studies, special scholarships, etc. Some of it may have to do with spatial relations--especially in mechanical and civil (NOT environmental) engineering; ON AVERAGE, women score much lower on spatial relations tests than men. That said, women actually score slightly BETTER on algebraic math tests than men--but in a very algebraic/calculus-based field like EE, you still see few women. Go figure.

Personally, I've been through eight and a half years of engineering school. I'm defending my dissertation today (2pm... wish me luck!). I've known some VERY good women engineers/mathematicians/computer scientists. They are rare, however. Some of it I would attribute to the "old school" mentality of some of the professors... but I think that's waning. A lot of the newer professors don't care if you're male/female/white/black/asian/purple/pink-with-yellow-polka-dots as long as you're motivated and want to be studying the material. There are a LOT of people, however, who are initially attracted to engineering (esp. in the 90s) because of the high starting salaries and the "job prospects"--and they dropped out because 1) they didn't like the material or 2) saw their buddies in business school doing half the amount of work, and decided it wasn't worth it. This is men and women--but I have seen a lot of women who went into ME/EE (especially these two) because of "minority scholarships" who "dropped out", not because they couldn't hack it, but because they really hated the work. I know the department I'm in added a bio option, and the number of women in the dept doubled in three years. Women, for some reason, are VERY drawn to the medical/humanitarian fields (as opposed to the computer circuit or "blow crap up" fields of EE and ME). Look at the highest enrollments of women in engineering majors... its bio, environmental, chemical (MANY go on to med school/pharmaceuticals). Maybe they find the "good old boys" clubs of EE and ME distasteful. I have no idea. Personally, I don't care what the female enrollment is--whether its 90% or 10%--as long as they want to be there and its what they want to do. Same goes for the male students.

One possibility (that my fiancee proposed--she's a BS/MS in Engineering Mechanics)--engineering is a VERY difficult field to get out of and then get back into. So women who are looking to start a family find that difficult--they can get a GREAT job after graduation, but if they want to "sit out" for five years to have a pair of children, its difficult to get back into the game. Which I can certainly understand. This is also an attributed reason for the low number of women PhDs in ANY field--who wants to still be poor and in school at 27 or even 30? Some women (and men!) view their home life more importantly.

Thats just my $0.02 (ok, maybe its like $10).

 

[jaydee]

Originally posted by: johnjbruin
There are very few women in engineering school and specially in industry. But - my experience with them has been this:

70 % of them are below average looking (these are the 3/10)
25 % of them are average looking (these are the 6/10)
4.5 % are pretty hot (these are the 8.5-9/10)
0.5 % are really-really hot (I know of 5 personally at least that I can say are 10/10)

You've met 1,000 engineering women?

 

[Modeps]

My sister is a practicing EE, working in NYC.

 

[hop12]

These men vs. women threads make me sad. The reason for lack of females in engineering and other technical/scientific fields is obvious by these threads. The stereotypes are still prevalent even among young guys (such as many of the posters) who were brought up in a generation where women have worked hard to be equal in the workforce.

Typical responses so far are - women are dumb, women are not good at logic, math and science, women want an easy career where they can stop to stay home with the kiddies, women go to business school to meet a husband (WTF? Who still believes that shlt??), programmers are ugly. With these types of attitudes it is no wonder most women are not interested in trying to beat these stereotypes out of your heads to become successful in an engineering or technical career.

 

[HokieESM]

hop12... most definitely that has SOME influence. I don't think many ADULTS have a problem with younger women pursuing engineering. Some of their peers do, however--and at the time when you're choosing what you'll study in college, you're at the peak of social pressure (end of high school, early college). So you may be onto something.

I will say that NONE of my argument (or many of the arguments) here apply to individuals--only the bulk. If you poll current engineering students, you're just as likely to find a good female engineer as a male one (and just as likely to find a bad one, as well!). But there is a shocking disparity in some of the fields... although I don't know why. The medical field is starting to lean HEAVILY towards women... possibly because of nurturing attitudes that women have towards other humans. Maybe engineering seems a little "cold" to those women--who are obviously intellectually talented enough to pursue it.

Like I said, I have NO idea.... although, I'm really not sure why we care so much. People should do what they WANT to do and what they're GOOD at--and be encouraged to do so, regardless of their gender.

 

[TheLonelyPhoenix]

Originally posted by: johnjbruin

Originally posted by: z0mb13
when I went to berkeley, I always notice how the south side girls are MUCH hotter than the northside girls

reason: social science buildings are on the south side, engineering and physical science buildings are on the north side

unfortunately, I dwell on the north side 🙁

Its the same at UCLA.

North Campus is the arts type side. Much better looking girls.

South campus is sciences/engineering - average looking girls.

<-- used to like going to classes in north campus for the beautiful scenery 😉

They need to draw in a 38th parallel or something on your campus.

"Stay out of here, fvcking pinko commie tree-huggers!"

 

[Staples]

Men hold a monopoly and the entrance barries are high for women.