Quote:
Originally posted by Etbitmydog
One former female engineering student actually said that the reason she quit was because she felt intimidated by the fact that there were so many men around. I wonder why this doesn't happen in the college of education where the ration of men to women is 1 to 5?! I still havn't heard of a man being intimidated by too many women around. Anyways, I think that does an injustice to some of the women I know in engineering who are much smarter than the guys and put in a lot of work to earn the place they've gotten to. I seriously doubt there is any intimidation by having a lot of guys around and it's a cop out to blame quiting engineering on us men rather than themselves for not trying hard enough in this very challanging field.
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Welcome to Male Privilege 101.
The glass ceiling still exists most everywhere, and old-school ideas of gender roles are still very well entrenched. Things in the world aren't as equal opportunity and peachy keen as people would like to think they are.
Males, largely, are oblivious to this. They don't understand the privilege they experience just because they're male, and they very wrongly assume that everyone else is afforded the same opportunity for advancement, error, or experimentation.
Males don't feel as intimidated in a college of education because education (especially pre-university level) is still considered to be women's work. Women's work is inferior work, requiring less strength, intelligence, and time. Yes, it sounds archaic, and you may not find many men who are still willing to
admit feeling that way, but the sentiment does exist.
I agree that it's tempting to blame trying to break into a male-dominated field for one's failure, but I don't think it's fair to immediately assume that's the case. Until you've been on the other side of the fence, I don't think you'll ever be able to truly comprehend the immense strength and hard work and perseverance it takes to make it. To assume that you have any idea is really nothing more than that same male privilege rearing its ugly head.
Sure, if you don't understand something right away, you can try and try and try until you get it, and you can do so without facing an endless wall of discrimination and scour. Women aren't afforded that same luxury. The standards they're held to are much more limiting, much more strict, and far less forgiving.
Be careful next time you try to speak about things you don't really know all that much about. Until you've
experienced it, it's a bit arrogant to think you understand it.