I started out with Team 599 in their rookie year and spent 6 years mentoring them. In the rookie year, there were 3-5 female members. (My memory is a bit hazy.) Late in the build season, one of the members was asked to learn the electrical system from one of the male members. The male member showed her everything about the electrical system that he knew. When we got to competition, he was off at the drivers meeting while the team had to rip the entire robot apart and put it back together. She got the entire robot rewired in one hour. Nobody on our team raised an eyebrow at the fact that she was female. She went on to be the head of the electrical subsystem and taught the new people on subsystem about it each year.
As for me, nobody raised an eyebrow at the fact that I was female during all of my years of mentoring.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kelly
I, quite frankly, find it patronizing when people congratulate me for pursuing engineering because "there just aren't enough women in math and science." It makes me feel like they think my abilities are only noteworthy in the context of my gender, while I would like to think that I would be considered smart no matter who I was.
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I also find that patronizing. However, as an engineer employed with a large company, I have a perspective that I did not see while scanning the other messages in this thread:
I have a good job. I got the job because I was the best qualified for what the company was looking for, not because I'm female. However, being young and female puts me in a highly desirable category for many companies, including my own. Companies want diversity based on race, ethnicity, gender, etc. This means, if there are layoffs, and if it came down to myself and a male engineer with equal abilities, I would be much more likely to keep my job.
In addition to job security (and or ability to get another job), there is a huge bonus to being female. I attend trade shows to look for new equipment for my group. When I attend, if I can look wide-eyed and naive, I tend to get much more information than my male counterparts. (Even if I don't look wide-eyed and naive, I tend to get more information than my male counterparts, come to think of it.)
While I agree that it's frustrating to hear "It's so great that you're in engineering because you're female", like with many other things in life, there are good things to be found. It's all a matter of how you want to twist things around in life. Start looking for the positive way to use your being female as an advantage.
Finally, for those of you that are saying you would be insulted if you were given a scholarship over a guy, do you also believe that affirmative action is a bad thing? Affirmative action is the same exact concept.
indieFan