Girls in Engineering- Comic that explains it all

[JamesBrown]

Originally Posted by Andrew Schreiber

This was what I was concerned about. The engineering community pressuring (for want of a better term) women to go into engineering the same way they have traditionally been pressured away from it. Is it better to steer someone away from a career they might like or into a career they might not like? To me they are two sides of the same coin and neither side is very good.

For reference, I do think that we have a stereotype to change. I do think we need more women in engineering but I have some concerns about pressuring anyone to do something they may not enjoy.

I don't think any one is suggesting pressuring women to go into engineering.

The general sentiment of this thread and the point in opposition to the cartoon is that we (generally) don't introduce girls to engineering thinking the way we introduce boys to it. Obviously we don't want to pressure any one into any career. However I think that the question that needs to be addressed is "Why are a higher percentage of intelligent men becoming interested in engineering than their female counter parts."

It seems, in my limited experience that many girls just never think of being an Engineer. I think that engineering as a career needs to be promoted to both genders. Senior year in HS I visited with 5th grade classes with the D.A.R.E program, the students had a chance to interview us, one popular question is what do you want to be when you grow up. I said "An Engineer" very few students knew what an engineer was. Often kids will tell you that they want to do things engineers do (i.e. build robots, be an astronaut, build rockets) however you almost never hear the term Engineer. In other countries being an Engineer is as prestigious as being a doctor or a lawyer is here. I think that this lack of exposure is even worse for girls.