I am a grad student at a large state university serving in a relatively unimportant but public role within our engineering department that requires me to send emails several times a week to all of the other students in the department.

I try to be nice to the other engineering students in accordance with the desire for a professional working relationship and  polite departmental culture.

Yet – I get emails from other engineering grad students who I scarcely know, that are aggressive and generally inappropriate for a professional environment and relationship. See below for an example of such an exchange. I don’t think this qualifies as harassment, but it is definitely annoying. And I am still not sure how to respond!

It all started last May, when my name was sent in a departmental wide email after I won an award. I ran into this guy in the hallway and was briefly introduced – he took the initiative to find my email and send me this message:

Ann,
Congrats on your award! That’s awesome. What are you going to do with your proceedings?
I’m going on a mission to the farmer’s market tomorrow morning and you should meet me there. It’s going to be fun.
And if you’re so inclined, I’m playing a graduation gig in the afternoon at a house party. Also should be fun. Let me know if you’re interested.
[name redacted]

Maybe if I had replied to this initial message the rest of this awkwardness could have been avoided. But I didn’t want to write anything back to this guy, that I didn’t even know, that was sending me emails telling me what I SHOULD do. I really hate people who tell me what to do, so this totally set me off. I did not reply to this message.

He continued about one month later in another email message:

You were at 100 points in dorkiness level for not responding to my email.
We’ll subtract 10 just because you listen to Nicki Minaj:)

This one also annoyed me to no end. And now, this guy who I don’t really know, who already sent me a stupid message telling me what to do, is now JUDGING me?! And assigning points? WTF. I asked a trusted friend for advice, and he said to send back a short simple message indicating that the effort was nice though misdirected. I replied:

Good effort, thanks for trying. Better luck next time!

To which he said:

What?! You don’t make sense!
Have lunch with me this week. I’m going to [place name]. Have you been there? It’s good.

We all know about the right-hand rule. Typically introduced in the first physics course you’ll ever take, it is a simplifying assumption that arises as a consequence of an arbitrarily-assigned 3-D coordinate system. We need to choose one direction as positive and one as negative, and using your right hand is a good way as any to enable universal consistency. (note: the right-hand rule is also important in electrical engineering to determine the direction of current flow and magnetic fields)

Here’s a couple images that typically are used to illustrate the right-hand rule:

<–From wikipedia

From ExploreLearning–>

What gender do these cartoony-hands look like they belong to?

At left – this hand looks relatively unisex, but decidedly unfeminine. The image on the right is definitely the hand of a cartoon man. Wearing a boring sweater that’s slightly poofy, to boot.

Now contrast this with this image, from interactive mathematics:

Does this look different?

Note the red nail polish that ostensibly says “woman” – does that affect your conscious thought process? What about the subconscious?

I have undertaken surveys of several common engineering textbooks to get a feeling for the images that are typically used within. Engineering texts like to show men doing things – rarely do they use women, even cartoon women, to illustrate a word problem or concept. A scan of a common Statics book (Bedford & Fowler, 3rd ed., 2002) reveals that over 600 pages of text, only 6 women are definitively pictured and the ratio of men to women displayed is over 10:1.

Clearly there is a discrepancy between the diversity of the images shown and the desired diversity in engineering. The demographics represented within engineering examples do matter – they affect how we internalize knowledge and create foundations for our understanding.

The right-hand rule is just one example of how male models are typical in engineering and science concept introductions. Another simplifying assumption, this time on the part of textbook authors and illustrators, to choose a thick wrist and stout nails as the default instead of anything distinctly feminine. I wonder sometimes – what if it was different? What if every time we were introduced to a new idea it was through a female body or feminine image? How different would it feel to learn from an example that looks like me?

Just as the assignment of positive/negative is fundamentally arbitrary, so is the use of male images as the standard models for engineering knowledge and information. While once this was a simplifying assumption as most engineering students were male, this is no longer the desired situation. It’s time to stop being lazy and going with the images that engineers have always used, the assumptions of normality that have always existed within the field. It’s time to make a change, to start now, to encourage new viewpoints and possibilities in engineering, math, and science!

In 2012, please consider the images and examples that represent engineering knowledge in your life. Are they affected by assumptions of males as the norm? Are you ready to challenge the assumptions that have been foundational in the engineering field? As the saying goes, “when you ASSUME, you make an ASS out of U and ME” – let’s stop being asses, and instead be trailblazers in encouraging women into science, math, engineering, and technology. It’s about effing time!! =)

I came across this ignite talk on “How to Get More Women in Tech in Under a Minute“ by Caroline Drucker. As I watched this, I literally cheered out loud. I completely agree with her message and I love her use of humor to get her point across.

As a woman in engineering, I run into this wording of girl vs. woman issue over and over again. Since college (when I started paying my own taxes, actually), I identified as a woman rather than a girl, particularly in a professional setting. When I worked in industry, I remember confronting my manager through an awkward conversation about how I preferred not to be called a girl, which he had done a number of times without a second thought. Apparently, in his mind we were all boys and girls, which baffled me. Did he really think of himself as a boy rather than a man? I had my doubts. Regardless, after that, he was a little more conscious about using the word girl in reference to me (and hopefully other woman engineers). Honestly, I think I was the first woman engineer he had ever actually worked with or managed.

As much as it annoys me to deal with gender issues, when I really just want to do engineering work, I think it’s important to set things straight even if it is incredibly difficult and awkward to initiate those conversations. That’s why I like this video. It’s a way of bringing up a serious topic with a thread of humor without directly attacking anyone. Even if not everyone agrees with the message, at least it starts the conversation about gender issues and language usage in engineering/tech.

This menstruating taxpayer fully supports this approach to more women in tech, confronting sexism, and inverting the power structure!

It’s the end of summer, which means back to school! If you’re a senior in high school, senior in college, switching grad schools, or thinking about going back to school, it’s time to apply to colleges and grad programs. As mentioned in a previous post, the gender balance of a program is an important factor on the overall experience for both men and women, and should be considered when picking programs.

Engineering programs face a particular challenge in this area, but some programs are definitely more balanced than others. The representation of women in engineering programs has been slowly increasing over the years. No, seriously, REALLY slowly. Check out the NSF Women participation in CS and Engineering data from the last 20 years:

In 2008, the national average for women’s enrollment in engineering programs was 18.5% for undergraduate and 21.6% Masters/23% PhD for graduate students. I’m guessing it has not change significantly over the last 3 years. With these numbers in mind, let’s see how the top engineering universities and smaller undergrad-focused schools measure up. The percentages listed below are the most up-to-date numbers that I could fine online. Note that colleges vary in exactly what major they include within Engineering, so check out the sources if you want more info on a particular school.

Percentage Women in the Engineering College of Universities

MIT: 40.6% undergrad/16.8% grad (source)

Caltech: 37% undergrad/23% grad (source)

Cornell: 30.2% undergrad, 25.4% grad (source)

Stanford: 29.9% undergrad/23.2% grad (source)

UC Berkeley: 23% (source)

Georgia Tech: 23% (source)

University of Michigan: 22% undergrad/20.5% grad (source)

Purdue: 19.8% undergrad, 20% grad (source)

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign: 17-20% (source)

Percentage Women in Small Undergraduate-focused Colleges

Olin College of Engineering: 44% (source)

Harvey Mudd: 35% (source)

Cooper Union: 35% (source)

Rose-Hulman: 20% (source)

All Women’s Colleges with Specialized Engineering Programs

Smith College: 100% women! (link)

I also wanted to include Smith College, which as far as I know is the only all-women, 4-year US institution with a specialized engineering program (specific engineering majors, not just a single general engineering degree). So, if you’re looking at colleges for undergraduate or graduate engineering programs, at least check out the gender ratio in the programs you are considering. Faculty gender ratio is another important number to look at. A clear presence of women makes a world of difference in the academic and social environment of the college. It can also say a lot about the administration’s attitude towards the value of more women in the field. It’s the next 4 years of your life (or more for grad school), so choose wisely.

I came across an article in IEEE Spectrum about how Germany Faces a Shortage of Engineers. In the article they clearly state the societal need for more engineers:

a steadily rising demand for developing sustainable mobility and energy solutions are also contributing to [the shortage of engineers].

The article later states that they are failing to get more women to be engineers, which would help solve the problem:

“Many girls are more interested in helping people and society and don’t see this possibility in engineering,” Schanz says. “It will remain very hard to attract women to engineering—much harder than reducing the dropout rate.”

There is a clear need to solve the world’s energy problems through engineering–exactly the motivation a lot of women look for when choosing a career. Yet the perspective is that it will still be hard to attract women to engineering?  When I read this article, it was glaringly obvious that we should be using the global energy needs to entice more women to become engineers!

Why is there such a disconnect between engineering and helping society? In my mind, engineering is directly related to improving society and helping people, and it can affect society on a greater level than other professions that help one person at a time. Maybe it’s because engineering is so often thought of and advertised as building “cool” things, like bikes and cars. The “cool” factor is not enough to motivate people interested in “helping the world.”

There are numerous studies that show a key factor for women in choosing their career path, even from a young age, is the ability to help people and society through their work. In my personal experience and in working with math-and-sciencey girls, understanding that engineering is intricately linked to helping society is crucial in deciding to become an engineer. I distinctly remember, in my second year of college when we were declaring majors, reasoning with myself how electrical engineering would help me “make a difference.” Even then, I didn’t have a full picture of what I could achieve through engineering, but I convinced myself enough to stick with it, and I’m glad I did.

To really start to attracting women to engineering, the image needs to change from “building cool stuff” to “solving the world’s problems.” Because if we’re actually going to solve the world’s problems, we definitely need more engineers…

We’ve had a dormant stretch on Steel Toed Stilettos, but we’re trying to bring it back and keep things going. I’ve been doing a lot of reading for a project that focuses on women in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) and combines some psychology, gender, and education studies. I hope to bring findings from that and some other ideas to the blog, so stay tuned for more exciting posts!

If you have any thoughts on things you’d like to see or ideas you have about posts, leave us a comment! We’re also open to guest posts to add more voices as women engineers (or scientists/techies). So, let us know if you’re interested.

Hahaha… I find this exchange hilarious:

A young man and his father wait in the lobby of my large state university to ask an undergraduate advisor about applying and attending my college to study engineering for the first time. They mention that they’ve checked out a nearby school whose reputation for technical rigor and history of pure engineering glory is unparalleled in the state.

As I walk by, I overhear the father ask in a parentally protective tone, “Can you give me one reason why John would be happier at your institution instead of the other one?”

I can’t help but say “the women… the WOMEN!!” as I pass, repeating the words a second time for clarity.

The undergrad advisor from my institution guffaws loudly… perhaps to smooth over an awkward moment with the prospective student and his father. Later, she tells me that judging from the look on his face, the young man considering our college was completely terrified by my mention of women, like maybe he had never before considered the concept.

I feel a little buffoonish and ungraceful for my interjection, but SERIOUSLY. In choosing between a college whose undergrad population is 47% female and 53% male vs. 25% female and 75% male, the presence of women is a considerable factor!! And having experience at both of these institutions, I attest that the social climates of both are different and significantly impact the overall quality and scope of the educational experience.

It’s telling, though, that the prospective student was a little freaked by the mention of something he may not have much experience with. I understand… engineers, especially young engineers, can be a little awkward and have difficulty with social encounters with the opposite sex. But I would argue that part of life education should be to gain more experience with interacting with all kinds of different people, all genders, races, backgrounds etc. I would even argue that such experiences make better engineers in the end. But they do require you to get out of your comfort zone!!

Obviously there’s a lot to think about when picking a college… and maybe this terrified young man would prefer an institution where the issue of interaction with the opposite sex could be ignored, avoided, or largely put-off until the bachelor’s degree is in the bag and the parents aren’t around. But – and this is what’s crazy – avoiding contact with women is actually an option that exists for men in engineering! If women are only 1/4 students at a given institution, you could go through an entire undergrad career without ever working with a woman on a team, without doing homework with a woman, not to mention any possibility of romantic encounters.

The more I think about it the more confused I get, actually. Because what will attract women to a school with that extreme gender ratio? Men? How can we facilitate change? What’s actually important here? And actually, my snarky comment doesn’t help?

But for me… it comes back to the women. The presence of strong women is something I make a point to cherish and recognize when I see it. I am thankful to have had so many strong women to serve as allies, role models, examples, demonstrations, and inspirations for day-to-day engineering. Thanks guys! (hehe.. j/k… thanks friends!)

The IEEE “The Institute” article Four New Female Fellows Make Their Mark on Robotics came out recently stating that this year was the highest number of women elevated to “Fellow” status in one year. If you’re not familiar with the IEEE Fellow program, it basically a process where senior members of the IEEE society are nominated, evaluated on their contributions, and voted on by the IEEE board of directors. It’s a pretty big deal from what I can tell (I’m currently only a student member).

The article features four really amazing women, all professors actually, doing work in robotics. Most, it seems, are mid-career and well-established. For one, it’s great to see women engineers being recognized and featured for their work. It’s good to know there are successful women paving the way.

Upon a closer look at the numbers, I was a little disappointed. Only 29 of 321 Fellows this year were women. That’s only 9%, and it’s the highest number of women thus far. This begs the question: “Why so low? Where are the women engineers?” This is a common theme on this blog, but at the same time I am baffled by why progress is so slow. It’s 2011, not the 1950s. Women are significantly more prominent in medicine, law, and business; why not engineering? I have many thoughts on this, but I’ll save that for future posts. My hope is that every year will be a record high number of women IEEE Fellows, and, someday, to add my name to that list. Got to represent! :P

I really enjoyed this TED talk by Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook COO. I think it’s a great message for any woman in a male-dominated environment whether it be high-power business, entrepreneurship, or engineering.

I really like the “sit at the table” message. It’s such a simple action, but has a lot of power and confidence behind it. I remember walking into meeting rooms where there were many open seats at the meeting table and choosing to sit on the side, which really puts you on the sidelines of the conversation and discussion. Once I realized this, I started always sitting at the table or pulling my chair up to the table. You are at the meeting because your opinion, perspective, and ideas are valuable. Make sure everyone knows it.

In graduate school at my large research-oriented institution, I’ve noticed that a lot of people I have met (both men and women) do not acknowledge that women (or minorities and international students) have a different experience in engineering education or industry than the dominant demographic, usually white males. I would like to believe that there are no differences based on gender, but it is difficult when I am constantly reminded that I am an oddity in engineering. When I meet people and the first thing they say when they learn I am an electrical engineer is “Why did *you* decide to do engineering?” or “Do you *like* electrical engineering?” Because, clearly, this women in engineering anomaly must be explained! But I digress…

What I really want to do is show and explain the kind of different experiences that many women have in engineering in a positive and informative way rather than in a way that might make people feel attacked. So, I thought, what about web comics?

PhD Comics by Jorge Cham are great and I love his strong woman engineering grad student character, Cecilia.

You are the one of the only (or few) women in the class and if you do poorly or say something wrong it will be more than just you being judged; it will be all of WOMAN KIND! No pressure.

It’s a minor thing, but anything having to do with clothing sizing (t-shirts, lab coats, etc) always defaults to larger men’s sizes, so petite women just look ridiculous. Don’t forget, engineers come is small sizes too!

I recently discovered Wasted Talent by Angela Melick, who drew comics about her engineering undergrad experience. One thing I like about her comics is that they are a lot of the stereotypical engineering scenarios but with a nerdy, anime-loving, game-playing, imaginative female spin on it.

You’re the only woman in a study session or group project, and inevitably the penis joke or innuendo happens. Do I laugh, smile, chime in, look unhappy, or have no reaction? It’s already awkward regardless of how you react.

Support networks of other women in engineering are essential for knowing that you’re not going it alone as the only woman in a mostly-male discipline. And, they help you realize that it’s ok to be feminine and girly; you’re still a fierce engineer!

These are just a few comics that caught my eye, but I’m sure there are tons, so feel free to add others in the comments!