Changing Perceptions

Despite the overall grim outlook on the field, many women have begun pushing for change. A major influence in this is an organization known as Women In Engineering (WIE) who works towards inspiring and advancing women with new challenges, positive influence, and engaging events and ideas to help create inspiration and passion in young women to help them pursue careers in engineering while helping them to transition into higher roles such as leadership positions.[2]. 

They collaborate with IEEE to host conferences with many female engineers who are successful in both their careers and personal lives who would share their stories and provide experience and advice in order to help provide a useful resource for women and girls who are interested in the field [2]. With women being more independent and showing higher levels of self-efficacy, employers would be more inclined to employ more women [3], develop a healthier work environment, and focus on further diversifying the workplace not just by race, but also by gender as more women enter the field of engineering.   

With the steady growth in many non-profit organizations, such as Girls Who Code, helping to support and increase the number of women in STEM fields, the potential for a more balanced and fair work place is not too far off. Many schools have begun to implement STEM programs in their curriculum and afterschool programs, which I have participated in myself teaching coding and robitics classes at elementary schools and middle school. These steps will help young girls to no longer view engineering as sort of a "gentleman's club" or a "man's world"[2], but instead as a powerful career choice[4] that they could take to help make a difference on our world and the rapidly evolving technology. Overall, STEM is one of the fastest growing industries, and with the rate at which it is growing, the world needs all the engineers we can get, and hopefully this push will help to finally balance the gender ratios in engineering in the near future!

References:

  1. Zhu, Xiaorui. 2013. “Future of Women in Engineering [Women in Engineering].” IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine 20 (2): 103–5. https://doi.org/10.1109/MRA.2013.2255514.

  2. Margheri, Laura. 2015. “Raise the Visibility of Women in Engineering [Women in Engineering].” IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine 22 (1): 143–46. https://doi.org/10.1109/MRA.2014.2385565.

  3. Inke, Lillian V. Employment Opportunities for Women in Professional Engineering. Women’s Bureau Bulletin ; No. 254. Washington, D.C: United States Department of Labor, Women’s Bureau, 1954.

  4. “The Engineering Gender Gap: It’s More than a Numbers Game.” n.d. University Affairs (blog). Accessed November 11, 2021. https://www.universityaffairs.ca/features/feature-article/the-engineering-gender-gap-its-more-than-a-numbers-game/.

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