Women-friendly engineering program

[Melalvai]

Last year I asked for college recommendations for my daughter who wanted to go into politics. But, not surprisingly, she's changed her mind. She's interested in math, engineering, or computer science. And she wants to go into disaster relief. I sort of want to recommend the state college (Missouri University of Science & Tech) that has a good engineering program to her-- but I've heard it does a terrible job of recruiting and retaining women. As do certain prestigious schools, like MIT.

Anyone know of a university that has a good math, engineering or comp sci program AND has a good reputation for recruiting & retaining women into the program? Some women (like me) thrive on adversity while others (like my daughter) can put up with it if they have to but would prefer not to have the distraction.

[OakLeaf]

I don't have any suggestions, but I became aware of the Society of Women Engineers many, many years ago when I worked for a female aerospace engineer - back when female engineers were even more of a rarity than they are now. That might be a place to start.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCRRe...eature=related

[bmccasland]

Can't make recommendations, but sounds like a good Civil Engineering program is what will fit for your daughter. Disasters are caused by various reasons - fires, floods, earthquakes, bombs, so the particlar engineering diciplines can change too.

As to universities - some will be better for advanced degrees (come back after you have your Bachelor's) - as I recall that's what my brother was told when he was looking at MIT.

One thing you'll want to ask when you are checking university engineering programs - what's the success rate for your graduates on getting their P.E. (professional engineer certification)? The higher success rate on getting their P.E. will speak a lot on the type of education the students are receiving.

[OakLeaf]

... a quick google shows that my alma mater, The Ohio State University, has a high proportion of women deans and department chairs in the College of Engineering. I only ever knew a few engineering students there and they were all male, but they seemed happy with the education they were getting.

[indysteel]

I don't have any personal experience, but you might check out Purdue's Women in Engineering Program: https://engineering.purdue.edu/WIEP

(I gotta plug my home state's renowned engineering school!)

[KnottedYet]

I've got a relative who just retired from civil engineering. She was one of the first women (and often the only woman) in a lot of the projects she did.

She went to Michigan Tech for her undergrad, and then to Oklahoma for graduate work.

I'm sure things have changed a lot in the decades since she went to school, but she never said anything negative about her undergrad and grad education.

Sometimes her work environment could be a problem with the male engineers and male construction crews, but she never took any BS. And it helped that she was taller than most of the men!

[owlice]

You might ask over on the College Confidential forums. http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/

I'd start with the Parents forum there, but also look at the Engineering major forum. Good luck to her, wherever she goes and whatever she majors in!

[zoom-zoom]

You might ask over on the College Confidential forums. http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/

I'd start with the Parents forum there, but also look at the Engineering major forum. Good luck to her, wherever she goes and whatever she majors in!

I think a friend of mine is a moderator on the Parents' forum. She has long raved about CC and it really helped her help her son through choosing a school and his struggles with severe depression issues the first year. It seems like a great place to get some very specific recommendations from parents of students.

[PamNY]

My information is decades out of date, but one of the worst experiences of my working life was in a company composed largely of engineers that was trying to be "friendly" to women. I'm not an engineer, but my work involved dealing exclusively with engineers, so is relevant.

It was a nightmare because one was expected to conform to this company's idea of what women should be like. It was like going back to the 1950s. At one point I actually begged them to tell me what I was supposed to pretend.

I have an acquaintance who teaches at a major university, and what I hear from her suggests that what I experienced could still be a problem for some women.

[shootingstar]

The closest fit for disaster stuff, I assume for building design for safety would be...fire protection engineering.

There are less than 10 programs in North America that specialize in this area...but that is based on my knowledge over 20 yrs. ago. This area of engineering covers structural, mechanical, electrical but with a fire safety building design focus. Usually the engineer stumbles into it when already they are in 1 of the other engineering areas.

Best programs have a Master's focus because after all the engineer in Canada must become licensed as a professional engineer and then later they can get the SFPE designation ....

Check web site for Society of Fire Protection Engineers.

I worked for a bunch of them for a provincial regulatory body on fire code enforcement and review. (I was responsible for a fire protection engineering library...of which less than 40 llibraries exist world-wide, but that was ages no. And no full-text books on this stuff is not free, not available on the open Internet. It never will be.)

[westtexas]

One of the best engineering schools, IMHO, is the Colorado School of Mines. It's where my brother went many years ago and if your daughter decides to pursue graduate studies, other universities seriously recruit these students. Most state schools will also do a fine job - my alma mater, Texas A&M, for example is one of them.

You should also look on the flip side and have your daughter learn what it is like to be a woman in a female dominated field. As a veterinarian I went to school with 130 others, about 15 of them were male. Not as fun as it sounds and I think a good mix between the two genders is better. At my workplace, it's all women and sometimes I wish they could just stop gossiping for 10 seconds and get their work done.

Either way, if it's something she's really interested in, she should pursue her interests and not worry about the gender gap. After all, we all have to work, might as well like getting up most mornings and going there!

[Owlie]

My alma mater, Case Western Reserve (no, it's not a military school--it just has a stupid name), has some solid engineering programs, though its real strength is biomedical. The ratio of men to women is about 3:2, and probably even more skewed in the engineering school, though the breakdown changes by program. (Chemical and biomedical engineering seem to be more even than, say, mechanical or computer science.) There are certainly women in all of them, though. There are also plenty of campus organizations for women in STEM fields.

It's private, but has in the past been pretty generous with scholarships and financial aid.

[OakLeaf]

it just has a stupid name.

hijack

Why stupid? I think it's cool that the name recalls the historical period when it was first chartered?

/hijack

[Owlie]

hijack

Why stupid? I think it's cool that the name recalls the historical period when it was first chartered?

/hijack

It is, but it results in everyone who isn't from Ohio thinking it's a military school, which is laughable, considering its student body...
(Especially now that the officially-sanctioned abbreviation is in fact "Case Western Reserve" )

[colorisnt]

Wow. Your kid really is a dead ringer for me as a teen - in reverse. I wanted to do nuclear engineering and took nothing but science before switching to poli sci.

I definitely second the Society of Women Engineers.

My mother works in industrial engineering. And she actually prefers to work with men. She is the only woman in her department. I don't actually know how she does it sometimes! Honestly, the reason I didn't do it was not the math or science, but the lack of social contact. Finding a department that works is never simple, but there are ones that work.

I have a friend who is here in nuclear engineering and one in chemical engineering (both women) and they love it here at MU. Yes, there are only a small number of women, but it is growing. There is a chapter of SWE here and they have mentoring and get-togethers. Purdue is another place I have/had friends. Similar situation there.

I like big state schools and the opportunities they offer, so I focused my search mainly on IU and Purdue and Purdue had an engineering school. Rose Hulman is smaller, but WAY worse on the male dominant thing and mom and dad said heck no to the tuition. In the end, I hated Purdue, so I didn't need to break my Dad's heart and go there. The campus was ugly in comparison to IU (the place I had idolized as THE university since a baby) and it was really conservative. Tell her to go visit campuses and realize that she needs a COMMUNITY around her.

Ask lots of questions and I am sure it will work out!