Women-friendly engineering program

[Reesha]

Union College has a fantastic engineering program and there were plenty of women there. I think the liberal arts college environment creates a more appealing environment for female engineers as there are simply more women on campus to begin with. I have a number of female friends who graduated with engineering degrees from there (I graduated from there with a Geology degree). About 11% of all students are engineering majors, 8% of which are mechanical engineers.

Back when I was there they were very generous with their scholariship and aid packages. I'm not sure what it's like post-economic meltdown, but you should check it out

[Melalvai]

Thanks for the great suggestions and resources! This is exactly what I was hoping for.

A friend of mine in a CS program told me about going to a competition in another city with her CS club. As they were making plans, she realized that the faculty mentor had only booked one hotel room for the entire club. She asked "Where am I supposed to sleep?" and he looked startled. It hadn't dawned on him that he'd need a 2nd room because he now had a female in his program. (That was actually the least of her problems on that trip, as the faculty adviser didn't go with them, there was drinking, one guy harassed her, and her boyfriend--long since ex now-- was unsympathetic.)

That's a minor example, but that sort of thing adds up and feels very unwelcoming. When I was in the National Guard, for the first few years it was either just me or me and one or two other females. At our 2-week annual trainings, we had the most difficult time finding out anything, like when we were supposed to be where, which uniform, how to get supper. The guys just routinely forgot about us. My dad was the first sergeant, and I was not shy about complaining, so eventually they got a system in place, assigning a female to be present at all the staff meetings (even though she wasn't technically a squad leader), coming down hard on the squad leaders for being responsible for getting the info to ALL of their squad, and more women joined so it was harder to forget about us.

It's all little stuff, and it seems petty to complain about, but it adds up to create an unwelcoming environment. My daughter hates complaining so she puts up with stuff and then avoids going to whatever class or event that has the problem. I know she needs to learn a different way to cope, and I'm sure there will be other petty problems, but I don't want this sort of thing to be what drives her out of engineering or math.

Once she's in the field, and it's still male-dominated, maybe I'm naive, but I think these sorts of things go away at that point. Probably to be replaced by other bigger problems. But by then she's invested several years and gained assertiveness. Or maybe not and she'll resent it forever, who can tell.

[indysteel]

The guys just routinely forgot about us. My dad was the first sergeant, and I was not shy about complaining, so eventually they got a system in place, assigning a female to be present at all the staff meetings (even though she wasn't technically a squad leader), coming down hard on the squad leaders for being responsible for getting the info to ALL of their squad, and more women joined so it was harder to forget about us.

It's all little stuff, and it seems petty to complain about, but it adds up to create an unwelcoming environment.

This is what I experienced when I first went into private practice as a lawyer. Law school, itself, was diverse in terms of gender. In fact, I think there were more women than men. And my first job out, as a law clerk to state appellate court, was much the same way. From there, I went to a law firm that, at the time, had about 70 attorneys. For a variety of reasons, most of the young female attorneys that worked there had recently left, and I was the lone female associate for a period of time. There were a handful of female partners, but believe it or not, they weren't that much more supportive than the average male partner.

I felt very alone there. Some of my fellow associates were nice enough, but a frat house atmosphere prevailed. At one point, I caught wind of a summer party that a partner was throwing at his lake house to which I had not been invited. It happened to be the partner whose office was next to mine--the one who never remembered my name. One of the other associates called him out on it and, to my face, the partner explained that he thought I'd feel awkward as the only woman. Well, I likely would have, but thanks for making me feel even worse. This was 1999, so we aren't talking the dark ages of gender equality. I left soon thereafter. I think the firm has improved since this, at least I hope so.

I can tell you this. The mere fact that I had a lot invested in my career at that point did not make the environment any easier. I went into the firm really naively, as I'd otherwise never felt particularly discriminated against as a woman. So, in some ways, it might be better if your daughter faces some of these challenges while still in school. Hopefully, it'll help her develop some constructive ways to deal with it or, perhaps, make her carefully evaluate whether it's something she really wants to do.

[divingbiker]

Many, many years ago I graduated in ChemE from Washington University in St. Louis, not too far from you. Even back then, there were quite a few women in the engineering program, so I don't think it's quite as "male-dominated" as you perceive. Based on the newsletters I get, they still have quite a few women in the program. It's worth checking out.

Other than invitations to AIChE (professional organization) meetings that were postcards with women in bikinis, and suggestive calendars from Ridgid hanging everywhere--all way back in the late 70s/early 80s--I never experienced any problems.