Being a woman, is it difficult to acquire a job in engineering?
I am very interested in being an engineering major, but I am also a woman and would like to know what obstacles I may face. #engineering #women
4 answers
Amy’s Answer
Hi Noemi! I’m also an engineer and a woman, and I can say I did not face any difficulties, I try for several jobs and never had any issue just by the fact that I’m a woman, the only difficult that i found is afeter i got the job and be surrounded by men, this could become a tricky topic, since men are not used to this, either they are kind of afraid of you and distance which of course it will make you feel isolated and not part of the team or they treat you as one of them (including some jokes that they make between men and are not really appropriate or could make you feel uncomfortable.
I will Definity encourage you to go for it! !
Neha’s Answer
Ones talent and hardwork will pay off irrespective of the gender :). I am a female and have never faced any obstacles/issue during my engineering years or my workplace. I agree with suggestions provided by Ken , that will give you first hand feedback from other folks.
All the best !
Monica’s Answer
i agree with both of the previous comments for you, and hope that you will continue to pursue what makes you feel accomplished and rewarded. Being a woman in engineering has not presented any obstacles in my experience. Instead, its been a great advantage and help to provide a different set of ideas to projects and teams. The sites that were posted above are really helpful, you will do great!
Ken’s Answer
Hi Noemi!
You asked a question about a very important area. I do not think that you will find any obstacles more difficult that the courses that you will take in college. You will find that companies hire people based on their ability to help their organizations.
Here is a site that you will find interesting, as it is aimed at girls like you who are interested in engineering:
http://www.engineergirl.org/
This site is for an organization that represents women in engineering:
http://www.ieee.org/membership_services/membership/women/index.html
A good way to learn more is to talk to your school counselor about becoming involved in coop, intern, shadowing, and volunteer programs that will allow you to become more aware of what engineering is all about.
Here is a good site for locating internships:
http://www.fastweb.com/
Also, talk to the head of alumni relations at your school about meeting and talking to graduates of your school who have become engineers. The job of this person is to create and maintain a community of graduates, so he/she would be able and very happy to enable you to talk to graduates, so you can see what they are doing, how they got there, and how you feel about what they are doing.
Here are two sites that will help you to get helpful information and form relationships that will be very helpful:
http://www.wikihow.com/Network
https://www.themuse.com/advice/nonawkward-ways-to-start-and-end-networking-conversations
Best of luck. Please keep me informed. I would like to follow your progress.