What is it like for a female to work in a male-dominated industry?
I'm a female interested in Mechanical Engineering #engineering #mechanical-engineering
3 answers
Saeid Loghavi
Saeid’s Answer
Hello Yashna,
In my view, even though compared to 20-30 years more females are studying mechanical engineering, you are right in saying that mechanical engineering is a male dominated engineering field. I graduated with my B.S. in 2015 from Ohio State and roughly 25% of graduates were female. I have also seen how female engineers are treated in the work place and I think there has been a major change in how female engineers are viewed in the work place. In my experience, female engineers are for the most part viewed as equals specially among other engineers and upper management of companies because they judge female engineers based on their abilities and performance. However, I have seen in multiple instances where lower level employees (technicians and operators in manufacturing facilities) have less respect or trust in a female engineer. My advice to a recent female mechanical engineering graduate would be to research the company and the position and view their work place policies and if possible talk to female engineers who were hired by the company in the past few years to get a better feel about the work conditions. I think female engineers would face little to no issues if they are working in a technical role but if they are working closely with operations and manufacturing they are more likely to face skepticism and disrespect.
Julie’s Answer
My best advice is that there will be situations where you will look around the room and no one will be able to relate to your situation. That's ok. Let it fuel you to make a path for more women who are coming behind you. I was in a conference room as the only woman struggling with morning sickness, pregnant with my first child when I realized no one could relate to my situation no matter how hard they tried! At that moment, I decided to lean in and help further normalize of the topics of motherhood, pregnancy, and all that comes with it at every chance I got-- of course, while remaining professional. While it was awkward at first, many of the men who were my peers came back to me as they had their own children with encouraging stories about how my conversations helped them understand and make their team environment for inclusive and accepting for their women colleagues.
Overall - just be the best version of yourself. Speak up if you have something to say. Control your time and your calendar to take care of yourself and your family. Finally seek out women who are on a similar journey so you can encourage them and they can support you.
Kalyan C. Mutyala
Kalyan C.’s Answer
Hi Yashna,
Once it is perceived that mechanical engineering is only for males as it used to require a lot of physical strength to do the work like cutting a metal piece, welding, machining, assembling an engine and so forth (this is what I was told in the mid-90's).
But, now I completely disagree with the perception of male-dominated engineering stream. I encourage you to look up to the personalities like Mary Barra (CEO of General Motors) and also check the following link, where you can find women CEOs in mechanical engineering related industries such as manufacturing, oil & gas, automotive, metals & mining.
http://www.forbes.com/power-women/#/tab:overall_category:Technology
Mechanical engineering is one of the versatile and broad engineering stream. Don't get disappointed with the old perceived beliefs of "male-dominated". Hope it helps.