What is it like being a women in the engineering field?

I am a female engineer. In my experience I was hired in and quickly noticed I was the only female at my location with 2 women total in the building. I switched groups at the same company and again was the only female engineer. I can tell you I work harder and I am not always well received in the group I am in now that had zero diversity. If I speak up I "have thin skin" so I really pick my battles (very few and approved by management) to make sure I am taken seriously. I take good notes, keep my communication in email to be certain I have a record. The odd part of this is the men call me first when they don't know something because they don't want the other guys to know. LOL. The VP (also an engineer) has told me to ensure my resume is very technical because in her experience growing her career she has been of the belief men do not think women are as technical. I work hard, take on extra projects and keep growing my wheel house to keep growing my career.

Day to day I enjoy my job. I try to be a step ahead and I think this keeps me noticed in a positive light. Always know where you are in the food chain and continue educating yourself. Its a boys club in my world but soon I will pass them up! When at work keep your head at work (not home life) and your foot always on your career gas pedal. Be ready to ask what you can do better and how you can grow. Then you will do great. Good luck

Hi Ese! I love seeing women interested in engineering - I hope you select to go this route. In general, I found that studying engineering opens many doors and in no way limits future possibilities. With my mechanical engineering degree, I've worked in design, product development, marketing and operations, and am so thankful for my engineering foundation, which allowed me to explore these diverse fields.

Great strides have been made for women in engineering, with overall diversity increasing and support of organizations like the Society of Women Engineers (SWE: http://societyofwomenengineers.swe.org/). The reality is that there are fewer women than men, so be prepared to work in a male-dominated environment. That said, I've formed incredible bonds with my fellow female engineers, who have become mentors, confidants and friends. After working more than 10 years in technology, I have not experienced discrimination in my day-to-day work in the US. I have experienced some discrimination when traveling internationally in countries whose cultures aren't as forward-thinking with women in technical positions. None of this has inhibited my work or left permanent damage... if anything, I've become a stronger, more adaptive person and learned to adopt different communication styles to be inclusive as I can be.

I truly feel empowered being a female engineer - with amazing role models to look up to and incredible talent entering industry. I do hope you'll join me :)

Hi Ese,

Great question and i will share my experiences:

"You will feel being alone or very few women around you in this field. You will feel drained having to work twice as hard as your counter peers(males) and that can also make you feel deterred." however as i grew into it and worked with great peers(both men and women) have learned and understood that you must always do what makes you feel happy and be resilient and keep that momentum going. And not be let down by these factors of being alone or none or less or question anytime "Can woman be in Engineering". We need to be there for all those women who aspire to take up subjects around STEM and if we start now then future will be more women in engineering and then you will not ask this question :)

Good luck and hope this is helppful!

Hi Ese,

You might as well have asked the question "What is it like being in the engineering field?". I am based out of India and i have been working for 6 years now and i really have seen no discrimination because i am girl including salary gaps. The problems and issues i have are the same as the ones my male peers face. So on the work front it really has been great in the sense all of us have equal opportunities. Yes as women we might feel that there might be times in our life when we feel swamped due to personal commitments but there are amazing corporates out there that go out of their way to help women. For instance my company has multiple Employee Organisation focused solely for women, for women who are back from long breaks and so on. I am sure you would find a warm welcome in the IT field when you choose to enter.

Good Luck!