"From CNN: Schools seek more female engineering majors
The U.S. lags behind countries such as China and India in producing engineers and scientists out of college each year, and women and minorities are key to improving that standing, Wolf said. They bring the diverse perspectives needed for the innovation that can set the U.S. apart, he said.
A 2003 study by the University of Michigan's Institute for Research on Women and Gender found that females choose other careers because they don't see engineering as a way to help others. The study, conducted over 17 years, followed Michigan students from 6th grade through college and beyond.Women received 18 percent of the 78,200 engineering degrees given out in 2003-04, the latest data available from the U.S. Department of Education. That's the same percentage as in 1998 and only slightly more than the 16 percent in 1996.
Mahera Philobos, director of Georgia Tech's Women in Engineering program and a civil and environmental engineering professor, said she's frustrated by the stagnant female enrollment but that more women have recently been enrolling in areas like biomedical and industrial engineering -- fields where many feel they can contribute to the world, she said.
Engineering is not a way to "help others"?!?! What are these people smoking? They are either making women out to be complete airheads, or the reporter needs a good lesson on how to write good English. So like, women are total morons who think that only nurses, doctors, and uh... I dunno, housewives or something are a way to contribute to society? *fume*
Actually I don't see why it is a huge issue that there is inequality in enrollment by gender in engineering programs. The inequality is also observed on the opposite end of the spectrum, for example in sociology, teaching, nursing and communications. I don't see those majors fighting for a larger male representation, either. Maybe society just needs to accept the fact that the genders have a natural tendency to segregate, instead of constantly whining about it. I know that I certainly don't want any programs aimed at promoting increased enrollment of female engineers if it means that expectations or standards must be lowered in order to do so.
Besides, as many acquaintances of mine are wont to observe, a significant percentage of women in engineering tend to succeed by either 1) flirting with TAs or 2) finding a boyfriend/male toy who will do the work for them; there aren't a lot that are inherently competent. Well, either that, or the women with the potential to be competent engineers don't actually want to be engineers and would rather, I dunno, earn a lot of money, or something.
And come on, industrial engineering isn't really engineering. It's a marketing degree dressed up with more math. And don't even get me started on the (imaginary) worth of an undergraduate biomedical engineering degree."