Did you know that Barbie’s new career is a computer engineer? Awesome! Especially considering that in 1994 one of talking Barbie’s soundbites was “Math is hard!”
While I’m not really a fan of Barbie or hot pink I still love Barbie’s new career. I’m not really worried that girls like me won’t become engineers. I had smart, ambitious female role models, a knack for math, and I valued applied science. I’m worried about the girls who are chasing cool, think that boys won’t like them if they can outsmart them, or any number of limiting beliefs. Maybe computer engineer Barbie will reach some of these girls with her hip hot pink laptop or trendy bits t-shirt.
We need more engineers in the US, especially women! That is why there has been such a focus on improving education in science, technology, engineering and math, aka STEM fields. Title IX isn’t really about sports, FYI. That’s why SWE (Society of Women Engineers) has moved into the public policy arena and has rapidly established their place as the STEM gender equity power broker at the federal level.
Check out the article in the New York Times’ Technology Blog: Barbie’s Next Career? Computer Engineer.
My name is Kelly Seiler. I'm an electrical engineer working in the defense industry. I realized that there was an undercurrent of sexism present at work... no one person or attitude seemed to be the culprit. I've decided to learn more about feminism to help me better combat sexism without damaging my reputation. I consider myself an undercover feminist. I'm a feminist, but I avoid pointing things out directly.
An excellent feminist primer! At 118 pages this one is a quick read, but still jam packed with information. It will change your perspective about what feminism is really about compared to the mass media portrayal.
While not a strictly feminist read, this books has lots of good tips to consider in an office environment.
5 Comments
Barbie actually said “Math class is tough!” Not that it REALLY matters.
I think the quotes that you have brought up are just stereotypes. It’s not just United States that have skewed proportion of male vs. female engineers, but in many places around the world as well. I heard from some female friends that part of the reason of the lack of female engineers could be b/c of the discriminatory practices that happens outside of school, ranging from employment, power, to promotions (although companies are recognizing this and in the process of fixing them). Also, some of them feel the profession hinders their choice of raising families. What are your thoughts about the problem(s) that may be causing them to steer away from the profession?
First of all saying that they are “just stereotypes” ignores the real although subtle affect such attitudes have on all of us. Stereotypes exist because they are a useful way to quickly make decisions about people.
Professional women often have a hard time in leadership roles because if they behave the same way as men in similar positions they will be considered overly aggressive. They have to walk a fine line of being authoritative yet still feminine. There have been studies where they take a bunch actors and film the same scenes but substitute women and men in and out – same lines, same delivery. Then they show the scenes to a bunch of survey volunteers and have them rate the behaviors. Despite the same situation and same words the men are viewed more favorably. So women are perceived differently and they are also taught to behave differently to meet society expectations.
Anyway, back to your question… Women face challenges every step along the way. Many girls don’t consider engineering because they don’t know what it is. Two of the officers in my local SWE section were recruited into engineering from the science department at their college. They had never heard of engineering and now they love it. Another factor is around middle school age girls stop doing as well in math… this is why a lot of SWE’s outreach is focused at the 4th grade. Hopefully we can encourage girls before they loose interest or start thinking that cool girls don’t do math or that boys won’t like them or whatever. Engineers need a solid math foundation so it’s best to keep that going as early as possible.
Many women don’t choose engineering as a major and then even fewer women graduate in that major. According to Cal Poly, SLO’s College of Engineering 08-09 Annual Report female freshman enrollment was 15.6% in Fall 2007 and 18.2% in Fall 2008. Since Cal Poly is my alma mater I know they have a good support system to recruit and retain women engineers.
At the last SWE Conferences I saw a lots of women engineers with babies. SWE provides a lot of support for women juggling kids + career and for women looking to re-enter the workforce. The women I’ve talked to say they wouldn’t be able to do it without supportive husbands. One woman’s husband is a flight instructor and has much more flexible hours than she does and day care available at the flying club where he works. Another woman I know went to a part time schedule – she was the first person at her company to do this. Her husband did something similar and they trade off watching their son and working. The downside is that they don’t get to see each other enough now. Yet another woman left her day job to start a robotics camp home business when she had kids. They do regular classes as well as birthday parties and special events. Each woman has found something that worked for her, but these are all highly driven women. I’m not sure what the less ambitious women do when they want to raise families.
First of all, I would like to clarify my “stereotype” comment. It’s about “math is hard” stereotype, not the stereotype about the decisions. It’s also about misinformed nature that causes the ladies to obey the stereotypes that you talked about: “thinking that cool girls don’t do math or that boys won’t like them or whatever.” What you mentioned about professional women behavior again comes from prejudices in the society.
Regarding raising families, it’s definitely getting very tough, especially for ambitious people (men or women) so that family responsibilities don’t get in the way (even if it means eliminating them by not starting a family). Not many people that I know of in engineering go off to start freedom-enabling ventures/muses like me after (or even during) college.
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