Why are many women engineering students not joining the society of women engineers or SWE?

Question

This question is for female engineering/science/technology students. If you are a female engineering student, why are you not active in participating in the society of women engineers or SWE. Please be honest-be brutal if you have to.

Answer 1

We have a problem with recruitment and retention in my college chapter of SWE, due to a combination of factors. The biggest one being that there really just aren't that many girls that are eligible to be members.

Add to that the fact that not everyone has the money to be a paying member every year.

And of course, the politics within the individual groups themselves--many girls didn't want to join because they didn't like who the president was, or the ideals that we were setting forth.

I personally enjoy being a member of SWE, and I think that we do a lot of interesting things within our area to promote women in engineering (even if the guys only ever want to come to meetings when we have free food....)

Answer 2

I was a member in college, but there is no active branch of SWE nearby in the real world.

I was an officer and I thought SWE was lame sometimes. Target your audience. Don't limit membership to females, the organization is for the promotion of women in engineering not just for women engineers.

Answer 3

I was a member of SWE when in college. I think minority organizations are more needed when there is more discrimination. Not all black people join NAACP, they may not feel the need. Not all gun owners join NRA. Why should you join an organization of women if you don't want to. It's probably dues and a club meeting you might not want to attend. Many may feel they don't need that sort of support. Not all humanists join the national humanist society either.