Female engineers?

Question

Since engineering is a male dominant field....is there a branch of engineering where females are prevalent? I know there are a few in all branches but is there one branch where there are a lot?

Answer 1

*Architecture Engineering.

Answer 2

Chemical Engineering is one of the best fields for a woman to go into. As a second choice I would say Electrical Engineering.
All of the other fields are pretty much male dominated, just due to the type of work involved.
I have seen several women quit their Mechanical Engineering jobs and and have never met a female Civil Engineer.

Answer 3

The corpus collosum connecting the right and left hemispheres of the human brain shrinks in the male fetus resulting in less left-right communication in the male vs female brain. As a result men are either logical (left brain) or emotional (right brain) at any one time, but can chose. How else do you explain barroom brawls? Females can be emotional and logical at the same time. For that reason females often enjoy careers with more human interaction than males need. A female engineer might enjoy being a professor (with students) more than being the world's foremost expert on threaded fasteners while many males likely would prefer the reverse. Males and females should have the same freedom to chose their field of engineering, with the option also to chose a satisfying career, based on whatever they deem important in their lives.

Answer 4

Few colleges/universities carry it, but in my class at Rensselaer (www.rpi.edu), we women rocked the Materials Science & Engineering department. After that, I'd have to say Chemical had the highest percentage of women. But that's just at school - I have yet to experience a "real world job" where there were more women than men.

Answer 5

Female engineers, though admittedly rare, are extremely welcome in all branches of engineering. The professional bodies are falling over themselves to get more women interested. The most terrifyingly knowledgeable and effective engineer I ever worked with (in electronics) was a woman. So if you are interested in a particular area, go for it. You will be welcomed and respected.

That said, my guess would be that there are more women working in the area of alternative technology, finding lower-tech solutions to the world's more pressing problems rather than adding more bells and whistles to the latest shiny gadget.

I suggest contacting the professional body for your chosen field (they all have websites, of course) to find out more.

Answer 6

At my college there seemed to be a high female percentage (relative...) in Industrial Engineering and yes Chemical Engineering. Though the hot ones seemed to gravitate to Architecture... ;)

Answer 7

No, but as in my field, architecture, women are being more and more accepted. The only reason there have been fewer women is that we were not welcome. It just takes time. If you or someone in your circle is thinking about pursuing a career in engineering, encourage her!

When I went through architecture school, we were always just 10% of the group -- 7 of 77 who started, 2 of 23 who finished -- this at a major US university.

Just encourage her! Here's a website for our group of women architects in Los Angeles that shows a group of successful people in a male-dominated field.
www.awa-la.org

Answer 8

When I was in college, I noticed a lot of females in Chemical & Civil Engineering. I graduated in Mechanical with only one or two females in my class. Honestly, they are all good fields and I wouldn't want to discourage you from any discipline in engineering. Good luck!

Answer 9

Chemical engineering . In my batch, most of female students are majoring in chemical.
I am majoring in Mechantronics and only 2 girls(me and my partner) in the class

Answer 10

"Women received more than 30 percent of bachelor's degrees in the fields of bio, environmental, chemical, industrial, and agricultural engineering. They receive only 13.9 percent of degrees in mechanical engineering, 14 percent in electrical, 16 percent in computer, and 22.5 percent in civil engineering."