Engineering?- Serious answers only?

Question

I am obviously a female. And I am wondering about those who have pursued there whole career in engineering. I think if I get a good enough head start I could achieve the goal. But is it a good broad career path? Could I do a lot with it? I mean, money is kind of an issue, but I want to know from people who have made their lifes off an engineering degree. Was it worth it? Or would you pursue another career if you could start all over?

Answer 1

I teach engineering. Strongly consider becoming a software engineer. Female software engineers make 40% more than male engineers, on average. Females civil engineers only make 2% more than males on average.

Now, expect to live in a world so male dominated that you could easily be miserable, likely never get your personal needs met, and expect to meet goals structured in very male ways. Most women wash out because they cannot stand the men. They would rather be doctors or nurses. It isn't that women are discriminated against, rather the social mores are strongly male. Research shows that even the curriculum favors males in very subtle but important ways.

It seems that males and females (speaking very generally) solve problems differently. The problems are often presented in ways that favor male problem solving skills.

Females are so valuable, particularly in software engineering, because they are a scarce commodity and because they bring problem solving skills that are innate that the male dominated industry generally lacks. The reverse is true for male teachers. Females now dominate teaching, male teachers bring skills generally absent from American education and tend to be paid better due to higher certifications, merit pay issues and credentializations. In private schools they bring in more too where their skills are also scarce.

Scarcity drives price. But I know a lot of female engineers who leave engineering because it is so male. One I know is a physician recruiter for a hospital that hired her software team to design a patient care software system for them.

Answer 2

I don't know how old you are, but, at some point you will have to decide on what kind of specialized engineering you wish to pursue.

You'll still need a solid foundation in the math and sciences, but somewhere along the line you will be interested in biology, electronics, structural, computor or any of several other specialities.

Answer 3

I have been in electronics all my life and been very happy with it. ~
Of course electronics is taking over everything, Communications, transportation, commerce, computers, entertainment. There is no end to the choices.