Identifying Gender Barriers

The inclusivity challenge

Mechanical Engineering and associated sister disciplines such as manufacturing, materials, and aerospace are often considered machismo, with significant under-representation of women in these fields. The situation has marginally improved in recent years but in most mechanical engineering classes even in the UK, you still see less than twenty percent women. The situation is even bleaker in developing and under-developed countries where strong social barriers exist to the participation of women in such disciplines.

Identifying the barriers

When you consult the educationist they cite various reasons for this lack of inclusivity, some of these reasons are dug deep into the way we have traditionally taught these disciplines and the curriculum design itself, while others are more to do with what women perceive them to be.

This perception is partly due to stereotypes and partially due to a lack of factual information about what it really means to be a Mechanical, Manufacturing, Materials, or Aerospace Engineer. Similarly, there is a need to highlight the relevant women role models for these disciplines so that we can make engineering a more inclusive profession.

Changing the traditional perception

The traditional perception of mechanical and manufacturing that many of us have in mind is greasy job shops, sweaty overhauls from the heat of furnaces and days, and weeks away from families in oil fields in the middle of deserts. While, for someone daring women whose idol is the Laura Croft from Tomb Raider, these may be images that they look up to for a vast majority of us this is still not the type of image that they associate with femininity.

I respect both views, so I am not going to embroil myself in a debate about changing the way we view or define femininity, rather what I would like to bring to your attention that the previously stated perceived image of these engineering disciplines is only one side of the coin.

There is a whole range of job roles and opportunities that differ widely from these and regardless of the image you look up to as a woman you can find something that you may find very interesting and satisfying as a career choice in Mechanical Engineering.

A common misconception

Another common misconception is that engineers invariably always require very high mathematical proficiency. While it is true that engineering requires an analytical approach and all engineering disciplines are underpinned by strong mathematical foundations, relatively few engineers actually work in job roles that require them to solve complex equations on a day to day basis. Thus, again depending on your appetite for mathematics you can choose to be in job roles that are relevant to you.

Identifying opportunities

For those not familiar with the range of diversity in mechanical and related engineering careers, it may come as a surprise that as a graduate woman mechanical engineer you will be in a unique position to choose from career pathways that on one extreme can be completely office-based roles, for example, a mechanical design stress-engineer at ATKINS (that in certain cases may even be suitable for homeworking) to those that require you to be on the field all the time (with twenty to thirty days field rota at a stretch) — for example a field engineer with an oil-exploration firm — and many roles in between these two extremes. This allows you to focus on a track that meets your lifestyle needs and your unique career ambitions.

A tribute to women in engineering

I would like to end by sharing a very interesting short animation about the fantastic Women Engineers like Mary Anderson, Alice H. Parker, Mária Telkes, and many others who invented new technologies and made an immense contribution to many engineering fields. Have a look at this.

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