Number of female engineering majors reflects national stats

By Kim Anderson
The Collegian

Leslie Perryman knows what it’s like to be “just one of the guys.” After all, in every class she has, she is surrounded by plenty of them.

In fact, it isn’t unusual for the Fresno State mechanical engineering major to be the only girl in a class she’s taking.

This is nothing new for engineering students at Fresno State — and all over the country.

Women make up about one-fifth of students in engineering programs nationally, Associated Press writer Dorie Turner said in her article, “Colleges push for more female engineers.”

And being one of a few girls in a classroom leaves room for boys to be boys.

“There are a lot of jokes,” Perryman said. “I just take everything with a grain of salt.”

For junior mechanical engineering major Brenda Howard, being surrounded by men is something she’s used to.

“I’m just like one of the guys,” Howard said. “As long as I’m recognized for my hard work rather than [my gender], it makes no difference.”

Men are stereotypically in engineering and to some, it is like a “boys club,” electrical engineering major Daniel Dietmeyer said.

There needs to be more of a balance because it’s not a gender-specific field, he said.

“Sometimes it’s weird to see congregations of women,” Perryman said. “You don’t really realize it until you take general education classes and see so many females.”

Of the 1,129 engineering majors at Fresno State in 2006, 181 were female — about 13 percent.

“Our numbers are pretty consistent with national numbers,” Ramakrishna Nunna, Associate Dean of the College of Engineering, said, “but national numbers are low as it is.”

Compared to other schools on campus, this number is incredibly low.

The Education Department is 82 percent female and Arts and Humanities is 61 percent.

“People don’t come into this profession because [generally, interest in both] math and science is very low,” Nunna said. “You never see engineers as role models. There are sports figures and poets but not engineers.”

A hands-on approach is being used to encourage more females to enter the engineering field.

A program at Fresno State called Engineering Pathways gives high school students the opportunity to participate in projects and see the different aspects of engineering, Nunna said.

“People in engineering can do great things,” he said. “Without hard work, though, it can’t be done.”
Howard said she spends about eight hours on the weekends doing homework.

“I study more to keep on top of things,” she said.

One of the reasons there are so few engineering majors is because many people enter college ill-prepared in math and sciences, Nunna said, and are still lacking in those areas after taking college courses.

“Math intimidates people,” Dietmeyer said. “It’s usually not the ability to do math, just the motivation.”
With the right motivation, engineering students can enter a variety of fields and earn a starting salary of $55,000 to $60,000 per year, Nunna said.

Perryman, who became interested in the field of engineering in middle school, said it can be discouraging sometimes but is worthwhile if you know what you want to do.

“You can’t walk through a day without touching something that hasn’t been touched by an engineer,” Perryman said.

Over the next five to 10 years, there will be more successful women in engineering, Nunna predicts.
“Engineering impacts society,” Nunna said. “Engineers have a big role to play and society doesn’t realize it.”

And if that isn’t reason enough to motivate someone to be an engineer, the work really does pay off.

“Engineers change people’s lives in a very positive way. People use so many things made by engineers that they don’t even think about,” Nunna said. “[Engineers] make good money and play with the coolest toys.”

Comment on this story in the News forum >>