Women who have an interest in the maths and sciences and have the ambition to succeed in a challenging, rewarding field do well to consider continuing their studies in engineering and related fields. It’s a major many women overlook, and engineering is a career field noted for its high demand and it’s lucrative salaries.
The field a challenging one and some studies suggest that it offers more than the obvious challenges for women. The field is overwhelmingly male dominated as well as competitive. Women may feel out of place, and their fellow male students may feel they are out of place. However, the rewards for succeeding in the field are enormous, and as time passes and more successful female engineers become common, this prejudices will pass.
While women are certainly as capable of succeeding in competition as men, it may be the competitive nature of engineering that causes high numbers of dropouts among even the relatively few women who pursue engineering as a major. Women, however, tend to see educational pursuits as cooperative or collaborative rather than competitive. Competition may be noted among women in educational environments but it takes a backseat to the learning process itself. In a field of study that is so male dominated, competition may take on a social importance beyond that which many women will tolerate.
Rather than dropping out or switching majors, however, female engineering students may find greater success learning to balance the competitive nature of their department against the support, cooperation, and collaboration of a mentor. Women who study engineering and maintain strong friendships and professional connections with mentor figures througout their study may have a greater chance of succeeding in this difficult field. For other female students, it is their own fiercely competitive nature that gets in the way. While male students of varying abilities are likely to try an engineering degree and take some challenging aspects as expected, many female engineering majors are of much higher than average ability.