In the field of engineering, men hold most of the jobs. But DiscoverE wanted to change that. On February 25, DiscoverE, known as the National Engineers Week Foundation, celebrated its yearly Girl Day.
Although women fill close to all jobs in the U.S. economy, they hold less than 25% in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM), according to the U.S. Department of Commerce. The agency also reported women hold a low share of college degrees in these fields, particularly in engineering.
With such a large gender gap in STEM jobs, DiscoverE wanted to show females the different fields available to them. It also intended to uncover the different myths(错误的观点) that may be causing females to shy away from this line of work. Valecia Maclin, a director of Raytheon, a technology company, and one of DiscoverE’s partners, gave the four most common myths about engineers.
Myth 1: Engineers aren’t creative.
According to Maclin, engineers are actually creative. “Engineers need to be very creative in order to solve problems,” she says. And females, Maclin adds, are great at problem solving.
Myth 2: Engineering is harder for girls.
Maclin finds that math allows students to be on an equal level, no matter what their gender is. “Math is either right or wrong and always equal,” she says. “That equal sign meant I was equal to all the males in my class.”
Myth 3: You’ll be the only female in your engineering class.
Maclin admits there’re usually very few females in engineering classes. Such was the case in her own experience, but rarely will there be only one female in the class. She believes this can work in favor of females.
Myth 4: You’ll get paid less than the male engineers.
According to the U.S. Department of Labor, women working full time only make about 79% of what men earn. However, STEM careers are in such high demand that even starting salaries are high. “In engineering, your performance is the driving force behind what you get paid, regardless of your gender,” Maclin says.
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