I think ISS Women’s Leadership is not as bad as everyone kept making it out to be last semester. Yes, some parts of it feel pointless, but there is an underlying reason to taking that class – to come to terms with being a woman. The responsibilities that sometimes hold us back, the fears and questions we have about our lives along with the gender inequality still present on some levels and ultimately our dreams and goals for the future. We’ve been reading quite a few articles every week, each filled with statistics, history and valid points that just make my mind tick.
I’ve always noted (at the back of my mind) that there are really less girls in engineering at Rutgers. I mean, it’s the same everywhere but its more obvious when the numbers aren’t numbers anymore but real people sitting right beside you. This under representation did not really bother me until I walked into a classroom with just two other girls – in a physics recitation of about 25 students. Even in the lecture halls, there’s always a long line of girls sitting in one row, and some scattered here and there, the rest of course are boys. At first it was unsettling to see so much disparity but after a while, I think I just got used to it and pushed those thoughts away. But, reading that Jessica Valenti article about Women, and hearing about Adrian Rich thoughts just made me rethink the situation. Are women intimidated by men so much so that they won’t give engineering a shot? Or is it because there is a certain mind functionality that is more evident in males vs females, is it something anatomical? Or maybe it’s just our “destined” futures to take care of a family wherein many women know that they are going to have one for sure, so why work so hard towards a career which won’t bring any kind of real fulfillment in the long run? And then there’s always the reason of enjoying your career, which is more evident in the non-science and engineering fields. Just a general observation, but I really want to know, so just put your thoughts out there in the comment box below. Maybe I could bring it up in my women’s leadership class?
Also, this might be a bit random, but I was reading Engineering jokes. I think a friend of mine from Canada posted a website with Engineering jokes, and then I just couldn’t stop surfing the web for about an hour on this topic lol. So anyway, I noticed that most engineering jokes were male oriented AND sexist as well. Great, that’s definitely not improving our situation is it? The only thing I could find was top ten reasons to date a female engineer, which were not nearly as good enough as the top ten reasons to date a male engineer. Don’t know why that struck me as annoying, like that annoyed me more than anything as I typed away furiously in google. Searching again and again and again for female representation there and instead of something substantial, I found pick-up lines to use on female engineers. Hah. That was amusing for about 30 seconds of my life, but still nothing. Nada.
And then finally! I found this:
Advantages to being a girl in Engineering
You never have to complain about not having any guy friends (instead you complain you never have any friends that are girls)
Never ever a line for the bathroom, probably the one place on earth where the men´s bathroom is used more than the women’s
No catfights (an occasional brawl, but you won´t be involved, just sit back and watch)
All the professors know your face and your name
All the guys know who you are
Never a lack of guys
Someone will always have a solution to any technical problem you have.
Cars, Cars, Cars
Have you seen the bathrooms?????
Guys want to be your partner in group projects and want to sit next to you in class, because "hey I get to be the next to the girl"
When someone yells, "hey girl," you´re pretty sure it´s you.
It´s awesome when your guy friends won´t stop for directions if they´re lost but WILL call you for help if they have problems with homework.
Drama free, or near drama free friendships, and those with drama aren´t worth it, plenty more interesting people to meet
Boys with money and fun technology they are willing to share (love the plasma TV and overly monstrous computers)
You never get yelled at for taking something apart, it´s required
Guys actually hold doors open for you and are nice to you for no apparent reason
I thought it was alright and some of it is so true. Alas, I think I almost lost my point in this whole blog post. The point was that no matter how many boys there are in Engineering, our group of girls is growing so don’t be discouraged! There’s plenty of opportunity, the guys are all really nice and friendly (not necessarily for the wrong reasons lol) and we’re all struggling through it together so you’re NOT alone. I’m extremely scared where this pathway is going to take me but I know that with the help of the amazing friends I’ve made in freshman year and the interesting classes I’ve taken I will make it with an Engineering degree someday. I can do it, you can do it.
As an Engineering women part of the Douglass Residential College, there are many opportunities available. Here are some of them:
<!--[if !supportLists]-->1. <!--[endif]-->Externships: This is basically like job shadowing a Douglass Alumni for a week or two, depending on the externship in order to better understand the daily workings of that job. I haven’t done one yet, I definitely want to do one in my sophomore year. Hopefully with a woman in Engineering or any other science/research fields.
<!--[if !supportLists]-->2. <!--[endif]-->Project SUPER: It is for Douglass women in STEM majors, a program where you get updates on the latest internship opportunities, speakers coming to visit, special programs, study abroad and hundreds of other bits of information that can make your search a thousand times easier. It has a specific course called the Introduction to Scientific research course, which allows them to allocate you to a specific research area even with no prior experience. It’s just amazing, with some downtime to meet other people who are a part of it. Don’t miss this opportunity.
Also as a student of Rutgers itself there are many opportunities:
<!--[if !supportLists]-->1. <!--[endif]-->ARESTY: This is a Rutgers-wide research program for undergraduates to which you just have to apply to research opportunities at Rutgers, or if you’re really intense – to ask a professor to fund your own research. Obviously it is a specific process of application but it seems really worth it. I am not sure if I am eligible to work for most people because of my US visa status, so no clue there. But check out their website for detailed info: http://aresty.rutgers.edu/index.html
<!--[if !supportLists]-->2. <!--[endif]-->ODASIS: This is a great tutoring program that I almost joined but because of class schedule conflicts was unable to. If you know you are going to struggle with a particular calculus or science class then definitely go here. They have strict tutoring guidelines with a two hour meeting every week, tests, quizzes and extra homework in order to make you excel in your classes. The only catch is that you have to show good results for the tutoring in order to remain in it, it’s a very demanding program but definitely worth having a great academic standing for.
<!--[if !supportLists]-->3. <!--[endif]-->SWE: Society of Women Engineers provides an opportunity to be mentored as a freshman engineer and to be a mentor as an upperclassmen in order to help women stay in engineering and reap more benefits out of it. There were many planned events including a meet & greet with Johnson and Johnson that I went to, which was really informative. So, definitely give them a shout out!
There are just way too many things to write up on this blog post, just keep searching, something or the other might crop up out of nowhere. I did not even know about ODASIS until December of last year, so hopefully this should get you all to a good start if you’re considering a STEM major. Phew! I’ve talked so much about hardcore stuff today, hope it was informative enough for all of you.
Good luck! J Take care, while I get back to my C++ project.
<3
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