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Shelbey Sparrow

Professor Robert Arnold

UWRT 1101

11/16/15

Mechanical Engineering Students: Stereotypes

As an engineering student, I have done much research on the different disciplines of

engineering. Though I chose Civil Engineering, I found that Mechanical Engineering has many

different topics involved with it. Mechanical Engineering is a growing field, and there are many

different people who pursue this occupation. In today’s society, there are many stereotypes

towards mechanical engineers. In my opinion, these stereotype of students in the mechanical

engineering field are false. Many people believe students studying mechanical engineering are

only male, have a focus in cars, love all things mathematics, are extremely intelligent, are

introverted, and are only in the field for the money, but there are many sources that prove all of

these stereotypes incorrect, and I did my own personal research at many different revenues. I did

research in the Freshman Learning Community for Engineers, at the William States Lee College

of Engineering Job Fair Picnic, a Society for Women Engineers meeting, and in my Introduction

to Engineering: Practices and Principles class.

One of the stereotypes that effects my life the most is the stereotype of engineering being

a male dominated field, is because people believe that women lack knowledge and interest in

Science, Technology, Engineering and Math, or STEM fields. Being a woman in a previously

male dominated field is very difficult if you don’t like criticism. People make comments on

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everything you do. I’ve heard comments such as “She didn’t do as well because she’s a girl,” and

“Cut her some slack she’s a female.” As a woman in engineering, all we want is equality and

that’s hard to receive with such prominent stereotypes. Girls are pressured from a young age to

form hobbies in interests that are more “lady-like” than these. So older generations tend to form

the stereotypes of the male dominated field. When mechanical engineering first started to

become prevalent in the 17th century with influence from Sir Isaac Newton, being a woman in

any field of work was unheard of. As the mechanical engineering industry began to take off so

did the involvement of women. In a documentary by DuPont from the 1950’s the film begins

with a voice over of a man saying “This motion picture has been made to help you, you men who

have chosen mechanical engineering” (Mechanical Engineering at DuPont). Clearly, when this

film was created the prominence of women in this field was completely unheard of.

As of today, the percentage of women receiving bachelor’s degrees’ in Mechanical

engineering is about 20% and growing. (ASEE) Many people even argue that women should be

dominant in the engineering field because of a natural instinct of curiosity. (Why Engineering

Should Be a Woman's Game) Woman may not have a huge presence in mechanical engineering

as of today, but 20% is extremely high compared to 0% at the start of the industry. Even in the

hall of my dorm, half of the women are mechanical engineering majors. Most of my engineering

professors even recognize the growing population of women enrolled in their classes and have

also made comments such as “the females tend to run circles around the males, as far as grades

are concerned” and “women are scientifically better at multi-tasking and have hard work ethics.”

The number of women in the field is only going to continue in an increasing pattern as time

continues.

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Women have even made some of the most remarkable discoveries in engineering. Going

back as far as the Civil War, Martha Coston, a 21-year-old widow with four children, developed

a signal system so ships could light up their locations on both sea and land. One of the most

travelled pieces of highway I-10 and 405 was developed by a female engineer, Marilyn

Jorgensen Reece. Reece was also the first women to earn a full license as a civil engineer in the

state of California in 1954. (Briseno) Even Facebook’s current director of engineering, Jocelyn

Goldfein, is female (Bort).

Secondly, it seems that mechanical engineering is solely represented in the field of

motorsports and cars. This is because mechanical engineering is literally the branch of

engineering dealing with the design, construction, and use of machines. So many mechanical

engineers do know a lot about automobile engines as machines, but people look over the fact that

many things are considered machines, not just vehicles. Machines are used in almost every field

of work, because our modern world is very reliant on technology and machines to get work done.

Most mechanical engineers don’t work with vehicles in their careers at all.

By my own research, 15% of the mechanical engineering students I spoke with wanted

to pursue a concentration in motorsports. Many of the students leaned towards either having no

concentration or wanted to go into a biomedical field. Mechanical engineering has many

concentration besides motorsports. Some of them include, biomedical, energy, aerospace,

manufacturing, and nanotechnology (Concentrations-Mechanical Engineering). The motorsports

industry also has the lowest rate of hiring for all mechanical concentrations, because many large

motorsports companies are incredibly hard to get into. Biomedical engineering is considered one

of the top 25 in demand jobs and fastest growing jobs in the U.S. and will continue to get larger,

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so many students are choosing this as a concentration (Campus Explorer). Furthermore, with a

mechanical engineering degree you could acquire a career in investment banking, become a

patent attorney or go into different branches of engineering like, mining engineers, water

engineers, and technical sales engineers.

Many people also believe that most people are only going into the engineering field for

the money. This stereotype is developed by people because engineers typically make pretty

opulent salaries. An average salary for an engineer at starting level is from $60,000-$75,000 a

year, and this number continues to rise with experience with an average engineer in any

discipline receiving a yearly salary of about $90,000 (Civil Engineer). Even though the salaries

are a plus in today’s society, in my research and surveys I only came across two people who said

that the major reason as to why they wanted to go into an engineering field. Many students said

that their main passion in life was to help people and going into an engineering field would help

this. With companies like Engineers without Borders, Society for Women Engineers, and

American Association of Engineering Societies, there are always ongoing projects to help other

people. I also encountered students who just had a huge interest in whatever concentration that

were pursuing, whether they simply liked to put things together or find something like energy

interesting. Although these large salaries are a huge plus, almost all engineering students who

end up having a successful career, do it for the love of their field.

Many people ruminate that engineers have very introverted personalities and do nothing

but sit and work, and that all engineers are a stereotypical “nerd”, and though some fall under

this category being a successful engineer requires an extreme amount of social skills, and

personality. According to Ron Smelser in “How to Build Better Engineers”, he states that in his

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25 years in the field of engineering he spent at least 50% of his time communicating with others.

Many engineering jobs also involve working with teams to develop an idea. People who are

extremely introverted would have trouble with this amount of interaction. People who chose to

study mechanical engineering can have all different types of personalities, not just strictly

introverts.

There are also many clubs and organizations that prove that engineers don’t lack social

skills. On The University of North Carolina at Charlotte’s campus has more than 20

organizations strictly for and run by engineering students and faculty. These include Society for

Women engineers (SWE), American Society for Mechanical Engineers (ASME), and Theta Tau

Professional Co-ed Engineering Fraternity, Tau Alpha Pi Engineering Technology Honor

Society, and Tau Beta Pi Engineering Honor Society. Some people may argue that these are

groups strictly for engineers so they only have to interact with other engineers, but Theta Tau,

SWE, ASME and many other organizations have many opportunities to volunteer in our

community and within our campus. These are also just a few organizations on UNCC’s campus,

many other national organizations exist. Also talking with employers, at the William States Lee

College of Engineering Job Fair Picnic, employers from Duke Energy and Eaton Corporation,

said that many times that even if a student applying for a job has a perfect GPA, if they don’t

have the personality and social skills that they’re looking for they will not hire them, but if a

student comes in with a great personality and communication skills with a lower GPA they are

much more likely to be hired.

Another stereotype that exists is that mechanical engineering is primarily math and that a

mechanical engineering student must be tremendously good at math to pursue a career in

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mechanical engineering, but one of the first things they teach you in Introduction to Engineering

during your freshman year of undergraduate engineering school is that math is not all

engineering is about. The third lecture of the class is even titled “Engineering is all about math?

Wrong!” In Ron Smelser’s “How to Build Better Engineers,” In a survey of 1995 graduates from

University of Idaho College of Engineering 100% of the responders thought that more of an

emphasis should be put on either written communication or oral communication and a little less

on math, because that is what’s necessary in today’s society.

A final stereotype about mechanical engineering students are vastly more intelligent than

almost all over majors of students. Many people believe that mechanical engineering is

extremely difficult and superior to other majors and engineering because all the different areas

mechanical engineers have to be familiar with in order to do their jobs. Mechanical engineers

also have to study most types of engineering at least a little at some point in their academic

careers. This stereotype of mechanical engineers being superior to all others is believed not only

by the general public and mechanical engineers themselves. However, a study by the statistic

brain research institute shows that mechanical engineers have an average IQ of about 126, which

is in the “very superior intelligence range,” it’s still not as high as the average for Physics &

Astronomy, Philosophy, Mathematical Sciences, Materials Engineering, Economics, and

Chemical Engineering.

As many people believe these stereotypes to be true, people who chose to study

mechanical engineering are from all different walks of life, with all different passions, all

different personalities, and all different motives. As Terrence Howard says, “I am an engineer,

but what I find important and necessary is that you just learn things as you go along,” the only

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thing that is the same between all mechanical engineers is the desire to learn and make the world

a better place. The mechanical engineering community should not be stereotyped into any

category because every person who chooses to possess a career in this field is different from one

another.

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References

Bort, Julie. "The 25 Most Powerful Women Engineers In Tech." Business Insider. Business Insider, Inc, 5 Mar. 2013. Web. 7 Dec. 2015. <http://www.businessinsider.com/25-powerful-women-engineers-2013-3?op=1>.

Briseno, Terri. How Stuff Works. HowStuffWorks.com. Web. 7 Dec. 2015. <http://science.howstuffworks.com/engineering/structural/10-women-in-engineering.htm#page=11>.

"Campus Explorer." Top 25 In Demand Jobs and Fastest Growing Occupations. Web. 7 Dec. 2015. <http://www.campusexplorer.com/college-advice-tips/76DB6BDB/Top-25-In-Demand-Jobs-and-Fastest-Growing-Occupations/>.

"Civil Engineer: Salary." Civil Engineer Salary Information. Web. 7 Dec. 2015. <http://money.usnews.com/careers/best-jobs/civil-engineer/salary>.

"Concentrations » Mechanical Engineering | Boston University." Mechanical Engineering RSS. Web. 7 Dec. 2015. <http://www.bu.edu/me/academics/undergraduate/concentrations/>.

"Mechanical Engineering at DuPont - 1950s Chemical Company Educational Documentary - WDTVLIVE42." YouTube. YouTube, n.d. Web. 06 Dec. 2015. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhZRfELo5MU>.

Web. 6 Dec. 2015. <http://www.asee.org/papers-and-publications/publications/college-profiles/2011-profile-engineering-statistics.pdf>.

"Why Engineering Should Be a Woman's Game - BBC News." BBC News. Web. 6 Dec. 2015. <http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-30876899>.