The ExponentOnline


04/08/2002	Previous Edition 4/5

Women find place in Purdue engineering

Liz Nicol/Photo Editor

TESTING THE PROJECT: Natalie Enright, a senior in electrical and computer engineering, works on her senior design project. Enright is one of only 41 seniors in the department.

By Laura Pelner
Special Projects Editor

Natalie Enright has never taken a class in her major from a female professor.

Enright, a senior in electrical and computer engineering, said there are only seven female professors in the department and she's never taken their courses, though she sometimes wishes she had.

"I always thought it would be interesting to have a female professor, to see their perspective," she said. She added she's usually the only woman in most of her classes, which isn’t surprising considering only 10 percent of the 112 students in electrical and computer engineering are women.

These experiences aren't exclusive to Enright. Of the almost 6,500 undergraduate engineering students on campus, only 1,174 — or 18 percent — are women, according to fall 2001 statistics from the Women in Engineering office. That percentage is mirrored for graduate and doctoral students. However, campuswide the percent of female students is much higher — almost 42 percent.

Such figures bother Enright, though, because she says she isn't usually treated differently.

"Most of the time I don't think it's all that difficult," she said. "Most of the guys I'm in classes with are pretty secure; it doesn't bother them."

Adrienne Dant, a junior in industrial engineering, agreed that being a woman engineer at Purdue isn't hard. She said there are a lot of support groups available, such as the Society of Women Engineers, of which Dant is president, that help make female students feel comfortable.

Liz Nicol/Photo Editor

WORKING HARD: Cassie Duncan, a senior in industrial engineering, takes notes during class Friday. Industrial engineering has more women than any other engineering discipline; 35 percent of its students are female.

Industrial engineering has a higher percentage of female students than any other engineering discipline — 35 percent. Lauren Hood, a junior in industrial engineering, said this creates a good atmosphere.

"It definitely makes me feel more comfortable being around my peers," Hood said.

Cassie Duncan, a senior in industrial engineering, said she chose to come to Purdue for sheer strength in numbers. She recognized Purdue had one of the largest engineering programs and that within the program there was a strong percentage of female students.

She said female students bring different views to the classroom and group projects, which always betters the end product.

"I think women tend to be the better leaders in groups," she said. "They're able to touch base with people's strengths and weaknesses. Women have a sense for assigning tasks according to what people have the abilities to do.

"Women have a different type of foresight when it comes to group work and that only helps the Purdue class environment," Duncan said.

Both Hood and Duncan have their first female engineering professors this semester. Hood, like Duncan, said the female professor thinks differently than male professors, which helps in the classroom.

"I can tell she teaches differently; I find it almost easier to understand," Hood said. "It definitely makes me feel like I can approach her more easily."

However, Hood said she has never felt her male professors are unapproachable.

Beth Holloway, director of Purdue's Women in Engineering Program, said about 10 percent of the engineering faculty are women, which is in line with peer institutions such as Georgia Tech and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She said both male and female students should be exposed to female teachers.

"(Female professors) can be good role models," Holloway said. "They can prepare the men in their classes for the idea that women can be very successful in engineering and that there will probably be a time when they'll work for a woman."

Women in industry

Holloway, who is a Purdue mechanical engineering graduate, worked in industry for 10 years before returning to the University. She said she doesn't think opportunities were withheld from her because of her gender, but there were things she dealt with that her male coworkers didn't.

"If you talk to any woman engineer, you hear stories of harassment," Holloway said. "I had my share of that … but I don't think my technical abilities were questioned more than anyone else's."

Balancing her career and family was a major focus for Holloway, and it's something many Purdue alumnae talk about when they return to campus.

The Women in Engineering Program frequently brings in speakers who share their industry experiences. A class designed for freshman women — ENGR 194, "Women in Engineering Seminar" — also deals with these issues.

Hood recommends the class to all prospective women engineers because it introduces students to female professionals. She said hearing the women speak helps her to feel more prepared because she gets insight on what her future will be like.

"Some of the things (alumnae) say are that the population of women out there is a lot smaller in the workforce than here at Purdue and how the men are not your peers — they're older," Hood said. "You have two things going against you — you're young and you're a woman."

Holloway said the women who come back speak highly of Purdue and say they're proud to have graduated from this University. She said the alumnae have a strong desire to encourage other women.

A higher standard

The alumnae who come back sometimes tell about different standards they've encountered in industry. Hood said one woman she heard speak, who was a technical adviser, said people she talked to on the phone thought she was a secretary and would ask to speak to a different employee.

"They'd say 'let me speak to somebody else,' and they wouldn't believe her," Hood said. "They would second guess her and her abilities to inform them and make a good decision."

For the most part, though, students said they didn't think there was a double standard, especially on campus. Katy Mess, a junior in mechanical engineering, said she expected she might be held to a higher standard but it doesn't happen often.

"Occasionally, you'll run across a male student that's like 'shouldn't you be in the kitchen?'" Mess said. "But it's so incredibly rare; it doesn't speak for the whole."

Enright said she sometimes thinks people anticipate more from her and that is sometimes discouraging. She said she feels as if she's under a microscope at times and is expected to perform at a higher level.

Support groups

Even with this pressure, the consensus is Purdue's female engineers receive a lot of support on campus. Groups such as the Society of Women Engineers and the Women in Engineering Program make it a point to recruit women and keep them in the Schools of Engineering.

Purdue has a long history of advocating female engineers — it had the first women in engineering program in the nation and has conferred more bachelors' degrees to women engineers than any other university in the United States. Purdue graduated its first female engineer in 1897 with a civil engineering degree.

"This shows Purdue's commitment to diversity in engineering over an extended period of time," Holloway said. "It speaks well for graduates."

And graduates and current students are speaking well of Purdue engineering and the support it offers. Duncan said there are a lot of outlets for support on campus in various student groups.

"They help us learn to use strength in numbers and how to network with each other to find out what we need to do to achieve our life goals," Duncan said.

She said it is an extra benefit that women have such programs and she also said she's heard some men complain they don’t have similar groups to join.

Holloway has similar thoughts. She said it's helpful for women to have a built-in group to talk to that shares common beliefs.

"Your society of male engineers is the engineering profession," Holloway said. "Their support, their network is in place; it's always been that way."

Women in high places

Jennifer Sinclair, the newly appointed associate dean of engineering, said having herself and Linda Katehi, dean of the Schools of Engineering, in administration furthers the women's program. She said Holloway's job also helps this.

"If professors are in place and administrators are in place who are women and they do a good job, that says more than anything else you can do," Sinclair said.

Duncan agreed. She said knowing there are women in those positions whose opinions are heard and respected really helps.

With such female role models, many students said they don't understand why more women don't want to be engineers. Dant said she knows there are women out there who have the potential to be engineers but they shy away because it's a male-dominated profession.

Enright said she's had a great time at Purdue and that her education has been fun and challenging.

"I don't know why more girls aren't drawn to engineering," Enright said. "I've loved it. I think it's been great."