Introduction to Gender Identity Project

Introduction Blog

Women are paid less than men for the same work (Endicott, 1999). Although startling, this is a well-known fact. As I searched for a topic for my Gender Identity Project, I wanted to find something I was interested in, as well as find a group of people that I had access to. After much thought and consideration, I found that it would be incredibly interesting to focus on female engineers and female engineering majors, and attempt to discover how they express their gender identities in a field of study primarily dominated, controlled, and lead by men (Eden, 1992).

The workplace climate for female engineers is often difficult. In order to feel dignified within the workplace, individuals must feel respected and valued, and have a certain amount of autonomy (Lucas, 2009). Women in the engineering industry are often are discriminated against, are loners, or simply feel uncomfortable. The following video gives a great explanation of some of the challenges associated with females in the engineering industry.

Although there are challenges these women face, there are groups and programs that are attempting to improve the numbers of women taking interest in math and science, and even engineering more specifically. The following video is a great example of a company trying to inspire women to study engineering. Even though these do exist, they are enough to change the stereotype and fix the difficulties women experience in the field. They focus only on recruiting women, not allowing for them to prosper in the environment.

Because of the large amount of challenges females face within the engineering industry, I question how these challenges affect how these women, both majors and professionals, express their gender identities. In the upcoming weeks, I am going to attempt to find the answer to these questions, and I hope that my findings will bring insight to the current difficulties for women in the engineering field.

References

Eden, D. (1992). Female Engineers: Their Career Socialization into a Male-Dominated Occupation. Urban Education, 27(2), 174-195.

Endicott, R. (1999). Women continue to work for less pay. Advertising Age, 70(50), s4-s10.

Lucas, K. (2011). Blue-Collar Discourses of Workplace Dignity: Using Outgroup Comparisons to Construct Positive Identities. Management Communication Quarterly, 25(2), 353-374. doi:10.1177/0893318910386445

Gender Identity Exporation