Summary Blog - Women in Engineering

Throughout the semester, I have been observing and interviewing the Chemical Engineering Department at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. It is commonly known that women in the Engineering Industry are often treated with disrespect within the workplace, and much less research has been done on how female students are treated within the Engineering major. Because of this, I thought it would be the perfect gendered group to find more about for my Gender Identity Project.

For this assignment, I was required to spend 2-3 hours in observation. I chose to attend a senior lab and a Process Control course. I spent 3 hours observing in the lab, and 1 hour observing the course. The first thing that was said by a male student to me in the lab was, “What are you interviewing Brock (my husband) for? What you’re having for dinner?” Although meant in fun, I personally took offense to the joke. Interestingly enough, the women are all in the same group for lab, so there was minimal interaction between the males and females. In the classroom, although the atmosphere was laid back, it remained professional. Overall, the professor just lectured, and the students listened and took notes.

The most interesting part of my project is the interviews. I interviewed 2 male students (Matt and Brock), 4 female students (Maggie, Laura, Erica, and Dani), and 1 professor (Hunter). I wasn’t expecting to focus my project on jokes about women that take place within the major and I hadn’t even had a question about it, but the concept came up in my first interview, so I decided to explore it more. To my surprise, jokes were the largest theme across the interviews. The men and women had very different views and opinions about the jokes. The men did not see them as a big deal at all and that the women are not affected by the jokes and that they can take it (Matt, Brock & Hunter), but the women were affected and offended by them. Additionally, the women did not feel that they could say anything about the jokes because the men would just tell them that they were overreacting (Maggie, Erica, Laura, & Dani). Although the jokes are meant lightheartedly, they still have an affect on those they are directed towards. Sadly, nobody is meant to be hurt in the process, but there is simply misunderstanding.

Overall, this project taught me a lot, and I hope it has the same effect on persons that have the opportunity to view my video. I was reminded that language is powerful. What you say has a great effect on others, whether you realize it or not. Additionally, the project has taught me that I need to be more careful with my humor and sarcasm. I don’t always know who hears or overhears and how it affects those who hear it. I don’t know their perspective or circumstances, and what I say can actually cause harm, even if it isn’t meant to.

The following video is my creative artifact for my Gender Identity Project:

References

Brock, Personal Communication, April, 5, 2012.

Dani, Personal Communication, April, 12, 2012.

Erica, Personal Communication, April 12, 2012.

Hunter, Personal Communication, April, 5, 2012.

Laura, Personal Communication, April, 12, 2012.

Maggie, Personal Communication, April, 12, 2012.

Matt, Personal Communication, April, 5, 2012.

Concept Application Blog

Concept Application Blog

Concept: Abstract Worker

Definition: A bodiless, sexless, emotionless worker that does not procreate.

            Although an abstract worker is supposed to be genderless, as chapter 9 illustrates, it is in fact male. The engineering industry exploits this ideal to an even greater extreme. Women in the engineering field undergo a socialization process that women in other studies don’t have to face (Arendt, Litera &Buzzanell, 2008). Additionally, these women use several coping strategies in order to attempt to fit in, such as being one of the boys or accepting gender discrimination (Powell & Dainty, 2009).

            As discussed in the previous blog post, women in the engineering industry face significant challenges in reference to their sex and the expression of their gender. My process for exploring this for the rest of the semester is going to start with sitting in on at least three different engineering classes, and one engineering lab at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. After my observations, I am going to interview two female engineering students, two male engineering students, and one engineering instructor on issues concerning gender in the classroom. After observing and interviewing, I am going to analyze the data I’ve collected, and I’m hoping to discover if a similar atmosphere exists in engineering classes as they do in the professional industry.

The following videos are a great explanation of more of the information I would like to explore and learn through the rest of my project for the semester:

References

Arendt, C., Dohrman, R., Litera, N., & Buzzanell, P. (2008). 'Women Don't Belong in Engineering': Using an unCONVENTIONal Narrative to Expand Socialization Theory. Conference Papers -- National Communication Association, 1.

Powell, A., Bagilhole, B., & Dainty, A. (2009). How women engineers do and undo gender: Consequences for gender equality. Gender, Work And Organization, 16(4), 411-428. doi:10.1111/gwao.2009.16.issue-410.1111/j.1468-0432.2008.00406.x

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