Repository: UIHistories Project: SWE - News Clippings Book [PAGE 5]

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ENGINEER

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Summer, 1963

A n ENGINEER Special Feature:

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The Woman Engineer J

In your professional activities, have yov/ever bumped into a woman engineer? One may pursue engineering for years and never meet a female practitioner, for there are less than 5,000 among the nation's one million engineers. Each year, fewer than 200 enter the profession. Should you come across an average woman engineer, she would be about 36 years old, employed by private industry and paid nine to ten thousand annually. She' would have a bachelor's degree in engineering or one of the physical sciences plus some advanced training. She probably graduated in the upper 10-15% of her class, but to get an engineering position, she had to persevere more than her male counterparts. The average woman engineer is equally likely to be either married or single. If married, she has done so later in. life than most women—often in her late twenties or early thirties—and has three children. Once married, she tends to remain that way. If her husband is a professional man—which he often is—her life is extraordinarily full. Such is the statistical profile of the American woman engineer based on a recent membership study by the Society of Women Engineers and on an interview with the Society's recently elected President, Miss Aileen Cavanagh, an engineer with Bell Telephone Laboratories and senior member i of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics. Engineers. |

Beyond the Statistics Though revealing, statistics merely provide the framework for understanding the . place of the woman engineer in the profession and in American society. Although engineering career opportunities have improved considerably since the post-war years, the lady engineer still comes across many industries whose welcome mats have no place for high heels. A few employers are still reluctant to hire females simply because of their sex. Confronted with a severe technical manpower shortage, however, such employers constitute a dwindling group. • No "Hard Hatted Hannahs" Some industries, like steel, which in many areas require "hard hat" type operations, still will not accept women engineers in plant and field work for physical reasons. These same industries often will hire women lor engineering work in their home office and research laboratories, This^sayB^Mss,.^ Cavanagh, will seem like unfair discrimination to the women whose educational preparation, interests, and native talents have been directed toward plant operations and field work. • The liklihood of marriage-and child rearing, of course, pose the most serious deterrent to their finding professional-level employment. This reason is the one most frequently cited, even though high turnover rates among male engineers should provide some counter-argument. According to Miss Cavanagh, a geographical pattern of discrimination towards the woman engineer also exists. Resistance to ladies !s strongest in the New England states where engineering partnerships and public utilities retain their conservative traditions. In the mid-West the woman engineer is more welcome, but often at less pay than her male colleagues. The Par West, where government monies support the salary structures of defense industries, offers an employment climate as .bright as the California sun. In the East, Northwest, and the South, industry also welcomes the woman engineer with relatively wide open arms. ] The Cultural Climate All in all," one may summarize her difficulty as .Caieer Selectivity. Engineering employment awaits her, but.it may not be in the area, or industry or company of her first choice. The woman engineer deserves much credit' for strength and courage . . . as much as the woman doctor or lawyer. Our entire cultural atmosphere opposes women entering engineering, and singles out this inconoclast as an "oddball". Our cultural stereotype maintains that a woman cannot.be attractive, feminine, and an engineer—with the exception perhaps of 1961's Miss Universe, a. German electrical engineer. The consequence of this attitude is obvious—less than 0.3% of engineering's practitioners are women. Because there are so few, the woman engineer bears an additional burden: "professional loneliness". The Society of Women Engineers originated cut of such loneliness and, in fact, provides an opportunity for women in the profession to develop rewarding friendships with colleagues of their own sex. With the profession not entirely receptive I to her inroads, some employers still discriminating against her, and the cultural climate chilly, why does a woman, choose engineering for a career.? . According to Miss Cavanagh, any of three factors may contribute to a girl's interest in building bridges as well as a family: She liked the subject material after being introduced to it; she actually enjoys the additional challenge a hostile environment provides; or she never realized that unique obstacles did exist. Other observers have cited economic reas o n s in that engineering offers girls from lower income families a j chance to ascend the economic ladder. In any case, a girl must have the necessary aptitudes and interests, for success and Miss Cavanagh and the SWE would warn away, those who do not. and family oriented ways to v.l-;-lr we should be true, she j.sid. "\\"c still want all our career prcits— siorials, both men and women! io enter engineering because it" is what they themselves want tc Co with their life energies. "The SWE's concern is ilint engineering aptitudes and i n i e r o i s be cultivated and allowed io develop in any girl posftsMng them. And if she goes on voluntarily to prove her capabilities through scholastic achievenit/jt, she should have a.« fair an o p portunity as do her male colleagues and fellow students to find career fulfillment, in fctf chosen profession."

It is those girls with suitable aptitudes and interests that the SWE attempts -. to reachxOne of the Society's primary purpose is to introduce these girls to the rewarding careers awaiting them in engineering. The Society is not attempting a mass conversion of the female population. In fact, Miss Cavanagh insists that it is unrealistic to believe that this could be done given present social mores. Just because Russia's technical manpower is 30% woman-power, Miss Cavanagh continued, we should not necessarily strive to duplicate this percentage. We have our own cultural values