Miscellaneous Musings on Being a Minority

The two trade magazines I still regularly read, Physics today and Mechanical Engineering, seem to have at least one mention in every issue of how to bring more women into the field. I read these articles with mixed feelings. I have personally experienced very little discrimination against women, in either engineering or physics. But I have also only worked and studied in very progressive environments, and I do not doubt that real discrimination against women exists.

I must confess that while I find any form of employment discrimination deplorable, I would also feel a little sad to see the unique culture that I've worked and studied in disappear, and that is the culture of being a woman in a male-dominated field. We have rare gifts among women, and I am thankful for them every day.

Firstly, I have very seldom met any women classmates or colleagues that are catty or competitive or spiteful toward each other. There are so few of us that we tend to cleave together, because let's face it, no matter how well a person may get along with his or her opposite-sex friends, we all need the friendship of our own gender. And when you are a woman and meet only one or two other women in a given year, you are pleased and thankful, and are not inclined to try to push her away or harm her! I have experienced both ends of this warmth. I've started new positions where the current woman engineer reaches out to me, and I have also been in the senior position where the "new girl on board" is someone whom I want only to help. I cannot imagine otherwise.

Secondly, I think we have a uniquely moderate approach to daily life. Yes, most of us fit the stereotype of not being into fashion, makeup, designer clothes, and handbags, but neither are we tomboys or manlike. Very few of us wear only pantsuits and sensible shoes, and we don't shy from wearing beautiful dresses to formal parties. Most women engineers can dress to knock your socks off, but most simply choose not to on a daily basis.

Thirdly, I think we have a very healthy outlook on male-female relationships. I think there is another stereotype floating around out there that women can only survive in male-dominated industries if we are rock-hard and tough-as-nails. It simply isn't true for most women engineers. I do not know a single one who is an ultra-feminist who refuses to cook or do dishes because she views it as degrading to women. I have never known one who hates all men. If you ask one of us whether we would quit our jobs to be full-time mothers, we would most likely weigh our options in purely practical terms--how much income would I lose, what is the cost of childcare, how much would I miss working--we would not bristle at the question or view it as a Great Sociological Choice that is Determining the Role of Women Everywhere.

So there you have it. :)