Argumentative Essay On Female Engineering

Encouraging young women to enroll in engineering programs prompts the concern of how to maintain female involvement, especially when the material becomes increasingly challenging. Researchers for The American Association of University Women, pursued the question of why so few women are involved in science, math, engineering, and mathematics, and concluded in their 2010 publication, “Students who lack confidence in their math or science skills are less likely to engage in tasks that require those skills and will more quickly give up in the face of difficulty” (Hill, Corbett, and St. Rose 22). The central issue here is not wildly different than learning how to ride a bike or starting at a new school because all require a common remedy: encouragement to continue. When young students …show more content…
As a competitive field, engineering requires active presence and involvement; a female engineer noted in an interview, “To advance, it seems as though you must be willing and able to work 50+ hours/week; and often be on call 24/7” (qtd. in Fouad and Romila 29). With women already balancing family caretaking responsibilities, pursuing a career in a competitive field that requires long hours and allows few days off becomes grueling and near impossible. Another female engineer, describing her perception of the dichotomy between a demanding career and raising a family, asserts, “The pressure is intense, and with no viable part-time alternatives, a woman engineer is forced to choose between family and work” (qtd. in Fouad and Romila 29). As a result, the most common reason females leave an engineering career is to spend more time with their families (Fouad and Romila 27). With rigid work demands that are antithetical to the common female role, engineering is currently not a feasible lifetime career for women who intend on having a