2. CHALLENGES FACED BY FEMALE ENGINEERS
• Myths of “Innate” differences between male and female children
• Inequalities in treatment
• Battling for jobs post-graduation
• Gender expectations within the family

3. NATURE VS. NURTURE
• There have been no studies that have proven that males are
inherently better at science, technology, engineering, or
mathematics in comparison to females.
• Some scientific studies that give explanations for the disparity of
women in STEM fields
• Female teachers with math anxiety may pass it to their female students.
(Math Anxiety, 2010)
• The perpetuating of the stereotype “Boys’ successes in math are
attributed to ability while girls’ successes are attributed to effort, boys’
failures in math are attributed to effort and girls’ failures are attributed to
ability” (Espinoza, P., et al, 2014).
• Girls having a weaker identification with math than their male
counterparts (Cvencek, et al, 2011).
• Females have a greater lack of self-efficacy in STEM related courses
(Bouge, et al, 2009).

4. UNEQUAL TREATMENT-TESTIMONIALS FROM
FEMALE ENGINEERS
• “At my last engineering job women were fed up with the culture:
arrogant, inflexible, completely money-driven, sometimes
unethical, intolerant of differences in values and priorities. I felt
alienated, in spite of spending my whole career TRYING TO ACT LIKE A
MAN.”
• “Still getting asked if I can handle being in a mostly male work
environment in interviews in 2009 - I’ve been an engineer for 9
years, obviously I can. I know when I’m asked that question, I HAVE NO
CHANCE AT THE JOB. It is nice they brought me in for equal
opportunity survey points but don’t waste my time if you don’t take
females seriously.”
• “The lack of women in general, and the lack of women mentors makes it
[engineering] a LONELY field for women to want to stay in.”
• “You have to be a bit TOUGHER when you are around the guys, you feel
you have to do better than them to be accepted”
• (Fouad & Singh, 2011)

5. BATTLE FOR JOBS: POST-GRAD
• Only ¼ of the individuals working in STEM fields are women
• Growth in these fields are slowing and have been slowing since the
1990’s
• Men are employed at twice the rate of women in STEM fields
• 1 out of 5 women with a STEM degree are out of the labor
force, compared to 1 out of 10 for men
• Women make $58,000/year with an engineering/science degree while
men make $85,000/year
• Women who work in the STEM field make $75,100/year while men make
$91,000/year
• (Covert, B., 2013)

6. REASONS WHY WOMEN LEAVE THEIR
ENGINEERING CAREERS
(Fouad & Singh, 2011)

7. FAMILY EXPECTATIONS
• The number of mothers with children under 18 who don’t work outside
the home has risen to 29% (Toppo, 2014).
• Many women feel the pressure to stay at home and have children which
lead them away from having careers.
• While we celebrate that women now have the choice to work or stay at
home with children, the pressures from family members/spouses still
prevails.

8. ALL REFERENCES
Espinoza, P., Fontes, A., & Arms-Chavez, C. (2014). Attributional gender
bias: Teachers' ability and effort explanations for students' math
performance. SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY OF EDUCATION, 17(1), 105-126.
doi:10.1007/ s11218-013-9226-6
Math Anxiety. (2010). Science and Children, 47(7). 8-10.
Greenwald, A. G., Cvencek, D., & Meltzoff, A. (). Math-Gender Stereotypes In
Elementary School Children. Child Development, 82, 766-779.
Marra, R. M., Rodgers, K. A., Shen, D., & Bouge, B. (2009). Women
Engineering Students and Self-Efficacy: A Multi-Year, Multi-Institution
Study of Women Engineering Student Self-Efficacy. Journal Of
Engineering Education, 98(1), 27-38.
Fouad, N., & Singh, R. (). Stemming The Tide: Why Women Leave
Engineering. Study of Work, , 1-62.
Covert, B. (2013, September 10). Women’s Progress In Science And
Engineering Jobs Has Stalled For Two Decades. ThinkProgress RSS.
Toppo, U. (2014, April 8). More women staying home with young kids. USA
Today. Retrieved April 28, 2014, from
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/ 2014/04/08/women-stay-at-
home-mothers-work/7468163/

9. ALL REFERENCES (CONT.)
How Etsy Attracted 500 Percent More Female Engineers. (n.d.). Co.Labs.
Retrieved April 28, 2014, from
http://www.fastcolabs.com/3005681/how-hack- broken-gender-
dynamics-workplace8 Famous Female Engineers in History. (n.d.). The Expert Witness RSS.
Retrieved April 28, 2014, from
http://www.iveyengineering.com/blog/famous-female- engineers/
Jagacinski, C. M. (). Women Engineering Students: Competence
Perceptions and Achievement Goals in the Freshman Engineering
Course. Sex Roles, , 644-657.
Lawrence, B. S. (). Women's and Men's Career Referents: How Gender
Composition and Comparison Level Shape Career Expectations.
Organization Science, , 1159-1175.
Deterding, N. (). Widening the Net: National Estimates of Gender Disparities
in Engineering. Journal of Engineering Education, , 211-226.
Schultheiss, D. E. (). Women Pursuing Careers in Trades and Construction.
Journal of Career Development, , 68-89.
Why Aren't More Women Going Into Engineering?. (2006). ASHRAE Journal,
48(11), 7-8.
Giges, N. (2012, May 1). ASME Lillian Gilbreth Biography. ASME. Retrieved
April 28, 2014, from https://www.asme.org/career-education/articles/
management-professional-practice/lillian-moller-gilbreth

10. ALL REFERENCES (CONT..)
Cheaper by the Dozen. (n.d.). IMDb. Retrieved April 28, 2014, from
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0349205/
Cheaper by the Dozen. (n.d.). IMDb. Retrieved April 28, 2014, from http://
www.imdb.com/title/tt0042327/
Cheaper by the Dozen. (2014, April 19). Wikipedia. Retrieved April
28, 2014, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheaper_by_the_Dozen

11. ALL PHOTO/VIDEO REFERENCES
“Wow, girls suck at math.” Retrieved from:
http://sagentrecruitment.files.wordpress.com/2013/11/stereotype-
threat.png
“STEM jobs by gender” Retrieved from:
http://scientopia.org/blogs/guestblog/files/2011/08/educ.jpg
“Man Vs. Woman” Retrieved from: http://breternst.com/wp-
content/uploads/man-woman.jpg
“Lillian Gilbreth” Retrieved from:
http://www.feministvoices.com/assets/Women-Past/Gilbreth/Lillian-
Gilbreth.jpg
“Twin Girl and Boy” Retrieved from: https://encrypted-
tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRvRD8sY7u2IwIXKV5V1oh72Jj5
3UOZ7TniMQ7a36lO5gJP8FERLgExpanding Your Horizons: 50 Years of Motivating Girls in Science and Math.
(2009, August 4). YouTube. Retrieved April 28, 2014, from https://
www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQ0yM1AEfnU
This is Your Brain on Engineering (GoldieBlox Easter PSA). (2014, April 8).
YouTube. Retrieved April 28, 2014, from
https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=ArNAB9GFDog

12. PHOTO/VIDEO REFERENCES (CONT.)
“Trash Can” Retrieved from:
http://i.walmartimages.com/i/p/00/82/34/20/76/0082342076574_500X500.j
pg
“Fridge Door” Retrieved from:
http://ww1.prweb.com/prfiles/2006/07/07/408952/Heinz46FridgeKid.jpg