A study conducted by the EWEP determined, not surprisingly, that the gender disparity in the engineering field is due largely to the messages girls receive about engineering. The EWE Report states that two primary factors keep girls from considering a degree or career in engineering: First, key influencers – teachers, counselors, parents, peers, and media – are largely unaware of how an engineer’s life plays out on a daily basis, and stress to students that engineering is difficult, requiring a superior knowledge of both math and science. The second factor comes from the engineering profession itself, which conveys messages irrelevant to girls and thus contributes to an overall limited understanding of engineering as a profession.
The EWE study also investigated what motivates girls as they consider career choices, and identified five primary motivators: Girls want jobs that are rewarding and enjoyable, provide a good work environment, enable them to make a difference, pay a good salary, and offer flexibility.
To address these motivators, the EWEP created and tested a number of messages encouraging girls to consider engineering as a career. The strongest messages, now incorporated EWEP programs, are live your life, love what you do; creativity has its rewards; make a world of difference; and explore possibilities.
Consistent throughout EWEP’s work, the messages form the basis of the materials designed to train key influencers and engineers who encourage girls towards engineering. The messages also underlie the website, videos, and social media directed towards the girls themselves.
The messages and the EWEP programs appear to be working: Engineeryourlife.org presents an enticing, exciting view of the profession, and promises a career and future where a girl can enjoy what she does and make a difference – while being paid well. An increasing number of girls and women in engineering are participating in live and online events, joining the Facebook page, spreading the word via social networking, and participating in contests sponsored by EWEP’s website geared towards middle-schoolers, engineergirl.org.
With their well-designed plan to close the gender gap in engineering, the last hurdle the EWEP faces might be the hardest, as it requires changing one of the major deterrents to women becoming engineers: Figuring out how to stop well-meaning but overbearing fathers from giving daughters stern “You should be an engineer” lectures.
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