1st #Thread of responses from women in aerodynamics to the question, 'what barriers/challenges have you faced/overcome in your career path?'
Overwhelmingly, discrimination, issues related to being the only woman in their place of work, and childcare were cited most #WomeninSTEM
Overwhelmingly, discrimination, issues related to being the only woman in their place of work, and childcare were cited most #WomeninSTEM
1. "In several of my positions, I have been the first woman hired. There have been challenges proving that I am as intelligent and capable as my male colleagues. I have faced bias, as well as discrimination in pay and acknowledgment of my capabilities."
2. "I have not had any barrier for being a woman but I think sometime I have created my own barriers: low ambition, being too prudent and now I realize I had to think bigger to achieve bigger things. My main challenge has being to juggle my work and my role as mum of 3 children."
3. "While I did experience a few overtly discriminatory incidents, one of the most pervasive and frustrating challenges came from isolation. It wasn’t unusual to be the only woman – in a group project, in a class, or even in an entire research building. That isolation made it...
4. ...easy to get singled out – both by those around me and in my own feelings. I found that it was important to cultivate a support network of people who knew and appreciated me, not just as an engineer or a woman but as a person. Having family, friends, classmates, mentors,...
5. ...and teammates reminded me that I was never truly alone."
6. "Engineering has always been looked upon as an unpopular field amongst females especially in the place where I was growing up. I was always advised that this field was about heavy machinery and hard core physical work. This was the time when there was no Google and all my...
7. ...peers were either pursuing majors in computer engineering or medicine. I was (and am) fortunate to have immense support of my parents and family who always believed in my passion and liking towards Engineering."
8. "The greatest challenge has been juggling my career with being a single parent. On a few occasions, I have had to deal with sexist views of women engineers; I made it a point of duty to disprove those views."
9. "I have had issues at every single institution I’ve been at, during every stage of my career, from undergrad until now, as a result of being a female student/academic in a male-dominated field. These issues have ranged from unwanted and inappropriate attention, to having...
10. ...my teaching, research, and credentials questioned by people both junior and senior. I believe that to be taken seriously, it's not simply a matter of women being as good as the people around them, they need to be outperforming those them too to be considered just as good."
11. "I’ve spent a significant amount of my adult life in a male-dominated environment, from my engineering classes to my career. I had to learn how to communicate with men (I went to an all-girls high school), and how not to be intimidated to speak up while being the only...
12. ...female in meeting rooms filled with all men. I’ve also had to learn to accept myself by learning what my strengths and weaknesses are, and be brave enough to work on my weaknesses, and brave enough to trust my strengths."
13. "The main challenge I have found is male engineers don't expect to be led by a female engineer. In my experience, an assertive male leader is respected whilst an assertive female leader is thought of as overpowering."
14. "One of the challenges I faced when studying was the idea some people had about F1 not being the right place for a lady. Luckily, I was stubborn enough not to believe people who told me F1 wasn't for me, but I can see how some girls would be put off by this discouragement."
15. "For the most part being in a male dominated field I would say it has been largely a supportive environment. At my previous teaching position I did run into issues when my husband and I had our two daughters while in a tenure-track position. Balancing being a mom with a...
16. ...full-time career has not been easy, but I am very grateful my spouse has been so supportive. I could not have done it without him."
17. "In a general sense, I would say that it has been very difficult to make that my ideas or achievement were considered of my own and not a suggestion or a product of a male colleague."
18. "Mainly subtle ones - comments from technicians about women belonging in the home, no grease-removing soap in the women's toilets, men expecting me to be more alpha male in my approach to my work. Nobody has ever, to my knowledge, discriminated against me directly because...
19. ...of my gender, but I think successful women in engineering and in academia will not look the same as the average successful man, and so sometimes the goals are wrong and women don't get rewarded when they should."
20. "Moving to a new country really helped develop my career but it was a difficult personal decision and probably the most courageous thing I've ever done. It has really worked out for the best for me as I'm now settled happily with my family and my career in the UK."
21. "One of the biggest challenges is that as a female, I was part of a minority group. It can be difficult to be in the minority, because you are different and therefore less familiar. I don’t think that my male colleagues ever thought that I was less capable because I am a...
22. ...woman since generally as a society we moved away from that mindset. However, it is simply a matter of numbers; males are in the majority and they seem to prefer each other’s opinions because they are more familiar. A female’s voice is an unusual alternative which sounds...
23. ...like more work, and no one likes that. Thus, I felt as though I had to make much more effort to put forward a convincing argument and that I had to work hard to become confident in my field."
24. "I will call it discrimination, but it was more than that."
25. "The obvious challenge is the gender gap in engineering. There is rarely a meeting with more women than men and too many to count where I am the only woman in the room. This presents many of the stereotypical gender differences that we all hear joked about. For instance,...
26. ...let me introduce one specific challenge that I find particularly annoying. I was recently half-joking with a male colleague of mine that I have worked closely with for years about how I have to wait to provide ideas for a solution to a problem that we are working...
27. ...together until after he has failed a few times because he won’t take it seriously. This is a real occurrence that I’m sure many women know all too well. It could probably be made into a comedy show skit (or already has). However, it does hamper progress sometimes...
28. . Sometimes, I have to be the stereotypical [insert any one of the uncomfortable words used for women here] and force my voice to be heard in order to get the job done efficiently and safely. Perhaps I’m saying that women are not heard in certain environment as they should...
29. ...be and are judged when they are heard."
30. "In science and engineering, there is a heavy emphasis placed on the kinds of projects you undertake in your spare time. Someone who rebuilds cars or learned how to code or use SolidWorks for fun is thought to be a better candidate for schools, research positions, and...
31. ...industry jobs than someone who does not have the experience but may have a stronger ambition or capability in the long term. This is something that particularly discourages women from pursuing careers in science and engineering as they are often discouraged from getting...
32. ...their hands dirty or from messing around with computers. I think this creates a feeling of not belonging and of not being good enough for STEAM fields and that is the largest barrier that I have faced in my career path."
33. "Your own self-belief/confidence. Nothing in the work place has been a barrier, only what you perceive to be your own limits."
34. "The major challenge I faced was how to balance my work with my young family. I was Assistant Head of Dept with the potential to apply for the HoD role and I chose not to. I went part time, eventually having a complete career break of 2 years - a fab time spent with my...
35. ...preschooler. I would not change the decisions for the world but returning to work as a part time member of staff again, I have found it very difficult to a) prove I am still working at my highest level and b) find the right tasks within my role to make progression...
36. ...possible in that part time framework. I am no less ambitious than I was but I don't want my work-life balance to suffer for that."
37. "Being in my 60’s and attending university just before Title IX was implemented in the US, there were two major challenges: 1) many universities restricted women from pursuing degree programs like aerospace and 2) at that time you often would not be placed in a job due to...
38. ...your gender. These were jobs that a woman just did not pursue. Thankfully, these challenges are alien to young women in the US today and they understand that they can pursue any career. However, similar challenges may still be faced in other countries."
39. "There is so much evidence supporting the value of a team/workplace/environment that is diverse. As a community we highly value intellectual diversity– for example, we often talk about the importance of having multidisciplinary teams in aerospace design. We fully recognize...
40. ...the value that different technical perspectives bring to a complex design problem. Yet somehow the field has been slow to recognize the value of diversity in other aspects. And until we reach critical mass, it’s always hard being that one “different” person on the team."
41. "I have been fortunate enough to have never experienced any overt barriers due to my gender, but I do know they exist. The types of barriers I have faced have been subtler, like my idea not being taken seriously in a meeting until a male colleague repeats it. You can see...
42. ...how that would be difficult to challenge without seeming like a victim, how that could make one more reluctant to speak up and how that reinforces imposter syndrome. Other subtle barriers include not being assumed to be knowledgeable on engineering topics in networking...
43. ...situations, being talked over, have comments made on my appearance rather than my ideas, etc. It can be exhausting to challenge every single one, and defeating to just ignore them. I often pick my battles based on how important the situation is, and how much energy I have.
44. These subtle barriers exist because of people’s outdated perceptions of gender (often backed by dubious science, like quoted in the Google employee’s controversial memo). They also exist because of people’s outdated perceptions of what an engineer looks like, sounds like...
45. ...and what an engineer does. I think men and women internalise these stereotypes equally."
46. "In general, the people I have encountered in my career thus far have been incredibly supportive. The vast majority of my coworkers view me as an equal and value my input as much as any other. One challenge that I have encountered is the subconscious bias from others that...
47. ...comes out in subtle comments. These seemingly harmless comments, such as “you don’t look like an engineer”, can cause you to doubt that you belong in the field when you hear them repeatedly. I’ve also been particularly offended when the idea is expressed to me that I am...
48. ...where I am simply because I’m a woman. As if the position or awards I’ve earned were only given to me because I am a minority in my field and I fulfilled some diversity quota. I’ve worked hard to get where I am, and it’s wrong to diminish anyone’s accomplishment because...
49. ...of their gender or race. For me, the best way to overcome these challenges has been to be able to identify them. Once I identified the bias behind the comments, it was much easier to remain confident when I heard them. In some situations, this awareness has even given...
50. ...me the opportunity to point out to the other person the bias they’ve expressed and how harmful it can be to people."
51. "The first and probably the easiest challenge I faced was convincing my family that aeronautical engineering was the right career path for me. Coming from a small town, my family had concerns of me being a female in the male-dominated aeronautical engineering field. But,...
52. ...realizing my love for this career path, and not being afraid of challenges, this was an easy case for me to make. One of the bigger and real barriers is seeing fewer women leaders in the field of aeronautics, and as a result having fewer role models. If you are the only...
53. ...female aero engineer in your team, in the meetings and discussions, it subconsciously acts against your confidence. It sometimes makes you question if you are in the right field. It also makes you question if there is a reason why this challenging field is not meant for...
54. ...females. I have met many women engineers, who have agreed that they have had these questions. In my case, I have overcome many of these doubts by being aware of them, yet believing that I am doing the job that I am doing because I love it and have earned it irrespective...
55. ...of my gender or any other identity. So, this is a cycle, where you need more women aerospace leaders to motivate females to pursue this career."
56. "Surprisingly as it might sound, I found that for me the greatest barriers were my self-doubt and the high expectations of the society of woman going into an engineering field, particularly aerospace. The last one plays a lot in the self-doubt (we all have those moments...
57. ...when we ask ourselves why this path and if it wouldn’t have been better on another). In my society it wasn’t an expectation to fail but an expectation to succeed beyond my peers that increased my anxiety and at times made me feel inadequate (and sometimes it still does...
58. ...that). This applies to both boys and girls of my age. At large, I think that while the feminist movement has contributed to what we are today, this has also put a large weight on the shoulders of girls (particularly in ‘men fields’) to prove themselves better than their...
59. ...predecessors or than boys, creating sometimes unhealthy expectations for those of us that chose the engineering path. I feel pressured to succeed, to achieve the highest positions or awards, not because of my desire to do so, but because if I don’t do that, in a field...
60. ...where there are so few of us, I would be somehow failing not only my potential but my women engineer peers and the future girl engineers as well."
