Every student in Purdue’s Engineering program starts freshmen year in math, chemistry, physics, English, and communication classes, also known as “First-Year Engineering.” In order to maintain a top 10 rank in the world, these classes are quite competitive to ensure that the best students are moving on. After students complete their First-Year Engineering Program, they apply to a more specific major, like Mechanical or Civil Engineering. In 2017, only 25.2% of undergraduate students were female (College of Engineering, 2017). We interviewed two freshmen females in engineering. Erica Foster chose Environmental Engineering because she has a passion for the environment and thinks she will have more of an impact and hands on effect on the world. …show more content…
While no comments of this has been directly made to either, both women have been hesitant to ask questions in their math classes. Instead, Rhodes has used office hours and emailed her Teaching Assistant, TA, to ask questions because she feels more comfortable on this level rather than being judged in class. When asked how she felt in a male dominated classroom at Purdue, Foster stated that she has never had an interaction where she has felt bad and that she feels driven to prove herself in the male dominated industry. This is the issue that came up in the research articles that our group found. While the stereotype has not been verbally said in the classroom, women are still feeling degraded and it turns into being driven to …show more content…
As a group, we believe that writing to him is the best option because he controls what happens in the College of Engineering. Purdue engineering department has done a good job at creating a support system among the females in their department. However, we hope that Mr. Chiang will take out suggestion to pool more females in a classroom and to recruit more. By recruiting more young ladies, the program will become more diversified and prepare these students for upcoming jobs. Social norms have and are changing, and engineering companies are looking to vary their employees. Our interviewees admitted to sitting in or near a group of girls in a classroom to feel more comfortable. College of Engineering could show efforts to put more females in a class together to combat an uncomfortable