The Role of Gender in Hands-On Engineering as Observed at Eurocopter
As a former president of the Robotics organization in my high school and as a current student in the School of Engineering, I have already faced the gender dynamics of the engineering profession, especially in electrical and mechanical engineering. With hands-on engineering, it always seems difficult to find a substantial population of females in any group. This was particularly significant at Eurocopter, where not only it was observed to be male-centric, like other engineering corporations that I have previously visited, but also the factory floor simply did not have women’s restrooms because Eurocopter employs only men.
That is not to say that Germans (or EADS, the European Aeronautic Defense and Space Company, the parent corporation of Eurocopter, for that matter) are any more sexist than Americans, nor is there an entire lack of female German engineers, but Eurocopter will not have female employees on its factory floors because their market is mostly male-centric, and it would make no sense to create a women’s restroom if none of their employees are female. So, while some may be quick to criticize the company for ethical issues regarding gender, one should analyze the situation and hopefully come to the understanding that while a gender-equal population in the engineering industries is ideal, it is far from the reality that today’s engineering field can provide.
Instead of such harsh criticism towards the industry, I feel that there should be a continued movement towards encouraging the growth of women in engineering. When previously working with the Robotics Club in my high school, many scholarships and foundation awards were dedicated towards young women in engineering – many of which female members of our club won because of their active involvement in engineering and the math and sciences. As a future scientist, I hope to encourage students of both genders to become involved in math, science and engineering as well.