Oregon University System

Female engineers? Male nurses? Most of us are not familiar with these individuals being involved in these professions. In today’s societies, more men are entering medical professions and more women are entering engineering and architecture professions. According to Engineering By The Numbers, “The percentage of women receiving engineering degrees remained about the same as in the previous few years. Females accounted for 18.4 percent of bachelor’s degrees, up slightly from 18.1 percent in 2010” (Engineering By The Numbers).

I am currently attending Oregon Institute of Technology and majoring in Electrical Engineering. In classes here at Oregon Tech, I find myself to be one, two, or three females out of a classroom full of males. As I walk through the different buildings and look into classrooms as classes are in session, in the dental hygiene, radiological, MIT, and nursing lab rooms I find only a couple of males if any. This observation sparked my interest to look at the Oregon University System to see if the results were similar.

The Oregon University System is comprised of seven different universities: Eastern Oregon University, Oregon Institute of Technology, Oregon State University, Portland State University, Southern Oregon University, University of Oregon, and Western Oregon University. A couple of these universities have different campus locations located throughout Oregon. These universities offer abundant field of studies in engineering, health sciences, business, and liberal arts. Many of these college and universities have on campus clubs for the different fields of study to spark interest in others and to help the individuals in that program to network with others and to expand beyond involvement on campus.

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Medical and health science professions lack males, and engineering and architecture professions lack females. A symbolic interactionist would say that there are not many females in male dominant fields like engineering, architecture, and law because females are “programmed” to be more sensitive and caring which lean more towards health science professions like medical imaging technology, nursing, and radiological sciences. Males are supposed to be more inclined to physical labor and hands on projects, which guide them more toward engineering and architecture professions. From birth females and males are taught and surrounded with different behaviors that they become used to. Different activities such as high school clubs, friends, family members, or even watching T.V. have an influence on what interest that certain individual and some interest become apart of what your future profession could be. Men and women are not always treated the same if they enter a field of study that is not the “norm” for them. In an engineering firm, a female may not be viewed the same because she is a “female in a male dominant field.” According to The Office of Women and Minorities in Engineering (WME), “only eight percent of the engineering workforce nationwide is made up of women” (The Office of Women and Minorities in Engineering. Women and men are very capable of entering any field of study and they should not be viewed differently. Colleges and universities in the Oregon University System created clubs and organizations to help with the male and female minorities.

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“The Office of Women and Minorities in Engineering (WME) has been launched by Oregon State University to encourage and inspire more women and minority students to pursue careers in engineering, and help retain these students in engineering once they enroll at the university” (Oregon State Universities Women and Minorities in Engineering). A couple of females in an engineering class surrounded by males may feel that they do not belong but that is not true. One or two males in a nursing class filled with female students may feel awkward because by society they are pushed more towards engineering and architecture field of studies, but that is not true. Clubs and organizations like the Women and Minorities in Engineering at Oregon State University create a friendly and reliable group of students who share common interests and help spark interests in other students. Students who are not an engineering major may stumble across this organization because they have friends who are involved or there are projects that interest them. From joining organizations and clubs on campus, you may realize that this could be something that you want to do for the rest of your life.

Does an individuals family background, peers, and interests help to encourage a certain field of study?

References:

"Oregon University System." Campuses & Centers. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 June 2013.

"Women and Minorities in Engineering." History. Oregon State University, n.d. Web. 04 June 2013.

Yolder, Brian L. "Engineering By The Numbers." Engineering By The Numbers. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 June 2013.