For those who don’t know yet, I’m a biomedical engineering major. I love learning about everything in this field, but there are definitely some drawbacks about being a woman in a largely male-dominated field. Even though I’m just a student, here are some of the things that I’ve noticed so far:
1. It is still a common misconception that women cannot design anything for projects.
2. It may come across as shocking, but there are women who enjoy and excel at programming.
3. Men have yet to learn that to learn that it’s not always appropriate to comment on a woman’s clothing (or to tell her that she should wear more feminine things.)
4. Although hard to believe, some of us actually understand what’s going on in lab.
5. You should never insinuate that a woman is “too pretty to be an engineer.”
6. There are unfortunate occasions where male professors think it’s acceptable to give more attention to female students.
Although everything on this list can be a bit annoying, it’s a sad reality of being a female engineering student. One day, I hope that these stereotypes can change, but in the meantime, it’s a sad fact of studying in this field.
