A conversation that I was having with my roommate a while back sparked this article. He saw on his Facebook that one of his friends was looking for a major for college in the fall semester. She didn't really know what to go into, so of course, she asked around. When it was brought up to her that Engineering is an option, she shot it down. The reason? Because it is a male-filled field.

This really grinds my gears, but it is a shared idea that many women do not want to enter the STEM field because men have more of a share of the jobs. I do understand why it may seem intimidating. The National Girls Collaborative Project states that while women make up almost half the work force, only 29% are in the "science and engineering workforce". Spread out over many companies, it seems that men are more involved in some of these fields. Also, it has been engrained in society that these jobs are mostly for men. One little anecdotal example I can give is the population of students at my college, SUNY Polytechnic Institute. SUNY Poly is more of an engineering school, but it also offers a small mix of STEM and Non-STEM majors, such as Computer and Network Security or Business Administration. According to USNews.com, 64% of students who attend are male, while 36% of students are female. When walking around the campus, you are bound to see many more male students than female students. This ideal is also amplified when you enter an engineering classroom. Many times, you'll see one to three female students surrounded by 25 to 30 male students.

So why does this annoy me? It's because this narrative will continue if women do not join these other job fields. Sure it may be harder or scary working with people with opposing views as you, however, you'll be a part of a movement where either sexes can join whatever job fields that they choose. If I was female, I would without a doubt want to join something that interested me, regardless of who dominated the field thus far. I'd want to be the change that needs to occur. I'm glad to see that there are some women who have already stepped up and joined STEM fields (I'm talking about you Ms.Chemist or Ms.Engineer whose building a bridge), but we should have more women who want to take a stride into the Engineering and Sciences realm.

This isn't to say that if you decide to do something else, that you're immediately wrong and should not pursue a degree in a non-STEM related field. This is to say that there are opportunites for women in the STEM field. This is also to say that just because one type of person dominates something, that you shouldn't try and go against that "norm". Be the change in the area that you want to see!