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One thing that is often talked about in countries like the US, as well as others like the UK, Canada and Australia is the gender gap in engineers and scientists.
Proportionally, very few women choose these careers. Only 10-20% of those who have an engineering degree in these countries are women.
Yet, apparently... surprisingly in some non-western nations, like China, 40% of engineers are women. It was even greater than 50% in the former USSR. Some of this might be attributed to communism "forcing gender equality" onto them.
However, it seems gender gaps in engineering are smaller in many other non-Anglo nations within a wide range of geographical regions. What makes Greeks or Mongolians more gender-equal in this regard than Americans? Some say the geeky stereotypes of engineers are strongest in (ironically, said to be the most individualistic) Anglo cultures, which turns women off choosing the career. Do you think this is true?
From this link
What Gender Is Science? » Contexts
"Although women do not reach the fifty-percent mark in any country, they come very close in Indonesia, where 48 percent of engineering graduates are female (compared to a 49 percent share of all Indonesian college and university graduates). Women comprise about a third of recent engineering graduates in a diverse group of countries including Mongolia, Greece, Serbia, Panama, Denmark, Bulgaria, and Malaysia."
Well, that article claimed it was for the former USSR so it could be somewhat contrived/forced, but still if the stats for some of the other (often non-western) countries are true, they at least show higher numbers than for the Anglo countries.
Well, that article claimed it was for the former USSR so it could be somewhat contrived/forced, but still if the stats for some of the other (often non-western) countries are true, they at least show higher numbers than for the Anglo countries.
Oh I mistyped. My original sentence. I meant to say " I didn't know" not "I'm not sure about that"
A lot of it probably has to do with parental influences. I dated an Indian girl and her parents were NOT HAPPY at all when she decided against Engineering. Her little sister did electrical engineering.
It's pretty normal for a parent to choose the career of their son or daughter and give them no choice at all. Some will even disown their kids for going against them.
I've heard this too from several people from other countries. I'm not exactly sure why there are so few, other than the usual explanations that engineering is still seen as a male thing, as it's kind of science/math heavy, and I'm not sure if female intake is increasing. I think in some ways though things are quite gendered here at least in terms of employment. As corollary there are still few labourers/construction workers, and there might be an element of a 'boy's club'. In my profession, town planning, however, almost half of planners are female, but planning isn't quite as intensely mathematical as engineering is and in some ways has more in common with the legal profession.
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Dunno about the other countries with high percentages of female engineers, but some cultures like China put a much higher family emphasis on achieving "$uccess", for both men and women, especially thru education. And unlike say, "PolySci" or "Liberal Arts", Engineering is usually perceived as a solid ticket to a job there (BTW, we have a shortage of those skills).
Plus going to college is also an expensive, and very competitive "luxury" in most non-western countries. Unlike in many "individualistic" western countries, which often take the availability of college more for granted, and where some folks even spend many years, dabbling in different majors while trying to "find" themselves!
other than the usual explanations that engineering is still seen as a male thing, as it's kind of science/math heavy
Yeah. Men are still more likely to take maths or science in university, whereas women are more likely to take something like social studies, art or something similar.
Yeah. Men are still more likely to take maths or science in university, whereas women are more likely to take something like social studies, art or something similar.
Yeah it seems a ton of women are still into 'anything with children', I guess those biological urges might still play a role here.
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