#somethingfunnyuphere

8: Talk about the thing you are most proud of.

Oh man, that isn’t easy… Maybe travelling, especially when I’ve travelled on my own, and when I moved to Oslo. Going to Vidcon in 2012 was definitely exciting, even though I was a bit jet-lagged.

engrprof reblogged your post Engineering and Representation and added:

You are so right! I just try to avoid those “inspirational” talks. Don’t get me wrong - I’m glad I became an engineer.  Being an engineer has made my life as a woman easier - I was able to negotiate a flexible schedule when my kids were young, I make enough money to support myself and my kids even when their dad doesn’t pay his child support.

But being a woman has made being an engineer harder.  What the men don’t realize is that they are assumed to be competent.  As a woman, I have to prove it over and over again.  When I took a class of all male students on a tour, every place we went, someone came up to one of the students and assumed he was the professor.  By the end of the day, my students were asking me, “Is this what’s like for you all the time?”  I had to say yes.

And, as you say, it’s much harder to access help.  My female students have a hard time finding study groups that don’t meet in the men’s dorm.  That’s just one example.

I don’t think this is a reason to avoid engineering.  But speaking out about our experiences and supporting other women and minorities can make a huge difference.

Hang in there!  You are not alone.

somethingfunnyuphere reblogged your post Engineering and Representation and added:

I have exactly the same experience.

My mentors at work are all white males as well who tell me that getting where I want to go is easy I just have to put myself out there. The problem is that white male project leads will choose white male technical staff 75% of the time.

The best thing I’ve found is to find female engineers, they are out there, and ask them the same questions that were put to the male panelists. The majority of the time they’ll be happy to answer the questions that you have.

I know if someone got in touch with me at work to ask what my experience was I’d be super happy to help out. And I could definitely pass you on to other females with more experience.

The only issue that I have is that our company is very very white. We have a lot of offices in countries around the world with POC who could answer questions. But the company has a loooong way to go in getting more representation for POC

Hi Monique you’re unique! (I’m sorry I had to)

GREEN IS A VERY GOOD COLOR AND COOKIES AND CREAM IS YUMMY IN THE TUMMY! DOGGIES :D *hugs*