ne Ae Randy L. Haupt Pennsylvania State University ‘Applied Research Laboratory P.O. Box 30 Slate College, PA 16804 USA ‘Tek +1 (814) 863-3324 E-mail: thas@psu.edu fin bh Should My Daughter Become an Engineer? Part 1 Keywords: Ethics; engineering profession; women in engineering have two daughters. The oldest, Bonny, just finished her frst, year at Penn State as @ computer science major. She has chosen her path and is quite happy. My second daughter, Amy, is starting her junior year in high school. She is really good at math and sci- ence (as well as other subjects). Right now, she is confused about ‘what she wants to do fora carcer. Her technical PRD parents and her sister in college have allegiance to engineering. Her friends thinle enginosring is nerdy, though. !'m very confident that Amy will do well in whatever she chooses to do. Should she major in enginoering? A few weeks ago, Amy was sitting at a table in our house with some of her friends. I pulled up a chair and said, “Hi girls” ( fam on a quest 10 understand female teenagers. I filed to make such headway with my fist daughter.) One girl who is new fo our house asked me ifall those books in our basement with math in them were mine. I proudly said, “Yes.” She promptly replied °T hhate math” I very seriously looked at her and said, “But, what do ‘you do for fun, then?" The rest ofthe girls found my question quite funay. This new gil looked at me like Iwas from another planet. It ‘was quite clear 10 me that these bright girls were not even consid= ering a technical degroe in thei future. In fact, it was obvious that, being, good at math is nota goal of most teenage girls In my previous job, as Department Head of Electrical and Computer Engineering, I was under pressure to increase the num= ber of female students and faculty in our department. I attended many meetings at the national and local levels to Team how to attract females fo engineering. [also met with faulty, students, and the department industrial advisory committee to ity to develop strategies for increasing female participation in engineering I am not vitng this column about our tremendous success. Why is itso hhurd to get females imerested in engineering? Other professions, such as business, law, and medicine have been very successful in atvacting females. They didn’t even try hard, Why can't engineers solve this problem? Surely, we are better problem solvers than lawyers 16 Several years ago, I concluded that women aren't atracted to ‘engineering because they are smart. I found 2 supporter of this, thought in Philip Greenspun, who has at intresting article at |tips/pbilipgreenspun.com/earcers/women-in-science, Greenspun has a PhD in elecsical engineering and teaches parttime at MIT. He states, “Adjusted for[Q. quantitative skills, and working hours, jobs in science are the lowest paid in the United States.” Getting a degree in engineoring is much, much harder than getting & degree in management, for instance, {can say this with some authority, since I have graduate degrees in both enginccring and management My personal estimate is thatthe work for an engineering masters ‘degree is atleast double that for a management degree. Graduates ‘who got an MBA in 2005 eamed an average annual base slay of ‘$88,626, according tothe Graduate Management Admission Coun- cil (GMAC) in McLean, Virginia. in addition, they expected to receive an average signing bonus of $17,428. (htp:t sw collegejoural.convsalarydataenginesring) At least fiom my experience, this average salary is far better than that of @ ‘now MS in engineering. Greenspon says, T've taught a fair number ‘of women students in eleitial engineeting and computer science classes over the years, I can give you alist of the ones who had the best heads on their shoulders and were the most thoughtful sbout planning out the rest of thet lives. Their names are on files in my “medical echool recommendations’ directory.” Is his aneedotal ev ‘dence indicative ofthe bigger picture? In my opinion, engincering offers the following negative incentives for females (for most males, t00); 1. Itis very difficult compared to other majors. Fora smart ‘young person, enginecring degrees take longer and offer lower grades than other majors. Does a smart kid want to be al the top of her elas in business or just mediocre in engineering? EEE Antennas and Propagation Magazine, Vol. 48, No 4, August 20082. The pay is good for a new BS in engincering, but higher grees offer significantly ore compensation in other professions, with much less effor. Engineering is nat as conducive to raising families as other professions. Working part time and taking extended time offs difficult in enginecring, Job security becomes a concem for aging engineers. Engineering favors the new graduate over the seasoned veteran, Thos, a new BS graduate in engincering makes ‘more than 2 BS graduate in management. In 2 few years, though, the management major does better. Keeping curreat in engineering is much more difficult than keeping current in other professions. A fity-year- ‘old engineer is not a hot commodity Engineering jobs ae being outsourced in the US. Other professions, such as law and medicine, are not. Out- sourcing will Keep salaries down, (Of course, a smart gic in high school is considering law, medicine, and business as possible professions. 1's rare that much thought is ‘given to majoring in engineering. ‘This aticte is meant to spur some diseussion about females and males choosing engincering as a career. Please e-mail me any thoughts or comments. I plan to follow up with a couple of more colurns on this subject. Right now, [think Iam as confused as my daughter about whether engineering isthe best career path for he. ‘want to emphasize that this article is ry personal opinion, and not that ofthe IEEE or Penn State.) IEEE Anternes and Propagation Magazine, Vol 48, No. 4, August 2008 197