Making it in a Man's World

Females are excelling in engineering throughout the world.

Twenty years ago you'd be hard pressed to find a female engineer. Coordinating a mining venture, building a bridge or designing an aqauduct was, in every sense, a man's job. This is no longer the case.

Even now men still out number women. But these days engineering companies realise having women as part of their teams is a valubale investement.

Yas van Leur, a third year engineering student here at UNSW explained that she chose to study engineering because she wanted an applied science and math degree. "Of course getting a job in important," she said during our interview, "and that's fairly standard in engineering."

Miss van Leur said the majority of her peers were male but insisted, "a lot of engineering companies are looking for female employees. They're trying to make work places equal between the sexes."

Scattered throughout history are perfect examples of why the engineering industry is looking for females. American Barbra Johnson was an aeronautical engineer with NASA who was instrumental in the landing of Apollo 11, mans first successful landing on the moon. Stephanie Kwolek invented Kevlar a synthetic material considerably lighter than steel but just as strong. Many police officers owe their lives to Ms Kwolek as bullet proof vests are made from Kevlar.

The list of female engineers and their inventions is suprisingly long, from Mary Anderson inventor of windsheild wipers to Maria Beasley and her life raft invention, and who could forget Patsy Sherman who discovered Scotchgard Fabric Protector.

But girls, don't feel pressured to become a famous engineer. If you're a people person who can communicate effectly, work well in group situations and enjoy studying maths and science then engineering could be the degree for you. When I asked Miss van Leur what cemented her decision to study engineering she said, "because engineering is an industry that can take you anywhere in the world."

By Nicky Phillips and Yasmine van Leur