At Brigham Young University, women make up only 12.5% of the engineering bachelor’s program, a historically male-dominated major and field.
BYU’s College of Engineering has taken steps to encourage more women to join the program. They work to provide support and a sense of community to this minority demographic.
The college has many resources for women. They provide a women's organization for the entire college, as well as ones specific to different focuses and majors, such as chemical engineering, mechanical engineering and civil engineering.
Elise McConlogue is a mechanical engineering major and member of the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) and the Mechanical Engineering Network of Women (ME NOW). These organizations meet and host panels and dinners for members to connect and create community while learning how to succeed in their field.
“It’s helpful, because when I go to those events, I can talk to girls who are further along than me,” McConlogue said. “It’s helpful just to meet other people.”
Anna Wooly is a chemical engineering major who feels that BYU has a tight-knit community for women in engineering. Being a minority has also helped her create bonds with the female students in her classes.
“Because there's so few women, the second I walk into a classroom I have an immediate connection with the other girls in there,” Wooly said.
Rachel Lattin, a construction management major, agrees with this sentiment of the male predominant environment helping women find a community.
“You gravitate towards other women who are also pursuing similar paths, and there tends to be a lot of support from other women, which is really cool,” Lattin said.
Along with the clubs and resources provided to women in engineering, Lattin said she has had an overall positive experience and has felt encouraged by professors and faculty to continue in the major.
“The professors and faculty are very happy to see women in the field,” Lattin said.
Some women in an engineering major, such as McConlogue, feel that at BYU, the skewness of the women-to-men ratio is higher than in other schools due to church culture.
“A significantly larger ratio of women who are members of the church don't work and so to have that versus not just any career, but a high demand career like engineering is kind of not as common in the church culture,” McConlogue said.
Wooly also noticed this and applauded BYU for encouraging women to enter male-dominated, demanding fields.
One thing Wooly has noticed about being a woman in engineering is the challenge of balancing a career and having a family.
“As a woman who wants to have a family, I ought to think about that to some extent, how flexible I want my career to be,” Wooly said.
With this question in mind, BYU’s women in engineering organizations have brought in female engineers to speak at panels and discussions about this issue and mentor the students.
With these resources available, Wooly still wishes she had more resources and support regarding having a family and working in an engineering field.
“Sometimes I wish that they did have a little bit more of ‘you can have a career and have a family,’ because that's what a lot of women — especially at BYU — want,” Wooly said.
When Lattin first entered the major, she said that whenever she had a female professor, they would share personal experiences of being a woman in their field.
“It was a major focus I think because it’s a part of their history, of their experience,” Lattin said.
As they entered this male-dominated space, it was normal for some women to experience some doubts about their ability to succeed in this highly demanding field.
Lattin explained that being one of the only women in the classroom tended to increase her feeling of imposter syndrome. She found it easy to believe that the others in the room didn’t have confidence in her abilities.
“Sometimes I interpret other peoples’ actions like 'Oh you’re a girl, you’re either not gonna work in the field because you’re a mom, or you’re not going to understand the material as well,'” Lattin said.
Lattin takes this sense of disadvantage and doubt as a chance to prove to herself and others that she can do anything the men in the classes can.
Overall, Lattin, McConlogue and Wooly have described their times in the engineering major as positive. They're thankful for the resources BYU has provided.
McConlogue encourages women to not shy away from doing something they want because it’s hard.
“I think more girls should go into engineering,” McConlogue said.