February 17, 2004
A: FROM MENTOR JEANINE BROSCH IN INDIANA
While an Electrical Engineering student at Purdue University from 1995-2000, I took a great interest in learning more about why there were so few women in my classes. At the time only 10% of Purdue's EE school was comprised of women. As you can imagine, there was rarely ever any girls in my classes. In my studies I discovered that the majority of women went into Chemical Engineering (IT is not considered a school of engineering, however it too does attract a lot of women). At that time roughly 33% of the Chemical Engineering department was comprised of women. A close second was Mechanical Engineering. However Electrical Engineering has and probably will be for quite a while, the school with the least amount of women. May I suggest however for you future endeavors to choose a career that you enjoy and think will make you happy, as opposed to where you may find more of a demand. As long as you are determined and ambitious at what you do, you will always be able to find a job! Good Luck!
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A: FROM MENTOR KRISTIN TAGHON IN IL
Hi, Janis,

I would say that you should [consider] most about what engineering fields are in
demand, rather than whether more women are going into that field. Also, where
do YOUR interests lie?

One area that I would say is NOT growing at the time, is the IT field. Computer
Science and Computer Engineering are not a growing field currently. The classes
have been down 25%! But, if this is your passion, I would say don't count it
out. I have a few friends who were physics majors that went into Software
Engineering when they went to look for jobs. Most engineering jobs require
computer classes and analytical thinking. So, you can hedge your bets that if
you major in one area, it will also be applicable to another. What I am trying
to say is if you really love computer science or computer engineering, maybe you
could major in another field that you are also interested in and has more
demand. When you graduate, the demand for Software or Computer Engineers may be
up again. Then you will have a choice of career paths!

Since my career is in IT, that is what I know. Hopefully, other women in other
areas can tell you about their fields and the future demands in those careers.

Good luck!