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Shelbey Sparrow
Professor Robert Arnold
UWRT 1101
11/16/15

Mechanical Engineering Students: Stereotypes

Mechanical Engineering is a growing field, and there are many different people who
pursue this occupation. In todays society, there are many stereotypes towards mechanical
engineers. In my opinion, these stereotype of students in the mechanical engineering field are
false. Many people believe students studying mechanical engineering are only male, have a focus
in cars, love all things mathematics, are extremely intelligent, are introverted, and are only in the
field for the money, but there are many sources that prove all of these stereotypes incorrect, and I
did my own personal research at many different revenues. I did research in the Freshman
Learning Community for Engineers, at the William States Lee College of Engineering Job Fair
Picnic, a Society for Women Engineers meeting, and in my Introduction to Engineering:
Practices and Principles class.
Many times, the stereotype of mechanical engineering being a male dominated field, is
because people believe that women lack knowledge and interest in Science, Technology,
Engineering and Math, or STEM fields. Girls are pressured from a young age to form hobbies in
interests that are more lady-like than these. So older generations tend to form the stereotypes
of the male dominated field. When mechanical engineering first started to become prevalent in
the 17th century with influence from Sir Isaac Newton, being a woman in any field of work was
unheard of. As the mechanical engineering industry began to take off so did the involvement of

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women. In a documentary by DuPont from the 1950s the film begins with a voice over of a man
saying This motion picture has been made to help you, you men who have chosen mechanical
engineering (Mechanical Engineering at DuPont). Clearly, when this film was created the
prominence of women in this field was completely unheard of.
As of today, the percentage of women receiving bachelors degrees in Mechanical
engineering is about 20% and growing. (ASEE) Many people even argue that women should be
dominant in the engineering field because of a natural instinct of curiosity. (Why Engineering
Should Be a Woman's Game) Woman may not have a huge presence in mechanical engineering
as of today, but 20% is extremely high compared to 0% at the start of the industry. Even in the
hall of my dorm, half of the women are mechanical engineering majors. Most of my engineering
professors even recognize the growing population of women enrolled in their classes and have
also made comments such as the females tend to run circles around the males, as far as grades
are concerned and women are scientifically better at multi-tasking and have hard work ethics.
The number of women in the field is only going to continue in an increasing pattern as time
continues.
Secondly, it seems that mechanical engineering is solely represented in the field of
motorsports and cars. This is because mechanical engineering is literally the branch of
engineering dealing with the design, construction, and use of machines. So many mechanical
engineers do know a lot about automobile engines as machines, but people look over the fact that
many things are considered machines, not just vehicles. Machines are used in almost every field
of work, because our modern world is very reliant on technology and machines to get work done.
Most mechanical engineers dont work with vehicles in their careers at all.

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By my own research, 15% of the mechanical engineering students I spoke with wanted
to pursue a concentration in motorsports. Many of the students leaned towards either having no
concentration or wanted to go into a biomedical field. Mechanical engineering has many
concentration besides motorsports. Some of them include, biomedical, energy, aerospace,
manufacturing, and nanotechnology (Concentrations-Mechanical Engineering). The motorsports
industry also has the lowest rate of hiring for all mechanical concentrations, because many large
motorsports companies are incredibly hard to get into. Biomedical engineering is considered one
of the top 25 in demand jobs and fastest growing jobs in the U.S. and will continue to get larger,
so many students are choosing this as a concentration (Campus Explorer). Furthermore, with a
mechanical engineering degree you could acquire a career in investment banking, become a
patent attorney or go into different branches of engineering like, mining engineers, water
engineers, and technical sales engineers.
Many people also believe that most people are only going into the engineering field for
the money. This stereotype is developed by people because engineers typically make pretty
opulent salaries. An average salary for an engineer at starting level is from $60,000-$75,000 a
year, and this number continues to rise with experience with an average engineer in any
discipline receiving a yearly salary of about $90,000 (Civil Engineer). Even though the salaries
are a plus in todays society, in my research and surveys I only came across two people who said
that the major reason as to why they wanted to go into an engineering field. Many students said
that their main passion in life was to help people and going into an engineering field would help
this. With companies like Engineers without Borders, Society for Women Engineers, and

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American Association of Engineering Societies, there are always ongoing projects to help other
people
Many people ruminate that engineers have very introverted personalities and do nothing
but sit and work, and that all engineers are a stereotypical nerd, and though some fall under
this category being a successful engineer requires an extreme amount of social skills, and
personality. According to Ron Smelser in How to Build Better Engineers, he states that in his
25 years in the field of engineering he spent at least 50% of his time communicating with others.
Many engineering jobs also involve working with teams to develop an idea. People who are
extremely introverted would have trouble with this amount of interaction. People who chose to
study mechanical engineering can have all different types of personalities, not just strictly
introverts.
As many people believe these stereotypes to be true, people who chose to study
mechanical engineering are from all different walks of life, with all different passions, all
different personalities, and all different motives. As Terrence Howard says, I am an engineer,
but what I find important and necessary is that you just learn things as you go along, the only
thing that is the same between all mechanical engineers is the desire to learn and make the world
a better place. The mechanical engineering community should not be stereotyped into any
category because every person who chooses to possess a career in this field is different from one
another.

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References
Bort, Julie. "The 25 Most Powerful Women Engineers In Tech." Business Insider. Business
Insider, Inc, 5 Mar. 2013. Web. 7 Dec. 2015. <http://www.businessinsider.com/25powerful-women-engineers-2013-3?op=1>.
Briseno, Terri. How Stuff Works. HowStuffWorks.com. Web. 7 Dec. 2015.
<http://science.howstuffworks.com/engineering/structural/10-women-inengineering.htm#page=11>.
"Campus Explorer." Top 25 In Demand Jobs and Fastest Growing Occupations. Web. 7 Dec.
2015. <http://www.campusexplorer.com/college-advice-tips/76DB6BDB/Top-25-InDemand-Jobs-and-Fastest-Growing-Occupations/>.
"Civil Engineer: Salary." Civil Engineer Salary Information. Web. 7 Dec. 2015.
<http://money.usnews.com/careers/best-jobs/civil-engineer/salary>.
"Concentrations Mechanical Engineering | Boston University." Mechanical Engineering RSS.
Web. 7 Dec. 2015. <http://www.bu.edu/me/academics/undergraduate/concentrations/>.
"Mechanical Engineering at DuPont - 1950s Chemical Company Educational Documentary WDTVLIVE42." YouTube. YouTube, n.d. Web. 06 Dec. 2015.
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhZRfELo5MU>.
Web. 6 Dec. 2015. <http://www.asee.org/papers-and-publications/publications/collegeprofiles/2011-profile-engineering-statistics.pdf>.
"Why Engineering Should Be a Woman's Game - BBC News." BBC News. Web. 6 Dec. 2015.
<http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-30876899>.