Women Decrease in Mechanical Engineer

Amanda Wilson

Jackson

Jour 271

Mechanical Engineer Beat

Gender diversity has been on a steadily disappointing at the University of Mississippi in the mechanical engineer department

University of Mississippi professor, Dr. Ellen Lackey, is currently the only women mechanical engineer professor at the university.

 When Dr. Lackey started working at the university, she was the only one.

“There were no other female professors here when I started working and it was an eye opener for me,” says Dr. Lackey.

Dr. Lackey has been apart of the university’s faculty for over 18 years. Throughout her many years of teaching here, she says that there haven’t been many women professors showing interest in the field.

“Mechanical engineering for the longest was just something many women were not interested in,” said Dr. Lackey.

Senior mechanical engineer major, Kimberly Mallet, says that she would love to see more women professors in the mechanical engineering department.

“I would love to have more women professors mainly because it’s empowering for me and also, it’s motivation,” said Mallet.

Although Mallet longs for more women professors, she cheerfully says that she has been seeing an increase of women students in the department.

“I’ve definitely seen the difference in the amount of women that are in my classes now compared to when I first got here four years ago,” said Mallet.

According to Mallet, the lack of women in the mechanical engineer is likely due to the intimidation of men.

“Engineering in general, whether it be mechanical or civil or chemical, is known as a man’s field,” said Mallet. “I feel that many women today are intimidated or even scared of entering this field because it is a predominantly made up of men.”

Dr. Lackey, however, cannot give an explanation for the lack of women in the mechanical engineer field.

“I couldn’t tell you what goes through people’s minds,” said Dr. Lackey. “I don’t know why females would feel threaten or scared.”

Dr. Lackey sees the increase of women in the field also.

“I have seen an enormous increase of female students in my classes over the past few years,” said Dr. Lackey.

According to the Society of Women Engineers, 20 percent of undergraduate engineers are women.

“It brings me so much joy to see women finally showing interest in engineering like I do,” said Dr. Lackey.