Unlocking engineering's appeal to girls

Jared Mauldin, an engineering student at Eastern Washington University, caused a stir earlier this month when he declared that men and women in STEM are definitely not equal. “I did not grow up in the world that discouraged me from focusing on hard science,” he explained in a letter to the editor of his student paper. “Nor did I live in a society that told me not to get dirty, or said I was bossy for exhibiting leadership skills.”

Mauldin’s comments struck a chord with many women who believe their path into engineering has been a bigger struggle than their male colleagues. “A boy tells someone that he wants to be an engineer and the reaction is ‘that’s fantastic, what type?’” said Hannah Pearlman, a finalist in the 2014 IET Young Woman Engineer of the Year awards. “When I told people I wanted to be an engineer the reaction was: ‘Really? Wow, isn’t that a very male industry?’”