Scope of Mechanical Engineering- Profession for Females

What is mechanical engineering:

In this modern era of evolution, it is necessary for girls to work for the progress of their country and stand in the front line shaping the future. Because gender difference is not a big deal in perusing aim. Women engineers challenge a long-held assumption, which for quite some time was a self-fulfilling prophecy. Women were presumed to be less capable, particularly in certain fields or endeavors, so they were not educated and trained. 

Even as fields such as medicine, law, and business have seen increasing numbers of women, often approaching gender parity, mechanical engineering lags behind even other engineering fields in the number of women participating. Dream big and live your dreams.

Let’s begin our discussion with:

“As with Anything, if you love it, you'll find a way to do it, to make it work despite the challenges, and that has nothing to do with gender”

As far as profession of girls as mechanical engineer is concerned! The answer is it has a bright side. Being a mechanical engineer, you have a wide variety of roles that you can pursue. You can work on:

• Mechanical Design
• Thermal systems design
• Manufacturing shop / Supply chain
• Quality and Inspection
• Computer Aided Engineering and Manufacturing
• Robotics and AI
• Mechanics
• Thermodynamics
• Fluid dynamics
• Robotics and Mechatronics
• Structural Analysis
• Machine Design and CAD
• Manufacturing
• And many more research domains

Having success in professional life, depends on your technical aptitude. One concern point is that in technical fields, women engineers have to prove themselves at every point of their professional career. We have to put in lot of efforts to overcome the prevalent notion that girls are good engineers. The better you are at your work, eventually feebler the opposition and biases become.

The concerning point is if you love math, if you love physics and love innovation in machines mechanical is the one you have to opt. as a profession. From mechanical design, mechanics, thermodynamics, heating and cooling, power sector, supply chain, CAD and much more, mechanical is the mother of all engineering having blend of refined innovative taste of interest that best suits you. Mechanical is everywhere from homes to offices, from hotels to malls, Air ports etc., I will say that you will find machine everywhere making life of people easier and evolving the era with innovation. If you are passionate about field then gender discrimination is no more a hurdle. This is the field that respects the talented, innovative and passionate engineers who develop their own things. For girls some consider it a tough field but its all about loving what you really wanted from life and everything from that day could be more clear and finer.

“But once you have made your mark, there is no stopping you.”

Story:

“I currently work for GE Aviation and I have a lot of smart and intelligent women working alongside me, who are equally competent as their male counterparts in all the front. They are leading roles of tremendous responsibilities with ease, it is all due to their hard work in their chosen discipline and taking risks to grow in the organization.”

“Mechanical Engineering only for boys is a myth. Take the plunge, if you love the discipline. If you know your trade well, there is no stopping you!”

It is a plus point that there are less females in industry but they are the one who loved their field and made their mark. Being a girl, it seems tough that mechanical engineering is hard job. Reality is that is tough for both males and females. Bright side is that it fits any person with any interest in this field. Even if you were great at math and science in high school, you'll likely find the university versions challenging, and the competition much more capable than your high school peers. Depending on your specialty and how much education you'd like, you can pursue an advanced degree and write a thesis, and so on. Mechanical is a field that is much more challenging and interesting. It requires passion not genders specification. most girls opt for office work but office work is not a cup of tea. Everything that is being manufactured in the industry was first designed and assessed in the office lab work. So, proving backbone to the manufacturing processes. Now a day, as the world is growing faster and faster limiting the required time to complete a task is pressing concern. Aerodynamics, automobiles, spacecrafts, bullet trains, heavy bikes, missiles, rockets, bullets, tanks, engines, turbines and much more which run the world require improvement in design. Pressing concerns are about their efficiency, and mechanical engineers are the one who are responsible for these tasks.

Is mechanical engineering any more difficult for women than for men?

I believe that women are every bit as capable as men, and that we are fully able to grasp the subject matter and practice the profession that is mechanical engineering.
The challenges for women arise in large part because mechanical engineering is so heavily male-dominated, and I believe the best solution is simply to get more women into the field, a process which may, at first, require extra attention and support.

Engineering itself is considered something "heavy" for women. Most parents I know would prefer that their girls do something "light" like the sciences. And, once a woman does make it to engineering, there is the misconception that MECHANICAL engineering is "physically demanding". The reality is that only one or two labs in the entire curriculum of 4 years are physically demanding. 

Mechanical engineering is more about intellectual work i.e. design, research and development, analysis, production planning, etc. The part of work which involves handling of heavy equipment is not done by engineers but by workers who are generally diploma holder.

“For a successful mechanical Engineering career, gender is really not a criterion, rather it needs passion, clarity of concepts, strong fundamentals and a good background in sciences specifically mathematics and physical sciences.”

If you are good at mechanical design and heat dynamics group, you have fantastic opportunities in design, testing, analysis and simulation (product, structural, thermal, fluid) for various applications viz. micro & Nano components/process to auto and commercial products to aerospace, marine and many other fields. A mechanical engineer (again irrespective of gender) have good prospects in manufacturing, industrial engineering, product quality and operations research across various (almost all) industries.
Metallurgy and metrology are also good options if you have inclination toward material science and testing.

If you committed toward academics and research, then for sure it’s a call for higher degrees such as MSc, PhD, D.Sc. etc. Post higher degrees, there are opportunities in research institutions, industries and teaching (a noble profession). The list is endless considering the universality of mechanical engineering.

“So, opportunities are in tons. It's your call to select the path and live your dream of a successful mechanical engineer.”

Yes. It’s the physical work tough for girls, but stop and think again, the physical work during workshop hours in the first year, but Isn't it common for all the department? Getting through first year makes later year quite easy as the other branches. Because from 2nd year, workshop hours won't be that hectic, all the mechanical work is to be done by machines. Except during projects, if your model needs some manual labor.

When you ask what's the scope for girls in Mechanical Engineering, I would undoubtedly say the opportunities are as bright as there are for guys. And each of these fields do not always involve "physical labor and toil". Take an example of a car chassis. Before even the prototype of chassis is built, it has to be first designed and tested on a computer and this process involves a series of modifications and testing of the design. This doesn't need any physical toil. It’s a pure on-desk job. It is as good as any other engineering job which girls generally get attracted to (IT, CSE). This is one example and there are several. 

So, why are girls still disinclined towards Mechanical Engineering? 

I feel this is due to the lack of awareness about its vastness in the early stages of their higher education itself and also probably due to the absence of structured approach and motivation to get involved in any of the sub disciplines.

Recommendation:

So, I humbly request any girl aspirant reading this answer, "Before making an opinion based on the word of mouth from elders who have no experience in engineering fields whatsoever, use world wide web or ask directly the people who are working as engineers or mechanical engineers.”

“Girls do not sign up for Mechanical Engineering because of the stereotypes surrounding it. But let me assure you that Mechanical Engineering is a beautiful field, one that never ceases to amaze. The more you study Mechanical Engineering, the more you are amazed by Mother Nature.”

STORY:

I'm a girl and a mechanical engineer in offshore industry. I design heavy machinery for pipe lay vessels. Sometimes I do feel that my work is much more difficult than my girl friends who are in financial or IT industry. However, my male colleagues feel the same thing. It's not more difficult because of my gender. It is difficult in nature.

It's true that I cannot tighten a M20 screw, yet I never have to. That's the workers' job. I find the workers are more willing to approach me than my male colleagues, and you guess why?

STORY:

As I said, mechanical engineering is difficult. Do considerate carefully before you choose your career path, whether you are male or female. I have worked in teams of 5 and I have worked in teams of 25, with me being the only girl on the team. And believe me when I say that my opinions and ideas did matter. At times I made more sense than half the guys on my team, and I am actually proud of it. And not to forget, I was only able to do that because of the support I got from my teammates.

“Bottom line is, you get appreciated when you are right irrespective of whether you are a guy, or girl, black or white, wrinkly or newly born, or gay or straight.”

To be true, there is no gender in mechanical. There are just good engineers and crappy engineers. Depends on which one you want to be and the kind of company you keep. Because there are people who will tell you to keep your femininity away from mechanical and people who won't even notice if Sunny Leone was on the team as long as she gets the COG right. I was lucky enough to work with people in the latter category who made me realize it’s all about the intelligence. When the girl shows some sort of knowledge on mechanical, your job is 95% confirmed. So, the scope of girls has an edge over boys.

“The phase of going through mechanical Engineering for a girl is tough. Is it worth the reward? It depends on how she performs.”

So being a female engineer do not require physical strength. You have to be able to apply your knowledge and work your charm. Yes, you need that to make the brawny man work for you. The brawny man will willingly flex their muscles for you for all the physical aspects. Overall your passion and confidence will bring you success.

In today's automated process generation, many machines are now operated by Computerized Numerical Control (CNC) method. Girls can also work in this field for designing, programming and administering manufacturing process.

So always suggest to go with your interests, if you're interested in Mechanical, then do not think or consider others concern - who always demotivate as they think Mechanical field as Physical Labor work. Technology has developed a lot in the current gen, and women should also take the pride in studying mechanical engineering. If you can see in the abroad countries, there is no gender discrimination for this department and this must induce a common sense to us on what we are actually up to. #WOMEN EMPOWERMENT #MECHANICAL PRIDE

STORY:

I am in my final year of Mechanical Engineering course and I never came across anything that is too physical for the girls as part of the coursework. It is the common perception that Mechanical engineering is full of heavy physical work but it is not true. It involves a lot of computational stuff actually and calls for computational and reasoning abilities and mental determination than anything else.

So, certainly girls can take up and shine in Mechanical engineering. It is all about overcoming the false hurdles posed by misconceptions. An unsaid advantage is the ready availability of jobs in mechanical engineering sector to the girls. So, you can take up Mechanical engineering without any hesitation regarding the physical strength required. Only thing you got to have a steely resolve to thrive as a girl in the male dominant field.”

“It is about aptitude, not gender. If you have a good mechanical aptitude it will help you do better in the mechanical aspects of mechanical engineering, regardless of gender.”

Final word

We hope this article helped you about scope of mechanical engineering for girls.