Whenever someone asks what my major is, I have to remind myself not to sigh like I just dropped my pizza facedown on the ground. I love being a mechanical engineer, but I hate the preconceived notions that come with the territory, especially being a girl. It's 2018 now, shouldn't most stereotypes be left behind already? But alas, if you're a female engineering student you can probably relate to the 9 things we hear below that give life to the bitch faces we wear most of the time.
1. "I think you're in the wrong class."
It's no secret that men outnumber us women in the engineering field, but that will never change the cringe-worthy stares you get when you cross the threshold and only see guys sitting down. It's hard to reel in the bitch slap when someone actually thinks you're lost.
2. "Oh, you must not be very social..."
Our work literally revolves around communicating with people most of the time. We tend to work so much that we seek out people just to have a conversation that's not math-related. Most of us are the life of the party when it comes down to it.
3. "But you're hot!"
Gasp, girls can be pretty and smart?!
Someone alert the media.
4. "You should let a guy use the power tools."
This one irks me every time. Anyone can use power tools with the right training and a little common sense.
AKA, don't let guys use the power tools.
5. "How are you single with all the guys there?"
Yes, we're surrounded by guys, but that doesn't mean we just randomly drop our standards. Plus, between assignments, homework, studying and trying to sneak in a couple parties over the weekend, we're left with about no time to date anyone.
6. "You're doing it for the money, right?"
You can't be an engineer and not like it. If you're not interested in what you're learning about, odds are you're going to change majors or drop out, especially when it takes up most of your time.
7. "You must be really into nerdy stuff."
It's not like we're reading textbooks and doing practice problems as a hobby. We're usually into the opposite of nerdy stuff because we get so much of it in class each day.
8. "Are you sure that's right?"
We spend 18 hours a week, sometimes more, studying. It's exhausting trying to explain a problem when the guy already thinks it's wrong. Don't waste our time, take your trust issues and google them away on your own time.
9. "You must have a ton of scholarship money."
If they gave out scholarships just for picking a hard major, then yeah we'd have 'a ton.' But, like every other teen applying for college and scholarships, we actually have to earn it.
Crazy, right?
