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â—? tuesday,
november 15, 2011
â—? serving
texas a&m since 1893
� first paper free – additional copies $1 � Š 2011 student media
Engineering across the gender gap
Roger Zhang — THE BATTALION
As is often the case in her classes, freshman electrical engineering major Becky Jones sits surrounded by male students while listening to an Engineering 111 lecture.
Women engineering students adjust to classroom minority status Jessica Orwig The Battalion When assistant professor of mechanical engineering Molly Gentleman attended a meeting for a research program in Washington D.C. this semester, she was the only woman out of a group of 30 or so engineers. “They did not unlock the women’s restrooms, so I had to go to the front desk and get a key every time I needed to use the restroom,� Gentleman said with a laugh. Along with her female colleagues, Gentleman represents a small percentage of women that have pursued and obtained a faculty position in engineering. Of the 62 faculty members in the University’s Department of Mechanical Engineering, seven are women — a mere 11.3 percent. Mechanical engineering is not the only engineering department at Texas A&M where women represent only
a small minority of the faculty. According to the Office of Institutional Studies and Planning, the College of Engineering has 693 faculty members, of whom 122 are women. With male faculty outnumbering women six-to-one, Gentleman noted that under-
81% MEn engineering Students
graduate and graduate women who study engineering have few female mentors to look to for guidance. Having never had a female mentor herself, Gentleman said she feels a duty to help her female students as much as possible. Kristen Maitland, assistant professor of biomedical engineering, suggested that fewer women pursue a faculty position because they believe other fields would be more conducive to raising a family. “As you go up the ladder, it’s more work and responsibility, and I think some women think they can’t have a family and be a professional and do both well,� Maitland said. Undergraduate numbers are similar to those of women faculty members in the College of Engineering. The fall 2011 enrollment profile showed that 11,179 students major in engineering, of whom 2,129 are women. Undergraduate men studying engineering outnumber their female counterparts
19%
18%
Women
Women
Engineering students
Engineering faculty
five-to-one. In contrast, the next lowest percentage of women in a college is the College of Architecture, where 35 percent of students are female. The college with the highest percentage of women is the College of Education and Human Develop-
82%
ment, where females make up 75 percent of the college. The overall percentage of women to men at A&M is 46.5 percent to 53.5 percent. According to Nancy Amato, professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, the small numbers of undergraduate women majoring in engineering is the biggest problem. “The problem is that we’re losing them in high school and junior high,� Amato said. “Boys and girls are doing equally well in mathematics and science in their younger years of grade school. By the time they’re in high school, girls’ interests in the STEM [science, technology, engineering and mathematics]
fields are down.� Jodie Lutkenhaus, assistant professor of chemical engineering, added that engineering is not taught in high school. Some high school graduates may not know certain engineering programs exist, such as chemical engineering. There is a solution to this, though, she said. “Start having male and female engineers visit schools and say, ‘This is what I do,’ and spend an hour talking about engineering so that kids just even know what the word is,� Lutkenhaus said. “I think See Engineering on page 9
MEn Engineering faculty
47% 53% MEn
Women
student body
Student body
campus
women’s basketball
ResLife weighs dorm rate increases Aggies to
raise title banner
Emily Davis The Battalion The cost of living on campus may increase for students as early as fall 2013. The Department of Residence Life is considering rate increases for all residence halls in order to afford renovations and improvements across campus. These projects include the ongoing Northside Hall construction, University Apartments renovations and Corps dorms renovations; a possible Commons renovation costing as much as $31 million; and unspecified future renovation projects, possibly for Corps dorms or construction on West Campus. The timing of the rate increase coincides with the opening of Northside Dorm, which is scheduled to open in August 2013. Carol Binzer, director of administrative and support services in the Department of Residence Life, said no rates have been approved yet and are simply in the draft stage. She said the increase was proposed to benefit the residents. “Prices go up on average 3-5% every year anyway,� Binzer said. “But the proposal is to make one jump to the new rates when the new hall comes online. Then you won’t have to See Rates on page 5
Adrian O’Hanlon III The Battalion
COURTESY
The Northside Residence Hall, pictured in a concept design, is scheduled for completion in August 2013 and will be occupied by students in the fall 2013 semester. The draft rate increases are partly in response to ongoing construction projects, including Northside Hall.
No. 6 Texas A&M women’s basketball collides with No. 9 Louisville on Tuesday, as the Aggies are set to raise their 2011 national championship banner at Reed Arena. A&M head coach Gary Blair said playing tough teams like Louisville is the key to success in conference play, both on the court and in the stands. Blair scheduled top-tier teams Duke and Rutgers in non-conference play last season in the Aggies’ first-ever national title season. “A lot of people hide from risk-reward See Basketball on page 2
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