There are a number of initiatives to encourage women to work in engineering. There’s no doubt that they’re necessary. But what if we took the concept a step further and created schools for women engineers only? Sound crazy? Not me, and here’s why.
Engineers Canada figures show that in 2000, 20.3% of undergraduate engineering students were women. Fifteen years later, the figure was 20.1%. Things aren’t getting better, they’re getting worse.
Currently, if a young woman decides to go into engineering, she’ll go to Polytechnique or the École de technologie supérieure (ETS), both male-dominated schools. We’re talking about four or five women in an entire class! This majority of men poses several problems.
