Engineering a Better Future: How girls in East’s engineering classes are surpassing expectations and aiming for greatness.

Engineering can be the hard work of planning out a project, seeing it through and being proud of the work, but for some it can be the frustration of inequality. For girls in engineering at East, it’s the amazing feeling of seeing a finished project. 

Students at East are doing their best to balance the hard work and the inequalities. 

Sophomore Kinzley Fry, who is planning to pursue a career in civil engineering, thoroughly enjoys the practice.

“I like the math part because math has always been my favorite subject,” Fry said. “It’s very straightforward and simple, just put the numbers in and solve it.”

There are more reasons to enjoy engineering than just math though, according to sophomore Clara Breneman. Engineers can draw up blueprints, and often visit the building site.

Breneman hopes to someday attend the Naval academy and become an aerospace engineer. 

“It’d be designing planes,” Breneman said. “Engineering engines, working on physics and how they move.”

Kansas- based engineer Matt Schulte works on improving facilities and their functions has had some off putting experiences in the field.

According to Schulte, at his business there is gender equality. Outside of the office though, there can be some severe misogyny in the industry. Most incidents take place in the field from contractors such as construction workers. Once a female coworker of his told him about how she had been catcalled. When he said he had never seen that happen his coworker told him something eye opening.

“They’re smart, they aren’t going to do it when a male’s around.”

These incidents, while sometimes unreported, are most definitely happening. 

These attitudes towards women may be affecting students at East.

“When I was [at the navy summer camp] I was one of the only girls there,” Breneman said. “There were probably 100 girls out of like, 600 kids. It felt really cool to be one of the only girls doing that.”

Fry on the other hand, has not had negative experiences with engineering.

“[I’m treated] similar to how others are treated,” Fry said. “From what I’ve seen.”

But there’s occasionally some adversity mixed in, according to Breneman, who describes how she will be on the receiving end of the occasional misogynistic joke. 

“If you try to teach someone how to do something [they’ll say], ‘Why would you be able to help me? You’re a girl,’” Breneman said. “It’s just annoying because I can do as much as [the guy] can and probably more. It’s annoying having that attitude around me.”

These adversities haven’t discouraged them though, according to Breneman, who often understands the content being taught better than her male peers. 

“Don’t be scared by the math and part of it,” Fry said. “You’ll find a part of it that you like, there’s different kinds of engineering and STEM, and there has to be one that you’ll like.”