Almost every woman in engineering Ive talked to knows the pressure of having to prove herself.
She knows what its like to be meticulously perfect in her calculations, and to accept that regardless of her intelligence, her work will be checked again by someone who doesnt trust her.She knows that at the end of the day, mistakes hold more weight than they should.
I say almost every woman because I am one of the few that has rarely experienced this. Im lucky. Im an anomaly.
Bioengineering at Santa Clara University has a relatively large percentage of female students, compared to the other engineering disciplines. Im not intimately familiar with gender tensions in the classroom because there arent any in the classes I take, and I rarely feel the need to prove that I am better than the men I work with.
My mentors dont expect me to make mistakes, and are genuinely surprised when I do. Im not pressured to be perfect, but at the same time, the expectations for the work I do are just as high as anyone elses. The psychological effects of this are subtle, but theyve shaped how I perceive my own abilities, goals, and expectations.
Because Im held to an equal standard, I believe that I am equal. For that reason, I have my mentors to thank for my experiences as a woman in engineering. I realize that theyve given me what they didnt have, and I owe them much of who I am today.
It wasnt that easy for my mentors, and for many women today. My mentors have had to fight expectations to get where they are, and to defy the underlying notion that women just arent as smart and thats why they dont hold as many positions in engineering.
However, its not an IQ problem. Its an expectation that women just cant compete at the same level. This expectation is subtle, and its ingrained whether we realize it or not.
Its unintentional, intangible, and ever-present. Yet its effects are far reaching; being constantly undervalued and coddled teaches young girls that its okay to strive for less than the best, and to settle for goals that theyve been told are more realistic than the ones they would like to reach.
The women that inspire me hold me to a higher standard, and expect me to reach for whats unreachable. In doing so, they gave me the confidence to pursue engineering and taught me that I need to do the same forthe next generation.
We cant treat little girls differently from the boys that radiate confidence because its hard to be confident when youre expected to under perform. Instead, expect them to set impossible goals, and dont wait on the sidelines for them to fail. Expect them to compete at the same level, and be disappointed when they dont.
If we change our expectations, I guarantee you the next generation will meet them.
Shiyin Lim, a sophomore at Santa Clara University majoring in bioengineering, is part of Blue Marble Space Institute of Sciences Young Scientist Program focusing on research in space biosciences. She wrote this for The Mercury News.
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Opinion: Set high expectations of women engineers and they'll meet them - The Mercury News