Technically Brunette

Breasts, knockers, noom-nooms, titties, jugs, bazookas, norks, bristols, mams, the boys, milky lunch, tits, headlights, two bald guys with a cherry on top, cahoonas, fun bags, lallies, watermellons, the troops, mamaries, bazoombas, rack, puppies, puppies in a sack, twin peaks, jubblies, jelly on a plate, gazongas, tits, fun bags, flotation devices, the ladies….

They have so many names and so many bizarre effects in your everyday life. Especially in the Faculty of Engineering and IT. That’s right it’s an interesting world when you’re a size 10-D, who has a love for lip-gloss and low-cut tops, studying Mechatronic Engineering.

I will never forget the first meeting i attended for the Computer Programing Society, i was greeted once i sat down with “Sorry this is a Computer Programing Society meetting, what room were YOU after?”. I was definately lost for words and simply replied that i was aware that this was the Computer Programing Society and that i myself am a member of this society and had indeed intentionally come to the meeting. I mean what could i say? I had entered this room - full of programmers completing Computer Science, IT or Engineering Degrees - dressed in a short skirt, fluffy boots, low-cut top, lips plumped up with strawberry flavored Oodle-Kaboodle lip-gloss and smelling of the David Jones perfume counter. It was not just the fact that i was a female who was interested in computers and programing but it was also the fact that well i like to dress up and “show off” my qualities. These boys did not expect a female to be interested in their wonderful world of computing languages and geeky gadgets and they definately did not expect a female made-up from top to toe to attend their meeting.

According to the advisory group Women in Science Engineering and Technology, females represent approximately 12.5% of all engineering students. So lets look at that in figures (please note that this percent was taken in about 2002 so the figure would be slightly higher now, however this is the most recent figure I can find):

Now these figures are not taking into consideration the ratio of woman to men in each separate degree along with the fact that i am at one of the bigger universities with a larger population of females then most. And i can tell you now that this would effect the figures greatly. For instance at my university the proportion of females in chemical, civil, aeronautical and mechanical is much greater (well over four times) then the number of females in mechatronics, and the space related degrees (Mechatronic Space, Aero Space, Mechanical Space).

So given these figures it is clear to see why these programmers found it so hard to believe that a female would be interested in being an active member in their society, there just aren’t many of us out there.

But why? The female mind is perfect for programing. The region of the brain that controls the ability to multitask (the prefrontal cortex) is larger in women, and women are better at integrated thinking (possibly because the two halves of a woman’s brain are more strongly connected), our organisational skills and general neatness tends to be superior to that of our male counterparts and we have a fantastic skill when it comes to thinking outside the box and problem-solving. So why is it that females don’t utilise these skills and take the wonderful world of programing to the next level?