The female engineer.

Some say that this is the greatest mythical beast this side of the loch ness. A quick look around college campuses and the work force will reveal a ratio of 2:3 or even a 1:2 of female to male engineers. It’s one of those weird things that just happens and nobody can give a solid reason why and most theories sound un-PCish.

Female engineers are usually, in my opinion, very good at acquiring information. They can be very good facilitators and bridge communication gaps between opposing parties. Got two male engineers who are old and stubborn and refuse to bend when there is an interface clash? You can either send in the senior manager to kick butt and arbitrate, or you can send in a female engineer.

Is this sexist? Perhaps. I dunno, it's just what is done.

Let's just say also, and I'll include myself willingly on this list, that male engineers are not necessarily the most socially aware individuals. They interface with machines for a good part of the day, and I'm speaking about the old school/real school machines that don't have aol IM or e-mail or explorer attached to them.

Let's just say, professional/unprofessional and sexist/unsexist, if you take a lab full of very expensive lab equipment, and you're running 16hr shifts with a lot of these socially awkward males in a room, do you dare disrupt the chemistry by inserting a female engineer? I suppose these are the difficult questions that hiring managers must ask, and whether or not the hard cold truth gives a certain answer, in the real world, perception and opinion can often take precedence.

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Break in thought. So today I had to run an interview and represent my group in acquiring a short term assembly language programmer to the team. Also, this programmer would report directly to me and I would be responsible for their progress. In short, I was looking to acquire someone to manage.

Enter Nicole ******

IMHO, very sharp very bright, and unfortunately, very attractive. OK, relatively speaking attractive, good complexion, no/minimal make-up, hair was tied back with a clip, tips dyed blond(used to dye her hair?), three inch block heals with men's socks, long grey slacks that were stapled instead of folded up. White collared shirt with the collar frumpled/wrinkled underneath a brown/black V-neck sweater. This is either someone not used dressing up or used to dressing in a male's world. Conservative and with little attention to the details. There is a price to pay for females that dress inappropriately in an engineering workplace. It's a quick way to cruxification.

She was very loquacious and had a good degree of comfort in speaking jargon and a solid understanding of common protocols. She had plus communication skills, and was able to on the fly, construct a process and method for a test plan.(How to fix something that was broken, what to start looking at). She was hardware-centric, with a degree in computer engineering. Experience with TCP/IP, SNMP, MAC addrs, embedded SW, VHDL development…

Under aggressive drilling, she did not show that she was flustered, yet was able to answer with a minimum waver to her voice. But she was indeed very nervous as prior to the final goodbye handshake, as she furiously rubbed her hands against her pants to dry them.

I didn't write any of that on my review sheet however, although with this type of perception, a revolving siren was going off in my head. Danger Will Robinson Danger. You can not will not shall not suggest that this girl be added to your project because you are entirely attracted to her.

If you pause to read the fortune in the cookie before you throw it away, you'll see that the message reads:

-career suicide 101, how to add many dangerously combustible elements into a little jar all at once and shake vigorously...

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What does this mean in the bigger picture? I dunno. I am very ambitious and I think I’ve made decent progress in the way of growth and career advancement. I don’t like to play politics necessarily, but I either hold my own, or I am pretty decent at it. It’s a trait I learned since grade school. Make enemies of the students, make friends with the higher authority.

Yet at the same time, I think I haven’t achieved the unofficial title of “best damned programmer” of my division yet for the 30 and under category that I so desire. That title belongs to someone else. My arch-nemesis…

In a friendly competitive way that is. Of course I have a very high opinion of myself, but on the objective level, on a performance by performance chart I feel we match up pretty well. He has one year of seniority to me, but I have the better "name brand" schooling. Yet to describe us, he's always had the chance to run with the first team, and myself the second team. His choice of projects has always been varsity level, while mine JV. He's the Tom Brady, and I'm the Drew Henson. Dammnit...

Shit…screw the false modesty…I think I’m levels above him. Orders of magnitude.

But in terms of what is different between us if not in age and competence, is the fact that he's just given birth to his first child, and fuck if it hasn't crossed my mind what an enormously powerful ice breaker new born baby pictures are. A friend recommended to me half jokingly, that I conjure up a fake marriage to counter this. Apparently, this is a common practice in the military as a married man receives bonuses in terms of a larger monthly stipend. Funny.

Is it important? The idea of being settled? Do high level promotions come to those that are married? On my project and of my peer group, I'm probably now one of the most highly ranked SW engineers in my group (30-40 engineers) that is not married. I always thought it was a moot issue, as in, a person without outside commitments would have more time(in theory) to offer for the company. But I guess I never saw the flip side of coin until today.

In an engineering workplace, where gossip and heresy are common, I will never be able to lead female engineers if I am unattached. It simply raises too many questions and too many raised eyebrows. And in my honest opinion, female engineers are often more professional than males and are good resources, simply because it is still a man's world. And you gotta be good to be able to survive and be female.

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Anyways, I guess there’s a little irony here. Some poor girl lost out on a particular job opportunity because her interviewer found her to be too attractive. Well I guess, that’s a half-truth, since I did already find another candidate for the opening who was more experienced and qualified(19 years more so). But I don’t think it’s that big of an issue, as the other three males in my interview panel seemed very interested and very “pleased” that my group felt she was “unqualified and without the requisite toolset experience to fulfill the role.”

She’ll land on her feet.

[ esca | 7:41 PM | ]

 

To all the couples, happy valentines...

...to everyone else, take heart, there's always next year.

[ esca | 12:07 PM | ]

 

You ever wonder why bugs fly into bright lights?

[ esca | 1:04 AM | ]