Who says first impressions are of utmost importance? The Absentminded Dean now knows my name.
On my lunch break today, I am sitting in the lounge area at the end of the hallway and reading Juno & Juliet, which is every bit as enjoyable as Carolyn See said. I hear voices echoing in the stairwell on the other side of the wall that I'm leaning on and brace myself. Tour group. They always bring them by the Sun lab, which is about ten steps from where I'm sitting.
The Absentminded Dean pops through the fire door and a small group of women carrying notebooks follows. He points out the detailed image of a microprocessor (a latter day senior design project) hanging on the wall beside the lab door and talks about it. When he turns around to face his tour group, he spies me in my corner and greets me cheerily by name. It's even my name. While I'm still recovering from the shock, I'm pointed out like a zoo exhibit ("Undergrad, chillin' [sic]") and asked about the number of women in the engineering school. The ladies in the tour group are local high school teachers getting informed about the programs at this university.
Not wanting to hazard a guess about the percentage, I respond with a real number. "In my class year in the computer engineering program, there is one other girl." In fact, if you lump computer engineering together with electrical engineering, there are five girls (maybe six, but I'm not sure if this sixth girl is in my class year), which puts us seriously below ten percent.
The Absentminded Dean does not give up. "But what percent do you think in the school?"
"Ten?" I recall seeing 14% on a chart somewhere, but the chart doesn't match my observations.
"Oh! It's twenty percent," says the Dean.
"Really?" I ask, evincing surprise. If he wants to sell this school, the Dean is going to have to ask his leading questions of someone else.
Everyone smiles cheerfully like 20% is something to be pleased about and it is, in view of the historical numbers, but I'm puzzled and wonder where all those girls hide during the school year. Maybe in the mechanical and biomedical programs? Women make up 55% of college students nowadays, but not in engineering.
391 words | May 26, 2004 09:09 PM | Ivory tower