Dealing with the difficulties of gender roles in the engineering field

First, my sincere apologies for taking so long to reply to your question.  I got married in August and this year has been quite a year for me.  I am trying to now catch up on all the wonderful questions that young women are asking. Your question is one that many young women ask. I, too had some difficulties starting out with men who simply did not see why women should be in the engineering field-and for me-in construction. However, the message my Mom told me as a young girl that I have lived by my entire life is, “You can do anything you really want to if you put your mind to it and never let anyone tell you that you cannot do something.”  If you believe in yourself, you will be amazed how you can overcome any possible apparent discrimination that you may be confronted with. Self confidence is so critically important and I would encourage you to feel confident in all that you do.  Women are just as competent as their male counterparts and have many instilled qualities that can give you an advantage. One is the ability to build teams and to keep a level head. It is a trait that has been instilled into women over hundreds of years and one that can play to your advantage.  Relative to looks, I have also believed-be yourself.  If you enjoy looking nice-there should be no reason not to do so.  Never change because you “believe” it will somehow make you appear to be more professional.  Always simply be who you are and that will in turn build your self-confidence.  Engineering is an amazing career and offers a wide range of opportunities for young women.  We do build the quality of life for those around us, those around the world, and for the world itself. Life would be so different if engineers were not a part of it.  I hope that you will continue on your engineering career path as we need you!