Dickdazzler
DM open for personal advice
- Joined
- Aug 25, 2023
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Please take the gender ratio seriously
I graduated with a masters in electrical engineering nearly a decade ago and work a software job. In most aspects life is great. I have a stable government job making 6 figures, interesting work, not stressful. But the male domination of the field is maddening, and I believe it has genuinely had a strong negative impact on my life.
Both my current workplace and my previous workplace were heavily male dominated. I do not interact with women on a daily basis, and there has never really been a point in my 10 year career that I have. The only exception is my last workplace has a receptionist who was a nice old lady. Women my age however have simply been completely absent from my work life, and since I don't really have any other good ways of meeting people, they have been absent from my life period, for the last decade. The only exception is last year I had a brief relationship with a woman I met online. She was my only girlfriend, and one of only two women I have had some kind of regular interaction with within the last 10 years.
I understand that in many people's opinions workplace is not a good place to meet a spouse, and they will say that therefore gender ratio at work doesn't matter. But I think not being able to meet a spouse is the least of my problems. The bigger issue is I am 32 and am still nervous and uncomfortable around women my age. It's just how my brain has been conditioned as a result of going so long without regular interaction with women.
Please take the gender ratio seriously before studying engineering or software. Don't just shrug it off and assume it's not important, or that things will work themselves out. This is not to say that you shouldn't study engineering because of the gender ratio. But before deciding to study engineering you should make damn sure that you are part something (such as a church/mosque/temple, or volunteer organization, or whatever), where you can get exposure to women if you do not get it through your job.
