Are women different engineers from men?

Or does sex matter in engineering ability?

In the past, when I have presented my findings on how background can affect engineering practice, the basis for my book The Global Engineer, people have at times asked if I found there was any effect from sex. Because I was focused on engineering, which does not have a large proportion of women, and because I was focusing on a deeper research method, which meant a smaller number of participants, I did not get to talk to enough women to make such commentary.

However, that was my research specifically. There are still other avenues from which we can answer this question.

First off, the titular question of this article is a compound one. We need to ask the implied prior question: is there even a difference between men and women?

In The Origin of Species, Charles Darwin noted that there were species that did not have different sexes, and those that did. The former were hermaphrodites – each organism had both reproductive organs – and both would become pregnant. This would mean there could be a greater rate of reproduction when sharing DNA for ongoing adaptation. The latter species, like us, with the different sexes, invested not in increased reproduction rates, but the division of labour. By having a difference between the sexes, a species can have greater specialisation, and this increases survivability.

Therefore, it is apparent that there would be a difference between men and women.

But what is the difference?

Charles Darwin was a smart man – he did not discuss the specifics of the difference – he did not have enough evidence on hand to inform the matter sufficiently well and he was not one to publish opinion as fact.

While there has been some research looking into the differences between the sexes and cognitive attributes, there has also been research into the importance of practice.

In The Global Engineer, I cited the work by Erickson and summarised in Talent is Overrated that showed the overriding importance of practice. I also cited research by Beilock that showed how our perception of ourselves affects our cognitive ability (Asian American girls could have their mathematical ability increased or decreased by making them think about their Asianess or femaleness respectively) in her book Choke.

Therefore, while there could be natural talent differences between the sexes, the major effect would likely come from effort and practice.

But if there were to be a natural difference, then what would it be?

I am reminded of a New Scientist article that my high school chemistry teacher read to the class about the notion of a pill that would make you smarter. The initial premise of the article was to ask scientists if they would take such a pill – should it ever exist. However, the question on what actually made for intelligence then presented. The answer, that all asked for the article could agree upon, was, a desire or enjoyment to think about the problem at hand. Newton and Einstein also noted the importance of spending considerable time thinking on the things they were challenged by – this is much easier when you enjoy such thinking.

So, the real question should be: do men and women have different things they enjoy thinking about?

They might, and this could be the real reason we see more women in nursing and more men in engineering.

If this is the case, then the question I originally put is meaningless. And, really, it’s about anyone enjoying engineering enough so that they are good at it.
And that should be the takeaway: do you (or anyone you might be considering for an engineering role) like engineering?
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On a related note: if you ever find yourself, like I have before, asked to talk to a group of schoolgirls about why they should do engineering, then do not start talking at them. A better approach is to ask them a question: what do you want from your career? Once you have a solid list of preferences for any future career from the group, you can then explain how engineering can satisfy those preferences. This way you can create motivation to choose engineering – regardless of sex.