[BC] Female engineers

[Donna Halper]

>Margaret said--
>
>So Kim, yes there are not a lot of female engineers out there, and 
>many have come and gone, but a few of us made a long career out of it.
>And you can too, if you want too (the problems with the business in 
>general notwithstanding).

What she said!  (I mentioned her in my 3rd book, in fact.)  Margaret 
was a well-respected engineer, and many people -- both male and 
female --  were impressed with the quality of her work.  But in that, 
nothing has changed.  The way to win people over is to be very 
competent and very reliable and willing to put up with the b.s. while 
still keeping a sense of humour.  Yes there are some guys who are a 
bit neanderthal about having a female engineer around, as some guys 
(and some women, truth be told) were not accustomed to women doctors 
or women lawyers or women senators.  But social change does occur, 
and you can tell it's happening by how the language changes.  When I 
was a kid, it was common to hear about a "woman doctor" or a "lady 
lawyer"-- the majority were male, so any female was considered an 
exception.  But in 2008, just about nobody talks like that.  "Oh I 
went to see the woman doctor"-- not a very common way of 
speaking.  People will describe their doctor, yes-- "he's an older 
guy" or "she's a really nice lady" or whatever.  But most of us today 
regard a doctor as a doctor, whether male or female.  When there are 
very few of something in an industry (women, minorities, disabled 
people, whatever), the few who are different do get pointed out.  I 
was the first female announcer and one of the first female music 
directors at every station where I worked, but as more women got into 
broadcasting in non-traditional jobs (rather than just doing the 
"women's show"), things slowly changed and life went on.  I don't 
know if there will ever be a lot of women engineers, but I do know 
that you will earn the respect of your peers by being good at your 
job, just like the late great Eunice Randall did back in the early 
1920s.