Men have always dominated the field of engineering. When people think about an engineer, they picture a man with glasses, but never will a woman come to mind. It is thought that women do not have the skills to have careers in engineering, but there is no proof that women do not possess the skills needed to be a successful engineer. Computer programmer and author Ellen Ullman argues that a “new, more virile and virulent sexism” (729) pervades the world of computer engineering today. I strongly agree with Ullman’s argument because society perpetuates women to be pretty and unintelligent, but never both, which leads to hostile actions towards women in jobs. Accomplishments that computer engineers fulfill in their jobs such as meeting deadlines, …show more content…
Considering that most bosses are male, they would prefer a male dominance in the working environment, especially when it comes to challenging and time consuming careers such as computer engineering. This illustrates how men believe to have ultimate power and wish to keep their power and privilege by limiting the number of women attaining high ranked jobs: “I had a boss who said flatly, ‘I hate to hire all you girls but you’re too damned smart.’ By ‘all’ he meant three but, at the time, it was rare to find even one woman in a well-placed technical position” (Ullman 727). In order for male dominance to be kept in the workplace, male bosses abuse their power through harassment, when interviewing females, particularly ones that are more attractive towards them, for the job, causing them to flee and look for other jobs that are not as high ranked: “At a meeting, he kept interrupting me to say, ‘Gee, you sure have pretty hair.’ By then I realized he was teaching me a great deal about computing. It would be a complicated professional relationship, in which his occasional need for male dominance would surface” (Ullman