Hi everyone! I am a well-educated female mechanical engineer and I just got my first job as a product development engineer working on medical devices. I LOVE my job, want to excel at this, and am excited to learn as much as I can! I feel like, however, when it comes to the gritty mechanical stuff (screw threads, intricate mechanical design, etc.) I feel stuck, and this little voice inside says, "You're just a girl, you shouldn't be interested in learning this kind of stuff. You were raised on Barbie dolls and easy bake ovens...these guys that you work with are much better at this because mechanical stuff like this is in their genes. You'll never be as good as them." I've had this voice for such a long time, even as I excelled in school and did better than most of my male counterparts, even though I constantly struggled with the "hardcore" mechanical stuff.
So I guess my question to the male mechanical engineers out there, did you feel the same way as you started your first mechanical design job? Kind of overloaded with information, thinking it's going to take a while to become second nature? Or were you prepared just out of school from working on cars with your dad as a kid?
And to the female mechanical engineers out there, were you ever in my position? Did you learn quickly? Did it come as natural to you as *buying tampons* pretty soon? lol Sorry, couldn't resist a female-only experience
So I guess my question to the male mechanical engineers out there, did you feel the same way as you started your first mechanical design job? Kind of overloaded with information, thinking it's going to take a while to become second nature? Or were you prepared just out of school from working on cars with your dad as a kid?
And to the female mechanical engineers out there, were you ever in my position? Did you learn quickly? Did it come as natural to you as *buying tampons* pretty soon? lol Sorry, couldn't resist a female-only experience