> > Now, if you want a discipline which I believe is still in large part "me and the boys," try Engineering... Although, admittedly, both my boss and co-boss are female engineers. :-)
> >
> > Wolfspirit
>
> If, on the other hand, you want engineering /without/ the "me and the boys" philosophy, come to the University of Calgary. Last year we won an award for the highest proportion of female professors for engineering schools in Canada, and my graduating class in Chemical engineering was about 25% women (maybe 30%). We still have fun the same way engineers always did, we just do it without excluding anyone anymore. :-)
>
> Don "Proud U of C Engineering Alumni" Monkey

What was the name of that particular award?

I always find it surprising (and I really don't know how to think about it) when institutions/foundations receive awards for things like "highest percentage of female X'es in the profession." Why reward a particular institution for a state of affairs which almost everyone already concedes ought to be the norm? For the recognition value which says in a somewhat condescending fashion, "good work so far in attracting all the girls"?

I think it's one thing to earmark and dispense award monies for "Most Number of women in the teaching faculty," and another thing to give the school recognition through an indirect citation recognizing the same fact. For example, Maclean's magazine does an annual survey roundup of the best universities and colleges in Canada every year. If U of C shines particularly well in terms of gender integration, this is something the survey will notice, and will pass along to the people who care about that fact (i.e., to the students reading the article). The whole award thing sounds a bit self-serving on the part of whoever is offering the award, if you ask me.

Wolf "my 2¢'s worth" spirit