February 10, 2021, by Communications

Breaking the stereotypes: An engineering student’s journey

Choosing to undertake a degree in engineering is both exciting and challenging, however, engineering students are often the targets of stereotypes. Our alumna, Ayesha Rashid (MEng in Chemical with Environmental Engineering, 2020) addresses some of these misconceptions.

While most stereotypes she has come across are harmless, such as engineering students are “boring” and solely motivated by money, a more disheartening statement to hear was that most engineering students are male. While Ayesha initially expected to hear some of these statements when she enrolled for her course, she was happy to see that at UNM, there was a fair ratio of male to female engineering students.

Confident that times are changing and that harmful stereotypes in the industry are becoming a thing of the past, Ayesha highlights the many aspects of her field that she enjoys such as the way her degree has opened her mind to thinking outside the box by learning something that employs both creativity as well as logic. Moreover, the hands-on experience she received through the workshops she attended was both invaluable and awe-inspiring.

In addition, the skills she picked up during her course such as being disciplined, having more structure in the way she thinks, and learning effective time management methods have helped her immensely in her day-to-day life as well.

For aspiring engineering students who may feel intimidated by these stereotypes, she has this to say: “Do not be afraid to be yourself. Do not be shy. Keep asking questions as possibilities are endless and have fun along the way.”

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