Running Head: Engineering

Woman in Engineering

Adrien Kellaway

University of Texas at El Paso

Professor Nugent

Rhetoric & Composition 2 1302

Running Head: Engineering

Woman in Mechanical Engineering

Over several decades, women have had difficulty with being able to maintain a career in

engineering as well as having the same role and respect as men do in the field. Usually, women

are often stereotyped by men in the workplace because they are seen as a distraction or less

intelligent when operating machinery or completing other complex tasks. This issue has been

primarily pushed to the side and ignored in large scales because companies and institutions dont

speak about their hiring processes publicly. This problem will be addressed through two genres

that will focus on specific examples of why women are facing these discriminations and how

they can possibly be extinguished amongst large engineering industries. Harvard Business

Reviews website, Why Do So Many Women Who Study Engineering Leave the Field, relays the

relevant struggles that most women go through on a day to day basis when working as engineers,

and a YouTube video, Where are the girls and why arent they here, alludes to how women are

purposely and unintentionally being swept away from engineering fields and why more women

should be considered in being an active role in these studies.

Audience and Purpose

The first genre, Harvard Business Reviews website, is a source that was published on

August 23, 2016 by Susan S. Silbey. The purpose of this website is to inform readers that women

are also facing predicaments of being stereotyped by men when relating to engineering work. In

addition, the intention of this site is to encourage general awareness of this topic through use of

every day examples and statistics. The second piece, TEDx Talks video Where are the girls and

why arent they here is a speech given by Dr. Jenna Carpenter to inform viewers and listeners
Running Head: Engineering

about the ongoing scarceness of women in engineering fields and how to resolve the issue

worldwide.

The proposed audience of the website is both young and old men and women of any

interest. Perhaps the reason this resource makes it open to anyone is because they are passionate

about the meaning of the site. The audience for the video resource are individuals who may take

a deeper interest into the field of engineering because Dr. Jenna Carpenter states several specific

examples on how to resolve the issue and where the issue stems from. In the website piece, the

people are drawn to the social issues that women face such as stereotypes and work ethic. In

contrast, the second genres intended audience are people from a higher educated background

because its of a more formal environment that gives a complex diagnosis of where the issue has

formed. However, both genres have similar audiences due to the arguments being cohesive with

one another.

The first genre is displayed through a website that also has ads throughout the page. The

second genre is on YouTube which displays a numerous amount of other related videos to watch

as well as advertisements. However, the second genres use of communication to explain the

issue at hand is much more convincing and thorough because of the structure and language Dr.

Jenna Carpenter uses to inform the audience. Whereas, the first genre simply uses texts to

explain the problem as much as possible. The first genre contains a large amount of words which

may take more time to read than watching the video given by the second genre which is only

twelve minutes. As previously stated, the second genre lists several videos related to the issue

which will entice the viewer to learn more about the subject and understand different

perspectives of the issue while the first genre only includes the passage created by the author on

one website.
Running Head: Engineering

The language and environment the author uses in the first genre seems more suitable to a

younger audience such as college and high school students because its presented in an informal

manner. Whereas, the second genre has a highly educated individual speaking to an audience on

stage in a professional environment.

Rhetorical Appeals

Both genres use rhetorical appeals, however, the implementation of how they are used

differ from one another.

Ethos

The author of the first genre establishes its credibility by having a published piece on an

official website known as the Harvard Business Review and by stating facts about the issue by

explaining specific examples that are simple for the reader to understand. Also, the author takes

real life examples of how women are facing discrimination in the workplace quoting women who

have also had similar encounters. The second genre builds its credibility by using a platform

known as TEDx Talks, which is a widely well-known corporation, to communicate an issue

amongst women through a highly educated individual by the name of Dr. Jenna Carpenter. In

addition, the second genre uses YouTube to further spread this message to people around the

world.

Pathos

The website uses an emotional appeal, but only to a certain extent. The way the author

conveys the emotion is not very broad because she only gives examples on how a few women

experienced these issues and not going into great depth on the many cases women may face. In
Running Head: Engineering

the second genre, Dr. Jenna Carpenter alludes to childhood where young girls are often

discouraged to participate in math and science courses because their schools encourage boys

more to engage in these subjects.

Logos

In both the website and YouTube video, the presenters appeal to their audiences

common sense and logic by giving examples and statistics. They both suggest that the most

common predicament that women face is stereotyping by gender. This means that women would

not be able to do the work that men do just because they are women. These presenters say

otherwise because women have the same capabilities as men and they should not be looked

down upon. Instead, women should be treated with equal respect because they offer insight that

most men would often overlook.

Structure and Delivery

Considering the information given by both genres, it is apparent that each genre differed

completely in the way the information was presented. The first genre offered lengthy passages

that may take the reader several minutes to finish reading resulting in the reader to be

discouraged from reading the information. On the other hand, the second genre presents its

information by way of a YouTube video which is more entertaining to the viewer because they

will not have to read passages like the first genre gives. Also, since the second genre is found on

a large platform that is used worldwide, YouTube, individuals are more likely to find this source

rather than the first genre. However, both genres present their claims in an organized manner and

are easily understood by the audience.

Running Head: Engineering

Conclusion

Conclusively, both genres seemingly expressed the ideas and arguments of the issue of

women in mechanical engineering very well. Although, the second genre was more concise and

organized than the first which ultimately made it the better one to choose from. In addition, each

genre did give a fair and reasonable explanation of how women are treated differently than men

in mechanical engineering. With this stated, women in mechanical engineering should not be an

issue thats overlooked. Instead, it should be treated as a serious issue so there are no women

being discriminated in the field of mechanical engineering.

Running Head: Engineering

References

Silbey, S. S. (2016, August 23). Why do so many women who study engineering leave the field?

Retrieved September 16, 2017, from Harvard Business Review website:

https://hbr.org/2016/08/why-do-so-many-women-who-study-engineering-leave-the-field

Talks, T. (2013, May 29). Engineering- Where are the girls and why arent they here? Dr. Jenna

Carpenter at TEDxMonroe [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/

watch?v=pw_9t82qD60