Comments | spacefem: Why I hate "The Knack"

spacefem

Why I hate "The Knack"

Feb 28, 2021 08:02

Last week was engineer's week, a fun time where we engineers joke about ourselves and also try to do some friendly outreach "get kids into engineering" things. Along those lines I thought I'd post about The Knack ( Read more... )

engineering

Comments 21

tweekers February 28 2021, 15:52:02 UTC

Here I think there is the opposite problem... people think an engineer is the man (it is assumed he will be a male) who comes out to fix your boiler or repair your car rather than the person who actually designed the system.

petrini1 February 28 2021, 20:26:47 UTC

I'm not sure that's the real reason. It's certainly not the only one. If kids don't want to be engineers, it may be because high schools and colleges make most of them feel that they are not welcome in the field, even the ones who clearly have the aptitude. Also, the average student has little opportunity to be exposed to what an engineering career entails. Schools need to do more to make engineering classes available to more students ( ... )

springheel_jack March 1 2021, 00:54:59 UTC

> Why do schools provide so little opportunity to learn about engineering for students who haven't already decided by age 14 that they want to be engineers and nothing else? It doesn't make sense.

This! Yes! But I have to say it's dismaying to learn that so little has changed since I was in school. There were so many paths I didn't take because each one was all-or-nothing from the get-go, and there were other things I wanted to do.

I never understood it.

spacefem March 1 2021, 17:25:56 UTC

I will agree with them a smidge that dual majors can be hard to juggle, and on a bigger level I'm not sure I agree that dual majors are worth it. BUT I think that... 1) the gatekeeping and weed-out classes in engineering schools are stupid 2) music should DEFINITELY be encouraged in engineering! 3) engineering schools ignore what industry needs... we ask for well-rounded, but they are trying to churn out the future PHDs.

I do not know how to solve that problem. At the end of the day, a smart kid like yours will find success no matter what he majors in, so even though I'm sad he's not in engineering I also know we can't sweat the small stuff and go you for encouraging whatever he wants to do.

chocolate_frapp February 28 2021, 20:43:57 UTC

it's better than failing at every job you've ever had and finding out you have a mental illness when you're 36 and having to be on disability and trying to change the subject every time you meet somebody because they're going to ask you what you do for a living.

springheel_jack March 1 2021, 00:55:30 UTC

Same here. I don't like meeting people because I don't like answering that question.

chocolate_frapp March 1 2021, 01:57:40 UTC

one asshole's immediate response was to accuse me of not wanting to work.

springheel_jack March 1 2021, 02:41:03 UTC

"work this" and then I throw something at them

lenine2 February 28 2021, 21:18:52 UTC

First of all, petrini1's comment gave me a lot to think about. I know of two 20-somethings who had a passion for engineering, but lost it once they tried to major in it ( ... )

brittdreams February 28 2021, 22:46:42 UTC

I would love to see this idea dropped. I think one of the many reasons people didn't talk to me much about engineering is because I'm both Black and a woman. This despite that I took AP Calculus in high school. But I wasn't one of those kids always taking things apart, so I wasn't seen as a prospective/potential engineer, despite the fact that I like solving problems and putting things together.