Sharper programming skills than social skills. It's the stereotype of the engineer or computer professional, but thanks largely to a newfound appreciation by employers, technical professionals are enjoying a serious image makeover.
Professionals agree that the stereotype has hurt engineering.
In fact, the U.S. Department of Commerce recently announced a partnership with Women in Film, a Hollywood-based nonprofit organization, to produce and distribute a public service campaign in 2000. Organizers of such campaigns say the field is especially hard hit when minority students are discouraged from walking down the technology career path. While speaking at a conference on women in engineering this summer, William Wulf, president of the National Academy of Engineering, addressed the relationship between changing the image of the profession and increasing diversity. Wulf believes that engineering is a profoundly creative activity and that a person's creativity is a reflection of his or her life experiences. Therefore, without diversity, the experiences of an engineering team are limited and their designs suffer from lack of imagination.