Sometimes students just separate themselves from me. The students are a bright part of Dr. Li's career. Students here in general are good and motivated, and they respect professors. Mentors are important on some level to the women surveyed as all have a family member with an engineering or technical degree. With only one woman on ECE's current faculty, Dr. Jian Li, it is not surprising that some female students feel there are a lack of role models.
Most students adjust to the perceived void and find inspiration from different sources.
Once out of school, women may still face barriers. Companies that have strong recruiting programs for women may have no internal support system once they are hired. Academe is statistically worse than government or industry in numbers of women in top positions. ECE at UF gives special attention to female faculty applicants but all pay raises and promotions are solely merit-based. ECE students tend to prefer the exclusion of gender as a hindrance or an asset.