California Baptist University 2022

Women in Engineering

CBU’s Megan Bocobo navigates a new world of college life and being a woman in engineering M Growing up, Megan Bocobo and her father pieced together LEGO sets, not knowing that these moments would eventually influence her decision to pursue civil engineering as a major at California Baptist University. major was published during 2019 2020, when 82% of the department’s graduates were male and 18% were female. The American Association of

University Women was created in 1881 to advocate for equal opportunities in school. They have researched women in stem and found that “Women make up only 28% of the workforce in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM), and men vastly outnumber women majoring in most STEM fields in college. The gender gaps are particularly high in some of the fastest-growing and highest-paid jobs of the future, like computer science and engineering. When choosing this major Bocobo did not lack any support, “My biggest supporters of my academic adventures would be my professors and tutors because whenever I need help or someone to talk to they are always there to support me anytime I need them.” Bocobo continuous to say, “One thing I like about the classes is that the professors are very encouraging and they do their best to make sure we are doing well in the class.” From every aspect of her life, Bocobo has been overwhelmed with the amount of support she received, “When I chose to be an engineering major I did not have many people doubt or question me. Instead, the people who knew were very supportive of my decision and encouraging as well.”

Ever since she was a young student Bocobo had always enjoyed math, science and especially puzzles. She was always trying to find ways to solve problems or put things together. One thing she did not know about was the possibilities that her passion for those subjects could give her. “My favorite subject growing up was science,” Bocobo says. “I have always enjoyed doing labs and doing anything that was a hands-on activity. I am a very visual and hands-on type of learner, which is why I have always enjoyed taking science.” When trying to discover what she could do with the endless opportunities her love for math, science and puzzles, she turned to her biggest influence. “My dad had influenced me to choose to engineer because he always was fixing or building things when I was growing up,” she says. When choosing this major, Bocobo did not lack any support, “My biggest academic supporters of my academic adventures would be my professors and tutors because whenever I need help or someone to talk to they are always there to support me anytime I need them.” The most recent report about the female-to-male ratio in the engineering