dd now thinking about doing engineering,anyone else's dc doing this ?

[ggirlsbells]

she has been thinking about her a level choices

maths,physics,french and ?

career interview yesterday brought up engineering which she seems interested in.

Anyone else got a girl doing this,where are they studying and how's it going?

tia

I'd have thought further maths would be an excellent fourth choice for engineering if a) her school offers it, b) she likes maths

Don't know any girls studying engineering now, but knew a couple a long time ago who enjoyed it (v. male dominated, but didn't worry them). Also know one girl in yr13(with the same A-levels) who has applied for engineering & science courses but is leaning towards science now.

Does she have an idea of what sort of engineering she'd like to do?

What about something like economics or business studies? Further Maths is fine if you are extremely good at Maths - some schools offer Additional Maths AS Level but not A2 which might be worth considering if available. You can sometimes select whether you do more mechanics modules rather than statistics modules for Maths A Level, so she might need to think about that. DH is a chartered engineer and mentors engineering graduates who wish to attained chartered status. He finds that many have real difficulty writing and that they need to address this shortcoming if they are to be successful engineers, so he would recommend that your DD does a mix of A Levels (though Maths and Physics are vital).

thanks for your replies

she isn't keen on doing further maths as another a level.She could possibly do it as as level but she would rather do something different ,not mathsy iyswim.

At the moment she is researching the different types of engineering.

She is worried that she may not be good enough at maths .She's very good at it but not genius material and I think she thinks you have to be extremely nerdily (if that's a word) good at maths.
She's done gcse maths early and has started alevel a yr early .

Engineering courses will always cover the extra maths (over Alevel) that is needed, and probably go over the A level mechanics too if some students might have only done statistics at A level. So the further maths work will be covered later, but it might make her life easier if she'd done it iyswim. Against that another subject might keep more doors open if she changes her mind.

Her worry about not being good enough at maths might well founded (though she sounds as though she's doing well enough), but it's also very common for girls to feel that way about subjects traditionally dominated by boys - so watch out for that. There is (or always used to be) quite a difference between GCS and A level, so as she does more A level work she'll get a better view of her abilities and whether she really likes it or not. Some types of engineering are more mathsy than others in any case.

I know loads of engineers at uni (Durham). I would think that any good, solid subject would be well regarded. The French gives her some diversity which is important. We always tease the engineers and scientists because they can't write so an arts subject like that it great.

Just asked a friend whose sister has just finished a degree in civil engineering at Manchester (was UMIST but they merged while she was there) She did maths, physics, systems and control and AS biology. I expect that pretty much anything with maths and physics is fine.

In any case, as a girl wanting to do engineering she is a shoo in!

thanks useful info there

She has a few close friends who are mind blowingly good at maths and she feels like a real thicko compared to them at times and it affects her confidence in the subject.

She has been told by numerous teachers that she is capable,it's just getting it into her head.

I think she's finding it hard being an all rounder as opposed to brilliant in one area if that doesn't sound arrogant.

I have a degree in engineering I choose Maths, English, Chemistry, Physics and Biology (as my highers in Scotland) what type of engineering does she woant to do?

she's not sure

it was brought up in careers interview and she's just thinking about it.

My dad is a civil engineer so she sort of knows about that.

She was talking about structural yesterday.

I would say Mathematics, Further Mathematics and Physics. Then Chemistry for Chemical Engineering, or any other subject your DD enjoys.

I did Chemical Engineering at uni

my brothers girlfriend is an engineer ( air type) and loves it. also have a friend whos an air engineer and she loves it to. has she looked into the royal navy or air force, they might be able to sponsor her through uni. they did with my brother. i married a mecianal engineer but i'm not at least interseted in it but the pay is good!!!!!! good luck to her

I teach engineering undergraduates at a Very Well Known University. There aren't many women students, but a very high proportion of my best students have been women - possibly because they have to be bloody good and bloody determined to get over society and school prejudice and start the course. With the exception of one who dropped out after three of four years (and was last heard of working as a barmaid) every one of my women students over the past few years has found a really good job, including two who are patent agents. I expect - seriously - that most of them are earning more than I do now.

It's very important that she decides what sort of engineering she'd like to do and then chooses a course which suits her. A good (ie easily attained - no module resits) A in A-level maths is the absolute minimum for an MEng. At the more academic end, anyone without AA in Maths / Further Maths is going to struggle. Harsh but true, I'm afraid.

On the other hand, if she likes making things there are plenty of perfectly good engineering courses of a more vocational sort, and they don't need nearly as much maths - though a B at A-level is probably the sensible minimum.

There are lots of good support structures for women in, or interested in, engineering. WISE (Women Into Science and Engineering) for example. Several universities run summer schools for potential women engineers, and I have heard very good feedback about these.

Good luck!

I'd also agree with maths. Does she study German as well as French as if she's interested in electronic/electrical engineering that would be more useful if she's choosing between the two.

Why is German useful, Ledodgy?

This is something I heard when doing my engineering degree in the early 80s - the only evidence I saw was that a few journal articles were in German, but the vast majority were in English.

Nowadays, I imagine the usefulness of German is even less obvious.

When I was working in industry, I would attempt to converse in German with receptionists - ich mochte bitte Herr _ sprechen... - and the reply would always be 'just a moment please' - totally deflating me.

OTOH, I spent much of my early career working in a factory in France, and speaking French was absolutely invaluable.

Nowadays, Chinese is probably the most useful MFL. But the key thing is to do what you enjoy.

I dunno lol just remember when my dp was doing his HND they had to learn German but that was a good few years ago. I think most of the companies he deal with in his work now are either English or American so i'm probably wrong!

Gosh didn't see these later posts sorry.
Some very useful info about her Alevels,she's got her core 1 exam as soon as they get back after xmas so we'll see how she gets on.

I have a sneaky suspicion she may not be a good enough mathematician to do this but we'll see.

She does French and Spanish but will only be doing French at A level.

How about a combination engineering degree (with economics and/or management).

And then work backwards to see what A-levels are most appropriate. Maybe Economics?

Also - there are some excellent engineering schools (university level) in France - I'm sure there are some joint degrees somewhere between French and English engineering courses - maybe your DD would like to go for one of those?

anna that is a brilliant suggestion

she is very keen on doing a sandwich year abroad somewhere,and is also dithering about finance as well.

I'll tell her that the two can be mixed,never knew that.

thanks

ggirls - I actually don't know the first thing about engineering. However, there are some very interesting joint degrees between French and English universities around and they tend to be a well-kept secret. There's a joint French-English law degree, for example, between King's College and the Sorbonne, which is highly rated, that tends to attract children from bilingual/international families/schools and other potential students just don't know about it.

However, if you want info on which are the best French engineering schools, I can easily look into that for you.

thanks anna-I'll bear that in mind,very kind of you.

Bath University has some very good Engineering + joint degrees.

UCAS can be searched for courses by typing in key word, here is the results for engineering and french

search.ucas.co.uk/cgi-bin/hsrun/search/search/StateId/Rpq5LGEj57lD3jwjtVUHC-LvV5MSq -VfKb/HAHTpage/search.HsSearch.submitForm?txtSubject=engineering+french&cmbQual=&cmbAttend=&cmbInst= &button1.x=29&button1.y=4

Your daughter could also try www.push.co.uk where she can fiddle around and rank unis to her ratings

thanks belladonna,that push site is great

Late to this thread, but I'm a chartered civil engineer and I love it. It is male dominated but not nearly as much as it used to be. It was a WISE course that got me into it when I was choosing A levels.

I did Maths, further Maths, Physics and Chemistry at A level, I am certainly no genius at maths, but able to slog through the syllabus (and have to confess the degree is more demanding than the job).

TBH engineering is quite a good career choice if you are a technically inclined person but a bit of an all-rounder, it's science in the real world as opposed to high-flying pure mathematics or physics.

I took a gap year and worked for a local engineering firm, who I'm still with, and the sponsorship/vacation work was a real help with university finance, although I appreciate that was back in the good ol' days of grants. I think sponsorships are still available in various branches of engineering.