Image obtained from Whiting School of Engineering of John Hopkins University. |
How can you help?
If you have daughters or granddaughters, obviously, encourage them to think about careers in engineering. But 'encouragement' is not enough.
Engineering is a practical discipline, and there are practical steps that parents can take to help make their child ready for a possible engineering career: First, every child should finish the first year course in algebra before graduating from grammar school. Completion of Algebra I in 8th grade puts a child on the road to possibly take introductory calculus before finishing high school. It is the small pool of kids who arrive on campus with AP Calculus credit from whom the majority of tomorrow's engineers will come. We've got to make that pool bigger -- and more co-ed. If your junior high does not demand Algebra I from at least your school's best and brightest, you should demand that your school raise its expectations.
Thursday will also be National Sticky Bun Day and International Mother Language Day. We don't know how to work sticky buns into the equation -- although we're more than willing -- but we can see where it would be good to combine a facility for multiple languages and a talent for engineering.
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