Men hugely outnumber women in STEM (Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics) jobs, with statistics of 4.5% of mechanical engineers being women and 8.8% of electrical and electronics engineers being women, according to the National Girls Collaborative Project.

“[The school] thought maybe with a woman teaching it that you might get more girls to sign up, but it’s still hard to get them to try it in high school,” Victoria Pederson, a City High engineering teacher said.

Project Lead the Way [PLW] is an organization made specifically to introduce kids to STEM classes earlier in their academic career, and provide kids with more opportunities to learn about these classes.

“There’s so many different fields in engineering, and we just barely touch on them in my classes.” Pederson said.

PLW classes are pre-engineering courses, and 5 are offered at City High. POE (Principles of Engineering), and IED (Intro to Engineering Design) are the foundations for engineering courses. Digital Electronics, Aerospace, and Civil Engineering are engineering electives you can take beyond the basics. Grace Williamson ’17 is in her second year of engineering electives.

“People think it’s really nerdy and hard, and mostly for guys, but it’s not, and it’s really fun,” Grace Williamson said.

Engineering does not make up large part of the work force, despite the number and variety of jobs the that engineering encompasses.

“People think that being an engineer means being an electrical or mechanical engineer most of the time, but it goes way beyond that,” Williamson said. “You can be involved in chemical engineering and bio-medical engineering, things people generally don’t consider as engineering.”

Engineering only makes up 5% of the US workforce, and that’s exactly what organizations like PLW are trying to change.

“Everybody says it’s fun, and it is. You’re always in groups, you’re always talking, it’s very social,” Pederson said. “It’s all with a group, with a team.”

City High girls and girls all around the world are largely outnumbered by boys within Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics classes [STEM classes], and this applies for within City High as well. Elena Lyons-Macatee ‘17 is one of three girls in a classroom of around thirty students, all taking Digital Technology.

“There are definitely a lot more guys, but it’s never really an issue,” Lyons-Macatee said.

Williamson faces the same situation, but in a class centered on an introduction to engineering design.

“I’m not intimidated by [the boys]. Most of them are really nice about it, and I know I’m just as smart,” Williamson said.

While STEM classes are in a category of their own, they share some aspects with other courses offered at City High.

“It combines math and science, which are two subjects that I really like, but can be hard,” Williamson said.

Math and science are classes that generally take a bad rap for being difficult classes to take, but STEM classes have the potential to help make the classes easier.

“[Engineering classes] made chemistry and math easier for me. because [Mrs. Pederson] is really great at explaining everything,” Williamson said.

Women make up 47 percent of the total US workforce, but women’s representation specifically in STEM jobs is much less than the makeup of men in the same jobs. Boys outnumber girls in high school engineering electives 6 to 1, but Mrs. Pederson and the girls of engineering at City High are working to change that.

“If students want to know more, they should talk to other girls in it. Talk to me, talk to anyone,’’ Pederson said. “Ask questions, we’d love to have them.