“*I think it’s a part of our culture. Women are not encouraged to expand their horizons and enter this type of field.*”
–Heidi Lange, U.S. Cellular

In honor of National Engineering Week, the UWM Post spoke with Heidi Lange of U.S. Cellular about the current job market, and about why engineering continues to be a male-dominated field.

Post: Explain your job duties and responsibilities at U.S. Cellular.
Heidi Lange: Well, I am a radio frequency engineer at the company. I search out areas that need additional coverage and help seek out land for additional radio towers. We use a computer program to illustrate signal strength, and that helps us identify where we need to expand our coverage. We also work a lot with individual companies to help meet their needs.

Post: What drew you into the field of engineering?
HL: I was working at a hospital in Waukesha and felt like I wanted to do something that would earn a little more money. I enjoyed working with some of the lab equipment and that sort of got me thinking. I ended up enrolling in a four-week program through the Women’s Resource Center, and that got me into the field.

Post: What is the job market like right now?
HL: It’s very good right now. Engineering offers great pay and benefits, as well as a lot of opportunity. We are especially looking for fresh new college graduates in the field, those millennial babies that are really comfortable with technology.

Post: Only about 10 percent of engineers are women. Why?
HL: I think it’s a part of our culture. Women are not encouraged to expand their horizons and enter this type of field. In my personal experience, even though I scored extremely high in math and science, my guidance counselor tried to veer me way from this kind of work. I was encouraged to go into nursing because that seems to be more acceptable.

Post: What can be done to change that culture?
HL: I think we need to start very early on. We need to talk to girls in 8th and 9th grade and give them some options. High school kind of cements that culture, so we need to plant the seed a little earlier. Give young girls something else to think about. Right now most girls just aren’t interested in engineering.

> Comments