Female engineering alum stands out, again

After becoming the first female to receive a Ph.D. in industrial engineering from UCF 24 years ago, Lucy Morse found herself in the spotlight again.

Morse received the Bernard R. Sarchet Award from the American Society for Engineering Education during its most recent international meeting for her contribution to a field where women are still a rarity.

Females pursuing engineering degrees at UCF can probably relate.

According to final fall 2010 headcount data from UCF's Office of Institutional Research, 1,063 women, undergraduates and graduates, were enrolled in the College of Engineering and Computer Science; the number of men enrolled accounted for more than five times that at 5,920. Those 1,063 women represent about 15 percent of that college and less than 2 percent of the total student body of UCF.

In an effort to bring more women into the engineering graduate program, Morse initiated and administered UCF's Women's Reentry Program, a graduate level program aimed at bringing more women into the engineering graduate program at UCF, from 1982 to 1989.

"It was the first critical mass of women coming into UCF," Morse said.

Despite her efforts, the field remains male-dominated.

A report by the U.S. Commerce Department's Economics and Statistics Administration attributes lack of role models, family obligations and gender stereotypes as the reasons why fewer women choose jobs in science, technology, engineering and math.

Morse agrees.

"There were two of us in the whole program," Morse said of her time as a student at UCF. "I was the only female in several classes."

When Morse wanted another woman to talk to, she would spend time with the secretaries because they were some of the few females in the entire department.

"Even at UCF, there are gender stereotypes," Morse said. "Women are not treated very nicely. There's a bias."

According to Morse, the fact that an interview with her was taking place 30 years after entering the program shows how little things had changed.

"People still treat me as an oddity," Morse said.

Even though the field remains male-dominated, Morse still has great things to say about engineering.

"It is really enjoyable," said Morse, who has worked on all seven continents, including Antarctica, where she helped evaluate America's footprint on the frozen South.

Some of her other projects include working with Capitol Hill police in Washington D.C. to estimate needed security details and a case study of Epcot when it first opened.

Morse has also co-authored a textbook, "Managing Engineering and Technology," in which she changed many of the references to women that she found derogatory. Her co-author, Daniel Babcock, who authored the first two editions, was "very pleased" with the results.

Morse urges women interested in the field to take the math courses first.

"A lot of people think it's scary because they don't know," Morse said. "It's like driving a car; the first time is scary."

She said with practice, though, it gets easier, and you may find that you like it.

Lindy Wolfe, a project engineer at Inwood Consulting Engineers in Oviedo and 2003 civil engineering graduate from UCF, finds the field exciting, especially when she gets to see her designs go from paper to an actual, physical site.

Wolfe said that, at her company, there are many project managers who are women.

"Definitely go for it if you're interested at all. It may seem tough at first, but don't let it hold you back if you think you may be a minority," Wolfe said.

Morse said women have a unique viewpoint to contribute to engineering, which is an important reason to bring more women into the field. She said women can do all the same jobs that men can, but emphasized that in this field, "you have to be the best."

Morse said that women are needed in this rapidly changing field.

"The women students are really the top students in the whole spectrum," Morse said. "It's dynamic. I feel like you can make a difference."