Did/do you study something that's typically male/female?

[darkblade]

Hey everyone. Just wondering how people's experiences have been in relation to mine.

I went into college undecided between engineering and psychology. But leaning towards engineering. My first semester I ditched both but decided to stay in the sciences, thought psych was beneath me and was easy and nothing more than common sense. I ended up studying physics. And I do love physics, plans of going on to grad school in theoretical physics. Or at least that was the very certain plan until a couple of months ago when all this trans stuff hit me. Now, I'm much less sure. I still like physics, but maybe a little less? I'm not as enthusiastic about it anymore. My interest in psych however has increased. Picked up an interest in gender studies but that probably isn't surprising. I've always been interested in abnormal psych (go figure, I've always tried to find some mental disorder in me) and neuroscience, and maybe I'm more interested in the biology of the brain now.

I've always been interested in almost everything, so it's not like all of a sudden I'm interested in a whole bunch of stuff. I know I want to be an academic or a researcher, that hasn't changed. I'm just wondering whether my change in interests could be reflective of something more. I can't help but think I les myself toward the most "masculine" of study fields I could find (in my year, I'm the only "female" studying physics), and that now I'm saying well maybe this isn't actually it for me. A bit worrying because it's my last semester and I need to figure out what I'm going to do next..

Just wanna know if anyone's found themselves in a similar situation? Or maybe I'm just thinking into this a bit too much, it worries me that I'm not dead set on getting my PhD in theoretical physics anymore. Though I still really want to. It's weird, I don't know.

[CaptFido87]

I guess I kind of understand where you're coming from. I originally was an electrical engineer but the classes got too hard so I transferred into Digital Media and design. I learned a lot of cool and neat stuff. Only when I was on my last semester did my teachers blatantly tell me that there was about zero job market for in my area. I was like great, there's 4 years wasted of my life and time. So I need to not only find a new item to try to learn and but get a job in that field as well. I feel like I've gone back to the start. Now I wasn't thinking about being trans in college so I would have no idea how to even approach that.

I'd say finish up and get the degree. There's still plenty of time to go back and develop new skills on your own time. A degree in anything does make the odds of you getting hired somewhere a little bit better than those who have nothing.

[noeleena]

Hi,

Im one of those who is hands on no mater what it is building and joinery furniture making and other trades, sounds more like mens work dont kid your self women have been doing it for years, slight change photograhpy cooking and in charge of large kitchens with staff working for myself ,sewing and designing  farm work and home decorating , plus other detail  ,

For my self some over 45 years worth and still going at it ,at age 67 .

i never saw male or female as being different in what ever i did to me i learnt to just get on and do what ever needed doing , maybe im just one of those females whos a go getter and doer , dont sit on my backside  for long  ,

go fishing and find out what work is there and then study for that or see if you can get work and learn on  the job .

I started work at age 15 1/2 . if you have a mind to then go for it ,

...noeleena...

[JackBNimbul]

I'm FTM and have always had fairly "male" interests.  I LOVE insects and arachnids.  I like martial arts.  I have good spatial reasoning and play a lot of video games.

[darkblade]

I know that whatever you study has nothing to do with gender obviously, but we can't forget that the stereotype exists and affects us whether we like it or not. What I mean is that have people pursued a field and later (during transition or whatever) realized that maybe this isn't what they really want? Maybe it's a way to pursue something attributed to their preferred gender without raising suspicion, or something like that, I dont know.

[cindy16]

I can't mention specifically what I have studied over the years as that will give away too much about me, but I see where this is coming from.
I have also always been interested in almost everything, but while entering college, I had to stick to the stereotypical common path for 'males' because of the usual peer and family pressure, concerns about what will eventually get you a job etc.
Since then, as I got older and more independent, my old interests, some of them stereotypical 'female', have resurfaced and led me to study and work in other fields.
I never really questioned my gender identity so strongly over the years, so I always attributed these changing interests to being different or some sort of a rebel. But now I think it may have had something to do with the lurking gender identity issues in my mind.

[rosinstraya]

Social sciences and languages. Various amounts of teaching, customer service, legal advice and the like for work.My workplace is 75% women. Looking forward to the queues.  🙂

[martine]

When I started undergraduate school, I hesitated between literature, philosophy, psychology, and physics. I ended up choosing the latter as I was convinced it would give me an invaluable set of tools to comprehend our universe. I recently got my Ph.D. in biological physics ! There are numerous research topics to which physicists contribute and that span multiple disciplines. Within the field of biological physics, neurophysics is a very hot topic that attracts both men and women. Unfortunately, women are still largely underrepresented. But that's just one more reason to stay !

M


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[Jo-is-amazing]

I study Law & Journalism. At my university both of the degrees have more females than males studying although admittedly the double degree I'm studying mainly is taken by Males. In Journalism classes especially there are so many girls, if anything my study choices seem better and better with each passing day. Most of my journalism friends have actually got more comfortable about spending time with me. So I can't think of any stress related to being female in my course

I guess Im really lucky XD

[Robyn37]

There are not many women in the science and technology field, and companies do take notice. There is a big push in larger companies for diversity, and women really have a chance to excel. It sounds like that is what you love, go for it!

[Tysilio]

I've always been interested in almost everything, so it's not like all of a sudden I'm interested in a whole bunch of stuff. I know I want to be an academic or a researcher, that hasn't changed. I'm just wondering whether my change in interests could be reflective of something more. I can't help but think I les myself toward the most "masculine" of study fields I could find (in my year, I'm the only "female" studying physics), and that now I'm saying well maybe this isn't actually it for me.

This completely makes sense to me, especially if your shift in interests coincided with coming out as trans, or just accepting yourself more. I think some people pursue the interests perceived as belonging to their real gender as a coping strategy: it's a way of claiming one's authentic self without actually having to come out and say it, even to oneself. Once you're more accepting of yourself, it's easier to allow yourself a bit more interest in stuff that isn't (in our case, as FTMs) seen as hypermasculine, or to let go of stuff you pursued just because of that.

[ImagineKate]

My education was typically "male" but what is these days. I have a MSEE. I work in a sorta IT/engineering role these days.

I know a trans woman (acquaintance, not friend) who worked as a broadcast engineer at AM radio stations and then switched to real estate after she transitioned. I doubt I want to do that.

I did want to become a teacher as I love kids and my dad is a teacher and he enjoys it. But I don't think I could survive on the low salary, sad to say. Maybe if I am financially secure later in life I might consider it. I would teach science, math or similar as I absolutely love science. IFLScience is my favorite website.

I thought about a career change to law, but I really don't like the industry. I can debate really well, but much of that work is extremely boring to me.

One of the things I feel I'm stuck with is my career due to the pay. I really cannot afford to be paid less than I am by starting a brand new career.

[sonson]

I hated college. I dont know what it is exactly, maybe adhd or something, but the college environment just does not click with me. I cannot pay attention in a classroom setting, I procrastinate everything, and I dont end up learning much no matter how much im interested in the subject.

i was undeclared for a few years, then transferred to business (NOPE), then transferred to theatre, then transferred to film. didnt like any of it. i ended up making short films with my roommate outside of school, and failing my classes as a result. I learned so much more about film by doing this than sitting in my classes, so I dropped out and moved to LA, where im getting work as an art director on small projects.

does any of this have anything to do with being trans? no idea. i would consider what I do to be a mix of feminine and masculine. I decorate a lot of sets, kind of like interior design, which seems feminine. i also do some construction work building some sets, which feels very masculine.


good thread, this is an interesting topic 🙂

[Asche]

I studied math, even (eventually) got a PhD in it.  But the programs I was in all had a significant number of women in them.  I can't say anyone thought of it as "typically male."

I think it had more to do with the family I grew up in.  We all ended up doing computers and similar tech stuff.  My Dad was an electrical engineer, but he also sewed (and of course had the fancy Swiss sewing machine with all the extras that warm a gadget freak's heart.)  FWIW, my sister got a PhD in engineering and worked for a while at JPL.  So while I've been aware that some benighted souls think this is "guy stuff," it never occurred to me that their attitudes had anything to do with reality.

[zukhlo]

What I mean is that have people pursued a field and later (during transition or whatever) realized that maybe this isn't what they really want?

Great question!! I was actually wondering this same thing. I'm kind of going through a career crisis of sorts...
I studied film in college and am lucky to have a good desk job in the field, but since I've been transitioning, I have been starting to realize more and more that my reasons for being a film enthusiast had a lot to do with escaping reality, and living vicariously through fictional characters because I didn't like who I was.
Now that I'm starting to feel better about who I am, I feel differently...I love working with my hands, I'd always wanted to learn a vocation but it didn't seem like an option for a lot of reasons, and now I'm starting to reconsider that...it feels like a lot of childhood dreams that I forgot or have up on are starting to resurface and it feels great but overwhelming since now I need to decide what to do with myself! 

[DrummerGirl]

I studied computer science.  Most of my classes, both undergrad and graduate, had plenty of women.   Thinking back, most classes were around 50/50 so at least where I went to school that field was not male dominant.  Oh wow, I just realized why I liked my major so much.  When I was coding, I didn't have to be "male" and I could just be myself.  Neat topic!

[Rachel85]

High school was a proper mixed bag (Biology, Drama, Geography and Maths) then Uni was Science (Ecology/Biology), Biomed Science and then Nursing (where I am now) and soon, Public Health.

Despite the obvious sheer numbers of female Nurses, I don't call Nursing a "female profession" (besides, you'll anger a lot of men if you say that). I've worked with a lot of guys and in particular areas (like Mental Health, Cardiac and Emergency) there's more and more. Then again, I guess health in general is a "female dominated" industry when you look at it (my time is labs worked majority with other women), nursing, allied health (worked with few male social workers in my experience, lots of female speech paths, maybe equal no. of Physios), even medicine is becoming more popular with women than men. The boys usually outweigh the girls at the top in management in my experience though.

Me? I'd just say I am a bit of a nerd 🙂 And doing Drama was just awesome fun! hahahah

[immortal gypsy]

Classic Hospitality student here, I wore those classic checked pants in high school (my high school acttualy had an industrial kitchen). The interesting thing is on the high school level you will mostly find girls studding the course. When you go to the tertiary level and study in the industry itself, be it at a management or a chef level .The gender variation switches. Go figure

[Sammy]

I studied law and then did two specialised Master's degrees. The first was in Criminal Law, the second one - Human Rights and Public International Law. So it is kinda 50/50 genderwise .

[Eva Marie]

I am going back to college at 52 to get my computer science degree. Currently I am in an algebra "catch up" class since high school algebra was over 30 years ago  What is remarkable about my algebra class is the number of women vs. men - I'd say its 75% women and 25% men.

There are not very many women in the STEM fields; you need a lot of math to get into those fields and that might have something to do with the lack of women in those fields. Females often are socialized as they grow up to avoid and dislike math.

My own two daughters both excelled at math and one was in the gifted and talented program in school. I always encouraged them to think on their own and be who they wanted to be and not accept those  stereotypes of women.