姑娘们，别躲着工程学

    在韦克菲尔德小时候，表姐给她的印象是工程师很酷。随着年龄增长，韦克菲尔德的观念发生了变化。“一般而言，男性工程师的动力是酷。而女性的动力则是帮助（别人）。”

    韦克菲尔德曾一度觉得自己的工作索然无趣。那时韦克菲尔德正在开发一款图形芯片，她非常恼火，因为成天工作的目的就是为了某些小孩在玩《光晕》（Halo）游戏时能得到更好的爆炸效果。不过随着项目进展，梅约医学中心（Mayo clinic）参与了进来，图形芯片加入了医学成像组件。韦克菲尔德终于又找到了自己的动力源泉。

    类似韦克菲尔德这样的亲身经历或许能改变女性对工程的看法。不过一路上总会遭遇自我怀疑。所谓“欺骗理论”，或者用韦克菲尔德自己的话来说就是：“我不希望别人最后发现，我并不像他们想象的那么优秀。”这正是许多女性在大学阶段从工程学转投其它专业的关键原因。“我们需要帮助她们重拾自信。她们必须明白，不能因为没有在五岁时造出一张软盘就断定自己在这个领域没有前途。”

    英特尔发起的大量项目虽然志高存远，但显然只是杯水车薪。完备的解决方案目前仍遥不可及。霍金斯强调整个业界都在对女性翘首企盼。“没有女性的参与，我们怎么能设计出女性青睐的产品？”问得真好。

    译者：项航

    Wakefield's cousin made engineering seem cool when she was young. As she grew older, though, her interests shifted. "Generally, guys in engineering are motivated by coolness. Women are motivated by their impact to help."

    Wakefield hit a point in her career when she felt apathetic about her work; she was building a graphic chip and hated that she was working her butt off to allow some kid to play Halo with better explosions. As the chip developed, though, the Mayo clinic got involved, adding a medical imaging component to the project. She had found a source of motivation.

    A personal story like Wakefield's can change a woman's view toward engineering. But there's always room for self-doubt along the way. The "Imposter Theory" or, as Wakefield defines it, the "I-hope-no-one-figures-out-I'm-not-as-good-as-they-think-I-am" theory, is a huge factor for women who change their college majors from engineering to other disciplines. "We need to help them gain confidence. They need to know that just because they didn't construct a floppy disk at age five doesn't mean they shouldn't be there."

    The noble-but-small initiatives like the kind that Intel has been promoting are obviously not enough. The complete solution remains elusive. Hawkins emphasizes that the industry is desperate for women. "How are we supposed to design products that appeal to women without women?" Good question.

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