My experience studying engineering

My name is Mar, I am an international student graduating with a BSc in Software Engineering from the ǿ����Ƶ and I did a placement year as a UX/UI Designer.

The majority of the students on my course identify as men, which has been the case for computing and engineering courses for a long time. It can be a bit more difficult for anyone, like myself, who does not share this identity. And so my experience has been full of challenges and achievements - big and small.

How I found my path into software engineering?

Deciding what course I was going to take at university was a challenge for me. I was just finishing a professional course in music production when I decided to apply. At the time of course my first option was to do BSc (Hons) Music Technology at the ǿ����Ƶ. But I decided to apply for BSc (Hons) Software Engineering instead.

I grew up with computers and it was always something that interested me. From the small part of solving technical problems that my parents didn't know about, to learning how to research to solve these problems to finally knowing how to use a terminal.

One thing that also affected my decision to choose a university course was a class I was taking. While I was taking a module on how to use software on my professional course, many questions started to appear in my head. How does this work like this? Who thought of this? How did they build something so useful and capable of so much? These questions made me curious to learn more about how to build software and not just how to use it.

So I decided that I would do software engineering at university without any previous experience.

How did I succeed without prior knowledge in the field? What was my experience like joining a software engineering course without any experience?

When I tell people that I'm majoring in Software Engineering at university, most of them look at me like I'm the smartest person in the world. I'm not, but I've developed a very important skill over the last few years: self-learning.

At the end of the day, this is what university courses are increasingly about, teaching students to work for their own development and to thrive in the world of work. 

In my course, no one started teaching me things from Step 1 (like I thought), but from Step 5, so I was forced to learn the basics on my own in order to understand the rest. My first year was difficult, it was a challenge, but it was something that helped me a lot and also taught me. Without this experience, I don’t think I would have developed the skills I needed for my placement.

How did I navigate building friendships and relationships in a program that is male-dominated?

This is the third time I'm saying this but yes, it's difficult! The stereotype that your colleagues will be closed-off people who don't talk to anyone is somewhat correct, but not everyone is like this. Most of the friends I made are included in that group and now we are really good friends.

I believe the first step is not to let fear consume you! We're all there to learn, of course we have different backgrounds, but the assessments we're going to do are the same and no one will judge you for knowing less, that's exactly why you're at university! Another thing, your gender identity doesn't make you less than your colleagues, and some will even admire that!

The second step is to be yourself! Believe it or not, this is the easiest way to make friends. By talking to someone and being honest and true to yourself, it makes the person on the other side understand that you are being genuine in your actions and possibly a good friendship will be created from this small act of honesty.

And last but not least, you must have an open mind to everyone, you may not accept it but respect is the most important and beautiful thing.

How was my time while in placement year in a male-dominated environment as an international student?

It can be difficult to start working in a company where there isn’t much diversity, whether in terms of gender or ethnicity and nationality. However, in my opinion, I believe that being well received by the company and having a good environment and support is the key to success in creating relationships at work. 

Obviously it’s also up to you to have the initiative to speak up and create that type of environment, but it’s a situation in which all sides have to work together. In my case, I started to get along with other international students first and from there I built the rest of my relationships with colleagues.

In my opinion, it’s never easy to work in a place where most of the team are men. I would say that this is also a big communication obstacle. At the end of the day, we are all human, regardless of gender or ethnicity, so all the fear and anxiety can disappear when we realise that we are all on the same level. 

My advice would be, be yourself, be friendly and open to new perspectives, show your professional side and your skills, without fear. We can’t control what people think of us, but we can control what we do and show to prove them wrong. If they chose you to work with them, it’s because they see that resilience in you, so don’t let the lack of diversity take away your motivation.

During my placement, one thing that kept me going was this Portuguese saying that my mom is always using “One smile can open doors.” So don’t be afraid to use it, as much as you want!