Stop looking at yourself in the mirror! Photo by katietegtmeyer After working at an engineering firm for the last three years, I have had the opportunity to observe firsthand what they call Female Engineer Syndrome, FES for short. Others may know it as Engineering Girl Syndrome. But all you really have to know is that it is not a pretty sight. Jessica Alba What exactly is FES? Let's assume a standard scale of 1-10 (with 10 being the lovely Jessica Alba) is used to determine attractiveness. Then, FES occurs when a female engineer looks like a 6, acts like a 10, but thinks she's a 12. How, you may ask, does this phenomenon occur? There are certainly some interesting theories on the matter, and I shall present my own personal theory below. Using an economics framework, the root cause of FES can be determined using the theory of supply and demand. It is a well known fact that when goods are scarce, their demand increases, which drives up their value. If we apply this to FES, we can see that due to the paucity of women in the engineering industry, their demand is greatly enhanced beyond normal capacity. Photo by Maxim Magazine When a female engineer enters the workforce, she is most likely entering an environment wherein the ratio of men to women is 4:1. Maybe 3:1 if she is unlucky. It's not too long (usually within seconds) before the male engineers start lavishing a ridiculous amount of attention upon the "new girl" as if she were singing the siren's song. Consequently, the new found attention starts the process of inflating her self worth beyond any reasonable means. As time passes, the constant attention received from the male engineers continue to boost her self-esteem to unprecedented levels. While some of the female engineers complain about the inordinate amount of attention they receive, I personally think they enjoy it oh so very much. Anyhow, the "new girl" now realizes that she is a hot commodity in the barren engineering dating market. With her new found confidence, the "new girl" starts believing that she is hot stuff, and subsequently, she starts to upgrade herself from a 6 to a 7. A week later, from a 7 to a 9. A month later, from a 9 to a 12. And this is not dress size we're talking about here. But the "new girl" doesn't want to come off as arrogant and conceited, so she tries to behave like a girl who is two notches lower than what she really believes she is. And since she now believes she is a 12 out of 10, she compensates for this by ONLY acting like a 10. Sheesh. I guess its not the girl's fault. If anything, we male engineers have no one to blame but ourselves for this. If you're a female engineer reading this post, please do not be offended. Instead, visit CityChic's blog (She's a female engineer as well!) to pick up some fashion tips so you can be a 12 inside and outside of the engineering bubble. And if you're a male engineer (or just a male in general) you should try visiting Gale's Male Advice Column for a morale booster. You'll learn about the dos and the donts when it comes to women and how to build your confidence. Is this just an engineering phenomenon? Or does this happen in other industries as well? I'm guessing that it does. So please share your experiences!