Of the 154 Ohio University students majoring in aviation, 15 are women.
Emily Pleshinger, a junior studying aviation, decided she wanted to be a pilot after Winter Quarter of her freshman year and changed her major from speech therapy.
I wanted to do something exciting
Pleshinger said. It wasn't difficult to change my major and my parents were supportive of my decision.
Administrators in the aviation program are aware of the lack of female students and are working on ways to increase female enrollment, said B.J. Galloway, chairman and associate professor of the aviation department in the Russ College of Engineering and Technology.
Growing up girls are just never told that aviation is a viable career path
he said.
He said the department is encouraging its current female students to talk to young girls about aviation at high schools, middle schools and Girl Scouts of America troops.
Galloway said he hopes having the women in the program talk to young women will get a new generation interested in flying.
I want the students to be able to tell the girls that it's a good program
we're having a ball and learning a lot
Galloway said.
He said the aviation program is working to increase the female enrollment to 25 percent of their total enrollment, which would be above the national average of 12 or 13 percent. Currently, women make up 9.7 percent of the total enrollment in the aviation program at OU.
Galloway said the department did not have a deadline for accomplishing this goal.
The OU chapter of Women in Aviation plans to attend a national conference this winter to increase the visibility of the program.-
especially for women
said Galloway. I've heard students on campus say they didn't even know we have an airport.
Pleshinger, one of the 15 women of the 154 undergraduates studying aviation, said that although women are outnumbered in aviation, being a woman has never resulted in her being treated any differently.
The girls don't segregate themselves. We all have groups of guy friends
said Pleshinger.
The number of women in other majors in the Russ College of Engineering and Technology has been slightly decreasing each year ' having 108 undergraduate women enrolled in 2008, 112 enrolled in 2007 and 126 enrolled in 2006.
Although Pleshinger said she feels no different from the men in aviation, not all women in the Russ College have the same feeling.
Nattada Nimsuwan, a sophomore studying computer engineering, said that in her program, the women tend to stick together.
In my engineering classes
there are at most three girls
said Nimsuwan. This quarter
