When Isis Anchalee posed for a recruitment ad for her employer, OneLogin, it’s likely the last thing she expected was an outpouring of doubtful and hurtful commentary about her appearance and how it made her look like a less credible option for a position as an engineer. Isis is a young, beautiful woman who is admittedly quite photogenic. But those are far from her only distinguishable attributes. Isis, like many other women in STEM jobs, is incredibly bright, intelligent, creative, and accomplished. And now nearly everyone knows it thanks to the #ILookLikeAnEngineer campaign, something that quickly and organically took off after she posted a photo of herself at work with a sign that read: “I help build enterprise software. #ILookLikeAnEngineer”
The hashtag, #ILookLikeAnEngineer, was her answer to the internet “trolls” who doubted her ability based on her looks, something women are all too familiar with. What followed was an avalanche of support from fellow women in the industry (and even some men) who have posted images of themselves holding up similar signs in support of their fellow STEM colleague in arms. Below, you can view some examples of what has turned into one of the most empowering campaigns for women in top professions. The fact that this campaign has to exist is still incredibly disappointing. But it’s still a great show of where we are as a gender, making strides for true equality. And though we may have a few haters along the way, the fact remains that we as women are strong enough to carry on and turn it all around, while proving we are so much more than anything the ignorant choose to perceive.
Are you an engineer? I’d love to hear your thoughts on the issue. Please sound off in the comments!
I taught myself to code in ruby and obj-c to build one of the top fitness apps @SpitfireAthlete #ILookLikeAnEngineer pic.twitter.com/0nAyUBAG5Z
— Erin Parker (@neverbendeasy) August 5, 2015
This is my team. We created #Cortana. #ILookLikeAnEngineer pic.twitter.com/nEl6R3j73G — Melissa Lim (@melissalim89) August 5, 2015
I’m a platform engineer working for @pivotal on @cloudfoundry. Yes I cut code. #ILookLikeAnEngineer pic.twitter.com/Jl8LDkjLpl
— Cornelia Davis (@cdavisafc) August 10, 2015
#ILookLikeAnEngineer I am a Civil/Sustainable Engineer, #MissPhoenix, a lover of travel & crazy heels! #STEMSunday pic.twitter.com/XGDZY6dONU — Kaitlin Vortherms (@KaitlinVortherm) August 10, 2015
Chemical eng. Hannah S: water, ecosystem, & climate for @whitehouseostp; h/t @Princeton #SINSI #ILookLikeAnEngineer pic.twitter.com/6OVdmIDZ2H
— The White House OSTP (@whitehouseostp) August 7, 2015
