????在韋克菲爾德小時候，表姐給她的印象是工程師很酷。隨著年齡增長，韋克菲爾德的觀念發(fā)生了變化。“一般而言，男性工程師的動力是酷。而女性的動力則是幫助（別人）?！?/p>

????韋克菲爾德曾一度覺得自己的工作索然無趣。那時韋克菲爾德正在開發(fā)一款圖形芯片，她非常惱火，因為成天工作的目的就是為了某些小孩在玩《光暈》（Halo）游戲時能得到更好的爆炸效果。不過隨著項目進展，梅約醫(yī)學中心（Mayo clinic）參與了進來，圖形芯片加入了醫(yī)學成像組件。韋克菲爾德終于又找到了自己的動力源泉。

????類似韋克菲爾德這樣的親身經歷或許能改變女性對工程的看法。不過一路上總會遭遇自我懷疑。所謂“欺騙理論”，或者用韋克菲爾德自己的話來說就是：“我不希望別人最后發(fā)現(xiàn)，我并不像他們想象的那么優(yōu)秀。”這正是許多女性在大學階段從工程學轉投其它專業(yè)的關鍵原因?！拔覀冃枰獛椭齻冎厥白孕?。她們必須明白，不能因為沒有在五歲時造出一張軟盤就斷定自己在這個領域沒有前途。”

????英特爾發(fā)起的大量項目雖然志高存遠，但顯然只是杯水車薪。完備的解決方案目前仍遙不可及?；艚鹚箯娬{整個業(yè)界都在對女性翹首企盼。“沒有女性的參與，我們怎么能設計出女性青睞的產品？”問得真好。

????譯者：項航

????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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