What does an engineer look like? Not like Isis Anchalee apparently.
Anchalee is a self-described “passionate self-taught engineer, extreme introvert, science-nerd, anime-lover, college dropout, hip hop dancer, yoga teacher/hoop-dance teacher, really authentic friend and HUMAN”.
After the American engineer appeared in an advertising campaign for her employer OneLogin she was flooded with feedback. Some was positive, some was negative: most of it concerned her physical appearance and all of it blew her away.
“This is literally just ME, an example of ONE engineer at OneLogin. The ad is supposed to be authentic. My words, my face, and as far as I am concerned it is.”
Yet she didn’t look authentic, apparently. Somehow this young woman didn’t “look” like an engineer. Her smirk was too sexy. She was too young. She didn’t look enough like an engineer. And yet, of course, she IS an engineer.
She wrote a piece for Medium on the experience and at the end she called upon readers to help her redefine the way engineers ‘look’. She’s built a website called ILookLikeAnEngineer for men and women to share their own stories. It’s been a viral success.
The internet is flooded with images of engineers with the hashtag #ILookLikeAnEngineer and guess what? There is barely a common thread between them. They look as diverse as they are.
Who would have thought there is not a single ‘image’ that fits an entire profession?