Many scholars look to American university systems in order to better understand the historical lack of female representation in engineering and technological fields. I suggest that the complex interaction between technology, gender, and the American university can be best understood through analysis of how different technologically-based programs developed in relation to each other within a single university. By concentrating on one factor, the integration of scientific management into curricula during the first half of the twentieth century, I illustrate how this nineteenth-century labor management technology was employed in gendered ways within the university. Using Purdue University as my example, I explain how some universities' curricula reinforced gender norms by separating male students as future business managers, while women were taught to manage their own labor. Both men and women had access to education in scientific management and were encouraged to employ it, however the entry points to training for male and female students were quite different. 

BIO | Michelle Martindale is a PhD student in History at Purdue University. Most recently Michelle earned her M.A. in History from Purdue in 2016. She also holds a B.A. in History from the University of Iowa as well as a B.S. in Industrial Engineering from Iowa State University. Her scholarship examines the intersection of gender, work, and technology in American during the twentieth century. Before returning to school to pursue her PhD, Michelle worked in various management roles within the manufacturing and logistics industries.