Studying majors for men has many advantages, female students graduate as valedictorians

Once disappointed because she failed her first choice of information technology and was accepted into a new major that seemed only for men, Nguyen Thi Thu Phuong created for herself an unexpected boost when she graduated as valedictorian.

Surpassing 55 male students in her class, Nguyen Thi Thu Phuong became valedictorian of the aerospace technology major - Photo: NVCC

Previously, in November 2024, Thu Phuong won the Vietnam Science and Technology Female Student Award organized by the Central Committee of the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union .

This award is for female students with outstanding achievements in specific fields of science and technology, fields of study that are traditionally male strengths.

Not my favorite wish

Nguyen Thi Thu Phuong (23 years old, Hanoi ) has just been honored as valedictorian of the aerospace technology major at the University of Technology, Vietnam National University, Hanoi.

With a total graduation score of 3.81/4.0, Thu Phuong surpassed 55 male students in the same aerospace technology major to take the lead in this graduation session.

In addition to receiving scholarships for 7/8 semesters, the female student is also the co-author of 2 Q1 international papers, 1 Q4 international paper and 1 publication at an international conference.

"When I found out I was the valedictorian of my major, I was very surprised. I didn't think I would have such a brilliant journey. This achievement is also my proof to my parents that the path I'm choosing is the right one," Thu Phuong said.

Previously, in 2020, Thu Phuong was admitted to the aerospace technology major with her high school graduation exam score in her third choice. That year, Thu Phuong scored 26.75 points (math 8.8, physics 8.75, English 9.2).

The female student confided that she was very disappointed when she failed her first choice of information technology major at the school. At that time, the female student and her family were worried because this was a new major at the school, no class had graduated yet, and it was unclear what her future career opportunities would be.

"After asking myself a series of questions, I began to learn more about aerospace engineering. The more I learned, the more I was strangely attracted and felt that I could study as well as other male students. From then on, I decided not to retake the exam and put all my effort into pursuing this special field of study," Thu Phuong said.

Thu Phuong said that during her 4.5 years of studying engineering, the female student always maintained a spirit of fair competition, not thinking that being a woman would give priority to male students - Photo: NVCC

During her first days at university, Thu Phuong found it very difficult to integrate into the new environment when out of 60 people in the class there were only 5 women.

The female student confided that the second year was the period when she felt most "overwhelmed" when she had to study fluid mechanics (getting a B+) and strength of materials (just enough to pass). This was also the only semester during her 4.5 years of studying engineering that made her fail the school's scholarship to encourage learning.

Thu Phuong received the 2024 Vietnam Female Science and Technology Student Award - Photo: NVCC

Turning a once "nightmare" subject into a strength

Thu Phuong said that fluid mechanics used to be a subject that made female students "scared". This is also the subject that "blew away" the scholarships of many students, including Thu Phuong.

However, during her second year, when she was confused about her major because it was too broad and she didn't know which direction to take, a senior introduced her to the school's research group on fluid mechanics and numerical simulation methods.

"Just when I was confused, an opportunity came up, I didn't hesitate and immediately agreed," Thu Phuong said.

Thu Phuong said that in the first days of joining the research group, the female student encountered many difficulties when having to approach many new concepts. There were times when she drew the model incorrectly, performed the simulation incorrectly, and gave results that were not close to reality.

"When I joined the research group, I had the opportunity to participate in research topics on Savonius wind turbines. Specifically, my research group and I focused on applying numerical simulation and analyzing the aerodynamic characteristics of vertical axis wind turbines to improve turbine performance. From there, increasing the applicability of this device in many different environments," Thu Phuong said.

Thu Phuong (middle) takes graduation photos with her classmates - Photo: NVCC

After many failures and finding new approaches, Thu Phuong has co-authored 2 international papers Q1, 1 paper Q4 and 1 report published at an international conference.

In her graduation project, Thu Phuong took advantage of the joint research results with the group that were published in the scientific journal Q1 to develop a research topic on Airfoil blade profiles for Savonius wind turbines (performing numerical simulations of fluid dynamics for Savonius vertical axis wind turbines).

As a result, Thu Phuong achieved 9.7 points, ranking first in the industry in terms of graduation project score.

After graduating with an engineering degree, Thu Phuong said she plans to continue her master's degree and conduct further research on fluid mechanics and numerical simulation methods in developing sustainable solutions.

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/hoc-nganh-phai-manh-co-nhieu-uu-the-nu-sinh-tot-nghiep-thu-khoa-20250128235816114.htm