They need a breadth of knowledge spanning electronics, mechanics, physics, IT and maths. They must be willing to work with soldering irons, circuit boards and steel fabricators. They have to balance a sense of curiosity with the restraints of project management.

Oh, and they should be ready to enrol in the most male-dominated course in Victorian high schools.

Eight hundred and forty-four students are sitting the VCE systems engineering exam on Monday morning, and only 22 of them are female. Kim Harris and Stacey Verall, of Beaconhills College in Pakenham, are part of that trailblazing 2.6 per cent looking at careers in engineering.

''I've always liked special effects and stuff in movies, like robots and Star Wars, so I would love to do something like that,'' said Kim, who wants to study mechatronics at university and was encouraged by her dad, a software engineer.

Her project this year was a ''persistence of vision'' device using magnets, sensors and microcontrollers. When switched on, a mechanical arm spins furiously while LEDs flash, until a picture of Pac-Man chasing a ghost appears in space - something visually engaging to get other girls interested.

''There's so many guys, and I think they're intimidated,'' she said. ''They don't want to be the only girl.''

Stacey's major project, meanwhile, served a direct need. ''I like sitting outside reading a book and listening to music, but I find the battery on my speaker always goes flat, which is really annoying. So I made a solar-powered amplifier for docking an iPod.''

She wants to work in electronics, hopefully on helicopters, by following her brother into the navy through the Australian Defence Force Academy.

''I remember him bringing home his systems engineering project, a remote-controlled boat, and working on it all the time. I like that practical side - building things.''

Teacher Mark Tory says Kim and Stacey are the only girls to have studied systems engineering at the school. Girls performed very well when the subject was compulsory in year 7 and 8, but dropped out when it became an elective.

''Maybe it's seen as this noisy and sort of smelly blokey thing. But I talk to the girls, and the main reason seems to be their friends going 'Why would you study that?''' he said. ''I've been actively chasing girls for the program, and I'm just hoping now that two girls have come through and done so well that we'll get some more interested.''

Australian Bureau of Statistics data suggests women represent 12 per cent of engineers nationally, but their ranks are growing at a faster rate than men. Stephen Durkin, CEO of Engineers Australia, said it was imperative the trend continued in high school.