Women in engineering

Statistics

USA

The percentage of female graduate students in engineering in 2001 was 20%.^[1] Doctoral degrees awarded to women in engineering increased from 11.6% to 17.6% of total degrees awarded between 1995 and 2004.^[2] The workforce remains as the area of highest under representation for women; only 11% of the engineering workforce in 2003 were women.^[3]

Australia

Only 9.6% of engineers in Australia are women, and the rate of women in engineering degree courses has remained around 14% since the 1990s.^[4]

Notable women in engineering

• Judith Resnik was a NASA astronaut, who held a Ph.D. in electrical engineering. After her death in the Space Shuttle Challenger accident, a IEEE Judith Resnik Award for space engineering was named in her honor.
• Barbara Johnson was a general engineering student who became a pioneer for women in the field of aerospace engineering by leading several teams of engineers at NASA and contributing to the field of aerospace engineering.^[5]
• Barbara McClintock was a notable contributor to the discipline now referred to as bioengineering. She was the first recipient of the MacAuthor Foundation Grant, and is a Nobel laureate.
• Emily Warren Roebling self-taught engineer who is recognized for her work in insuring the completion of the Brooklyn Bridge.

Initiatives to promote engineering to women

• Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology
• Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing
• Robogals
• Women in SET
• German Association of Women Engineers (dib e.V.)

See also

• Ecole Polytechnique massacre in Montreal, where women were targeted by a mass murderer because they were female engineering students
• List of prizes, medals, and awards for women in engineering
• Women in Computing
• Women in science
• Women in the workforce

References