More Women Specializing in Biomedical, Environmental Engineering

Overall retention rates for female engineering graduates has remained steady over the last few years, and according to the latest survey from the American Society for Engineering Education, a significant percentage of women are focusing on the less traditional fields of engineering.

A New Look At Engineering reports that in 2003 women accounted for 20.4 percent of all Bachelor degrees in engineering, a slight decline from 2002, which reported 20.9 percent. In 2001, women represented 19.9 percent of engineering graduates, a slight decrease from 20.8 percent in 2000. Tennessee State University had the largest percentage of female engineering graduates with 41.6 percent, followed closely by Alabama A&M University with 41.2 percent. The report also indicates women accounted for 22.3 percent of all Master’s degrees and 17.4 percent of all Doctoral degrees in engineering.

Of the many fields of discipline within engineering, the highest percentage of female graduates was found in environmental engineering with 42.1 percent. Biomedical engineering graduates were the next highest with 40.4 percent, followed by chemical engineering graduates with 37.8 percent. The fields with the fewest female graduates were engineering technology with 11.7 percent and computer engineering with 12.8 percent.

Speculation as to why women are opting for the relatively newer fields of biomedical and environmental engineering is that these particular areas offer the ability or opportunity to be creative while also allowing for social and personal impact. Several female biomedical engineering graduates interviewed for a 2001 Whitaker Foundation study stated they chose the field because it had more of a direct impact on people’s lives, whereas traditional engineering tends to focus on a specific technology without social interaction. Some women view the field as more welcoming, because it is relatively newer, and one with room for advancement opportunities as well, the study cites.

According to a recent article from the Associated Press, women still make up only about 12 percent of the engineering workforce, although all the universities generating the large numbers of female graduates have continuous outreach and mentoring programs in place, including scholarships and prizes to retain female students. William Wulf, president of the National Academy of Engineering, suggested engineers should promote the creative aspect of their fields that seem to be more attractive to women.

A New Look At Engineering is available from the American Society for Engineering Education at http://www.asee.org/colleges/.