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Session 1692

Building An Engineer: Women in Engineering

Suzanne B. Heyman, Aisha K. Lawrey, & Ronald H. Rockland

New Jersey Institute of Technology

Abstract

Even as gender gaps in education decrease, barriers to equal education for women in advanced mathematics, science, and technology remain. Such obstacles translate to few women entering careers in technology fields, resulting in lower wages for women and limited career opportunities. Gender differences in mathematics and science appear to grow as students progress through high school. In college, fewer females are found in advanced mathematics and science courses.

To address these issues, the Pre-Engineering Instructional and Outreach Program (PrE-IOP), a collaboration of the Newark College of Engineering and New Jersey Institute of Technology’s (NJIT) Center for Pre-College Programs, was created. This program seeks to increase the future pool of qualified high-tech workers, including women and minorities. PrE-IOP consists of two components:

1. An instructional component that implements pre-engineering curriculum in middle and high school classes.

2. An outreach component that consists of a comprehensive information campaign about the rewards of engineering and technology professions.

One project of the outreach component is a series of teleconferences on the theme of “Building an Engineer” designed to introduce middle and high school educators to engineering and engineering education. “Building an Engineer: Women in Engineering,” our second teleconference of this series, deals with gender issues in engineering education and engineering careers. After participating in this teleconference, educators will be better informed of the shortage of female engineers, the importance of encouraging young women to take advanced math and science courses, and how to help female students build confidence in their mathematics and science abilities.

Introduction

The 21st century economy demands an educated workforce, particularly in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). The number of students selecting engineering as a major is low both nationally and in New Jersey, even though the workplace is increasing its demand for

“Proceedings of the 2003 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright 2003, American Society for Engineering Education” 1

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Heyman, S., & Lawrey, A. K., & Rockland, R. H. (2003, June), Building An Engineer: Women In Engineering Paper presented at 2003 Annual Conference, Nashville, Tennessee. 10.18260/1-2--11379