Purdue News
Purdue News
|
|
January 1993 Employment, educational outlook good for women engineersWEST LAFAYETTE, IND.–Opportunity is knocking for women engineers. Changes in consumer demand and political agendas have increased demand on the job front. At the same time, engineering schools like Purdue University's are spearheading a drive to attract and graduate more women. Jane Z. Daniels, director of women in engineering programs at Purdue, says women with engineering backgrounds may have an advantage in the job market now for two reasons. First, while many companies are cutting the number of employees, employers still are very interested in maintaining diversity in the workplace. Second, with an increasing emphasis on the environment and the demand for safer, more reliable and higher-quality consumer products, there may be more jobs for engineers opening up in fields such as environmental engineering, agricultural engineering, industrial engineering and chemical engineering relating to foods and consumer goods. "This trend is especially important to women because percentage-wise, they have traditionally chosen careers in these areas of engineering, which involve working with entire processes, rather than in the more design-specific fields such as electrical, mechanical and aerospace engineering," she says. National statistics reflect this trend. The Commission on Professionals in Science and Technology is a Washington, D.C.,-based organization comprising members of national scientific societies and corporate representatives. In June the commission published statistics showing that in 1991 women held 22 percent of federal jobs in environmental engineering positions, 27 percent in landscape architecture, 18 percent in chemical engineering, 17 percent in biomedical engineering and 16 percent in industrial engineering. By contrast, women held only 9 percent of federal jobs in electrical and aerospace fields and 6 percent in mechanical engineering. Statistics collected by the Engineering Manpower Commission tell much the same story. The commission, part of the American Association of Engineering Societies based in Washington, D.C., has been collecting data for nearly 5O years on engineering enrollments, degrees and employment. In the past three years, women have earned nearly a third of the bachelor's degrees awarded in biomedical, chemical, environmental and industrial engineering, while earning only 1O to 12 percent of those awarded in electrical and mechanical engineering. Meanwhile, the number of women earning bachelor's degrees in all areas of engineering has steadily increased in the past 2O years, from 5O1 in 1972 to around 1O,OOO in each year since 1984. Women also are comprising a larger percentage of engineering graduates, from 1 percent in 1972 to more than 15 percent in l99O. While the number of students enrolled in engineering has gone down nationwide because not as many 18-year-olds are in the population, the percentage of women in engineering nationwide -- and at Purdue -- has remained fairly steady. In the past 10 years, approximately 2O percent of Purdue's engineering bachelor's degrees have been awarded to women, or 5 percent above the national average. Purdue's real success story lies behind the numbers, in the growth of the university's retention rate of women engineering students, Daniels says. "In the late '6Os and early '70s, less than a third of the women enrolled in engineering actually graduated with an engineering degree," says Daniels. "But now the rate is in the high fifties, percentage-wise, which is about the same as the male retention rate. And about 80 percent of the women who initially enroll in engineering graduate from Purdue with a degree, whether it's in engineering or they've changed to a different major." Daniels cites two factors that contribute to Purdue's success: high admissions standards and a comprehensive program that helps young women prepare for engineering studies from an early age. "The women who are admitted to the engineering program are very motivated, and their performance reflects their motivation," she says. "Through various programs at Purdue, we try to get more information to women before they enter their first year of college. That way, as they decide to enroll, their expectations about engineering are more realistic." Purdue's recruitment programs begin as early as grade school and continue through high school graduation. For example, young women are invited to campus for intensive summer workshops and for Women in Engineering Career Days, where they learn about engineering careers, and what courses to take while still in junior and senior high school to best prepare them for Purdue's engineering curriculum. Students also are invited to Purdue to tour the engineering facilities, meet students and faculty, and talk with professional women engineers. In addition, members of Purdue's chapter of the Society of Women Engineers visit schools to encourage interest in science and math and to expose young students to female role models in engineering. Once at Purdue, beginning students have several support systems, including the Society of Women Engineers, a Women in Engineering Seminar, and focus groups where eight to 10 first-year students meet with an upper-class level student to discuss classroom concerns and issues relating to women on campus. Purdue's Women in Engineering Program was established in 1969 as one of the first of its kind in the nation. It was established primarily to tackle the retention problems when less than one third of the women enrolled in engineering actually graduated with an engineering degree. Today at colleges and universities across the country, there are 25 established programs supporting women in engineering, but with efforts by Daniels more programs will be on-line within the next couple of years. Daniels is the president and co-founder of a national organization called the Women in Engineering Programs Advocates Network. The organization, which encourages women to become engineers, was established in 1991 with a grant from the National Science Foundation and this year received support from the AT&T Foundation as well. The network provides technical assistance such as training seminars and site visits to schools that plan to initiate or expand their women-inengineering programs. The organization now boasts a membership of more than 3OO individuals, 49 institutions and 1O corporations, along with its three regional centers at Purdue, the Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, N.J., and the University of Washington in Seattle. Daniels is the director of the organization's Midwest regional center at Purdue. Earlier this year, the first training seminars were held at the East and Midwest centers. At Purdue, 34 faculty and administrative personnel representing 18 engineering schools from across the Midwest attended the seminar. Each of the schools pledged to begin or expand women-in-engineering programs within two years. "We discussed how to establish pre-college programs, funding, advisory boards, retention programs, and how to work with the Society of Women Engineers, both at the student and professional levels," Daniels says. "With the 18 schools represented at the Midwest meeting and the 15 represented at the East regional center, the country could double its number of women in engineering programs in 1993." The second series of seminars will be held next fall at the regional centers. One of the responsibilities of the Midwest regional center is to evaluate women-in-engineering programs around the country. The organization has already completed and analyzed written evaluations of the 25 existing programs and on Jan. 15 will visit the Ohio State University for an onsite evaluation. While at the university, Daniels will meet with the dean of engineering, faculty and women engineering students. "In our evaluations, we look beyond the numbers to examine all the factors that will affect women who are in the engineering curriculum or who are considering enrolling in it," says Daniels. "Their future as successful, productive engineers depends on the quality of education they receive." Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu
|
