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Drexel Library

Women In Engineering

The purpose of this library guide is in helping you to explore various resources about women contributions in engineering disciplines.

Introduction to Women In Engineering

This library-guide includes selected available resources for gender inclusive Engineering Education. 

You can find examples for the leadership, statistics and reports, and research about Women in Engineering.

You are invited to peruse the new Women in Engineering Library Guide, the fruit of a collaboration between Drexel Libraries’ expert staff, I AM ME (a new female mechanical engineering organization) members and faculties from the College of Engineering. The resource guide includes books, research, statistics and the contributions women have made (and continue to make!) to engineering.

Follow the side-bar sign Use the menu on the left to find recommended available resources.   Questions? Please reach out to the Engineering Librarian Jay Bhatt

Books

Research in Women Contributions in Engineering&Science

Try DragonSearch to find  books, book chapters or peer reviewed research articles from scholarly journals. 

  • Use relevant research keywords related to your topic. 
  • For example, type ‘Women and Leadership and STEM' and click on Search.
    • Develop your search strategy with relevant keywords based on your topic of research.
  • To find book chapters: Filter search results by 'Material Type-Book Chapters'.
  • NEW BOOK:  Equity in STEM Education Research : Advocating for Equitable Attention
  • To find scholarly articles: Refine your search results by selecting options such as  'peer review' and 'Articles and more'.
    • Explore your results, find and access papers you need. 
  • See DragonSearch Tutorial at: Tutorials.

 ASEE-peerThe Papers on Engineering Education Repository is a site focused on furthering Engineering Education by supporting ASEE members research and publication needs and being a good custodian of scholarly works.

Search in: ASEE Peer

Examples: Search strategy can include keywords like: Women and Engineering and Negotiations, Retention and Women in STEM, Women and Engineering and Mentoring.

See  other Library Guides: (Use appropriate sections within guides to discover different types of resources.)

National Girls Collaborative Project: Statistics

Higher Education The rates of science and engineering course taking for girls/women shift at the undergraduate level and gender disparities begin to emerge, especially for minority women (NSF, Science & Engineering Indicators, 2018). Since the late 1990s, women have earned about 57% of all bachelor’s degrees and half of all S&E bachelor’s degrees However, women’s participation in science and engineering at the undergraduate level significantly differs by specific field of study. In 2015, women received over half of bachelor’s degrees awarded in the biological sciences, they received far fewer in the computer sciences (18%), engineering (20%), physical sciences (39%) and mathematics (43%). In 2016, 12.6% of bachelor’s degrees in science and engineering, 7.8% of master’s degrees in science and engineering, and 5.0% of doctorate degrees in science and engineering were awarded to minority women (NSF, Women, Minorities, and People with Disabilities in Science and Engineering, 2015). In 2016, women from underrepresented minority groups earned more than half of the science and engineering (S&E) degrees awarded to their respective racial and ethnic groups at all degree levels—bachelor’s, master’s, and doctorate. Underrepresented minority women have increasing and strong shares of bachelor’s degrees in psychology, social sciences, and biological sciences. Representation in these fields by underrepresented minority women is increasing and is near or above their representation in the labor force. (NSF, Women, Minorities, and People with Disabilities in Science and Engineering, 2019). 

See:   National Girls Collaborative Project: Statistics 

Celebrating women in engineering Reports, opportunities and resources for women in engineering  By Elsevier's Engineering Team

See Analytical reports, stories and other resources for women in engineering, Infographic: Engineering research through a gender lens, NSF report says women in S&E growing in numbers but still underrepresented in workforce, Why we need more women in science and technology, 3 reasons gender diversity is crucial to science, and Elsevier's reports on gender in research, etc. at Celebrating women in engineering Reports, opportunities and resources for women in engineering.

The Untold History of Women in Science and Technology

Listen to women from across the Administration tell the stories of their personal heroes across the fields of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM).

See: The Untold History of Women in Science and Technology

Women in Science - a historical perspective

Women's contributions to science encompass mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, biochemistry, astrophysics, palaeontology, embryology, medicine, nuclear science, archaeology, anthropology, psychology and environmental science (this list is far from exhaustive). And what magnificent achievements, what dedication, what outstanding ability have been demonstrated by women in science.

Read the full article at: Women in Science - a historical perspective

10 Influential Women in Engineering on ASME's website. One hundred and forty years ago, on February 16, 1880, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers was founded by leading U.S. industrialists, educators, technical journalists, designers, shipbuilders, military engineers, and inventors. All men. It wasn’t until 1918, when Kate Gleason was unanimously elected to ASME as its first woman member. In 1998, the Kate Gleason College of Engineering at the Rochester Institute of Technology became the first engineering school in the country to be named for a woman. Her impact on engineering, especially for women, continues to be recognized. Other notable women engineers including Nancy D. Fitzroy (ASME’s first woman president), Yvonne C. Brill, Edith Clarke, Sally Ride, Mary Winston Jackson, Dorothy Lee, Lillian Moller Gilbreth, and several others were trailblazers who entered the profession of engineering at a time when opportunities for women were limited.

 

See: 10 Influential Women in Engineering on ASME's website. 

Leadership Stories and Relevant Traits

Diversity in STEM: A Key Message from Women Leaders in Science

The Power of Empowerment: To level the STEM playing field, UN Women (the United Nations entity dedicated to gender equality and the empowerment of women) created the Women’s Empowerment Principles — a set of guidelines to help companies around the world take decisive action in the fight for gender equality. These seven principles are especially useful for STEM businesses to use when establishing policies, internal goals and hiring practices.

Read the full article at: Diversity in STEM: A Key Message from Women Leaders in Science

Showcasing Female STEM Leaders Can Attract More Women to Engineering

Creating Female Leaders:  What does your company do to provide your next generation of leaders with the necessary skill sets? If employees feel empowered, they perform better and eventually may take on leadership roles within their companies. Understand how to bridge the gap between business and engineering as your team prepares for growth into management roles. Watch “Lessons in Leadership: Preparing the Future Leaders of Your Engineering Workforce”, a complimentary IEEE webinar presented by Braun Keiss and Jennie Fine.

Duration: 1 Hour Watch Now

Read the whole article from IEEE Innovation at Work  at: Showcasing Female STEM Leaders Can Attract More Women to Engineering

Voices of Innovation: Women in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics

See in Virtual Exhibits of FDA History:  Women Inspiring Innovation Through Imagination: Celebrating Women in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics and  Voices of Innovation: Women in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics

Resources for Women in Computer Technology

This resource reviews the history of women in computer science, explores the current opportunities for women, and identifies resources to help women explore and grow in computer science fields. I feel this article would be a great addition to your already commendable compilation of resources for women in STEM.

See: PURDUE GLOBAL: Resources for Women in Computer Technology 

Changing the Curve: Women in Computing

This excellent resources provides a timeline of women's achievements in computing and computer science, addresses the gender gaps in education and the workforce, and includes additional resources for women and specifically for women of color. 

You can find the full resource here:  Changing the Curve: Women in Computing from the Berkeley School of Information.

Four Successful Women Behind the Hubble Space Telescope's Achievements.

They’ve worked in the deadly vacuum of outer space, appropriated millions of dollars for astronomical research, peered across billions of light-years to determine the universe’s age, and convinced the United States Congress to support the boldest astronomy endeavor ever undertaken by humans. To commemorate Hubble’s 30th anniversary, we present these profiles of four extraordinarily talented and dedicated women who helped realize the Hubble Space Telescope’s success as a scientific game-changer and cultural icon. These visionaries are the first to be highlighted in a series to be released throughout the year, representing the epitome of our nation’s scientific and technological prowess, as well as the American pioneering spirit.​

Read the whole article from NASA website at: https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2020/four-successful-women-behind-the-hubble-space-telescopes-achievements

Building Bridges to Help Women Interested in Engineering

Danielle Schroeder, civil engineering ’17, considers herself a latecomer to engineering. As a high school student, she never knew that it was a viable course of study, let alone a career option. “I didn’t find out about engineering until junior year (in high school), when a teacher casually mentioned a camp to me because I was interested in science,” Schroeder says. “It was there that I both learned and fell in love with engineering.”

Read full article at  Building Bridges to Help Women Interested in Engineeringhttps://drexel.edu/engineering/news-events/news/archive/2020/October/danielle-schroeder-alumna-profile/

Women's Guide to Self-Advocacy in the Workplace

The data on women's experience in the workplace reveals why it's so crucial for women to advocate for themselves.

  • A study from the Institute for Women's Policy Research (IWPR) predicts Native Women will not Reach Pay Equity with White Men until 2144.

  • The Institute for Women's Policy Research: After years of decline,the manufacturing industry is growing again. Manufacturing employs one in ten workers in the United States but fewer than a third of workers are women,and women are particularly underrepresented in many higher-earning shop floor positions that typically do not require a four-year college degree. 

  • When women step up and ask for a raise, they get it 15 percent of the time – compared to 20 percent of the time for men, according to a study by Harvard Business Review.

But the workforce is slowly changing as women realize one other important point: It doesn't have to be this way. Women are negotiating their way to those raises. They aren't ignoring harassment or discrimination. They are making themselves heard in the workplace and elsewhere, and in doing so, becoming powerful advocates for themselves. This guide was designed to help in this endeavor.

 

See: Women's Guide to Self-Advocacy in the Workplace

  • Showcasing successful women's STEM achievements, a social vaccine against gender stereotypes

As such, in a study published in the open access journal Frontiers in Psychology, a team of researchers led by the director of the GenTIC (Gender and ICT) research group at the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC) Internet Interdisciplinary Institute (IN3), Milagros Sáinz, have demonstrated the impact of female role models in influencing ' preferences for studying STEM subjects.

Read the full article at: Showcasing successful women's STEM achievements, a social vaccine against gender stereotypes

  • The Researcher Journey Through a Gender Lens:  Examines research participation, career progression and perceptions across the European Union and 15 countries in 26 subject areas. The report draws on Elsevier’s data sources and analytics expertise. It was further informed by experts from around the world. Our goal is to better understand the role gender plays in the global research enterprise and inspire evidence-based policy driven by powerful data.   https://www.elsevier.com/connect/gender-report
  • The Gender Wage Gap - All You Need to Know in 2024 : The gender wage gap is the difference between the average earnings of men and women in the workforce. Specifically, the gender wage gap measures how much fewer earnings women make in comparison to men.
    See: https://novoresume.com/career-blog/gender-wage-gap

 

Presentations, Conferences and Funding Opportunities

Pivot can be accessed from Funding Library Guide. 

 

Please use above link and select Conferences tab and use specific related keywords. Below is an example of search result: https://pivot-proquest-com.ezproxy2.library.drexel.edu/papers_invited/80182413

PIVOT-IEEEConf.

 

Organizations and OpenAccess Resources

From Drexel University:

 

From Philadelphia: 

 

From National & Global: 

girls, inc. 

In partnership with schools and at Girls Inc. centers, we focus on the development of the whole girl. She learns to value herself, take risks, and discover and develop her inherent strengths. The combination of long-lasting mentoring relationships, a pro-girl environment, and research-based programs equip girls to navigate gender, economic, and social barriers, and grow up healthy, educated, and independent. Informed by girls and their families, we also advocate for legislation and policies to increase opportunities and rights for all girls.

More details at: girls, inc. 

Simi Hoque, an associate professor with the Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering, was honored last week at the annual Girls Inc. 2018 Strong, Smart, and Bold Breakfast held at the Union League here in Philadelphia,

See: Empowering Girls by Example, Simi Hoque Earns Annual Award  and Dr. Simi Hoque at Drexel's CoE on girls, inc

IEEE Women in Engineering

IEEE WIE is one of the world’s leaders in changing the face of engineering. Our global network connects nearly 20,000 members in over 100 countries to advance women in technology at all points in their life and career. IEEE WIE members make lifelong friendships, acquire influential mentors, and make a difference for the benefit of humanity.

See: IEEE Women in Engineering

Women in Engineering: Alliance for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

This division  of (the American Society for Engineering Education) works to increase the participation of women at all levels of engineering education and the profession. The division is concerned with programs to improve preparation, recruitment and retention of women students at undergraduate and graduate levels in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, (STEM) fields, with the need to increase the number of women STEM faculty, and with the re-entry of women into the profession. The division sponsors sessions at the ASEE Annual Conference and administers the WIED Awards. We welcome people with interest in promoting these goals. The Women in Engineering Division is committed to promoting the inclusion and education of diverse individuals and embracing diverse ideas in the professions of engineering and engineering technology. The Women in Engineering Division recognizes that diversity is strength in creativity, broadness of new ideas, and embracing new perspectives to arrive at the most truly innovative, resource-smart solutions possible.

See: Women in Engineering Alliance for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

 

Women's Under-Representation in the Engineering and Computing Professions: Fresh Perspectives on a Complex Problem

Understanding the many complexities that define gender inequality has been described by researchers as a grand challenge. Novel insights, innovation, a broader community to conduct research and to ascertain effective interventions are essential in the challenge to create organizations that are gender equal. As such, this Research Topic in Frontiers in Psychology addresses the under-representation of women in engineering and computing as a complex, but solvable problem. This Research Topic seeks to inform the global community about advances in understanding the under-representation of women in engineering and computing with a focus on what enables change. Further, this Topic will promote fresh perspectives, innovative methodologies, and mixed method approaches important to accelerating the pace of change.
 

Full Text ebook available at: Women's Under-Representation in the Engineering and Computing Professions: Fresh Perspectives on a Complex Problem