Women in Engineering and Computer Science: Why Still So Few?

The American Association of University Women (AAUW) released new research recently underlining how women continue to be underrepresented in engineering and computer science.  The research also identities solutions that can help increase the number of women in these important fields (Chronicle of Higher Education, March 26, 2015). 

Currently, women make up just 12% of the engineering workforce and 26% of the computing workforce.  In 1990, women made up 35% of the computing workforce, a drop of 9%.  Women in engineering have increased slightly by 3%, from 9% in 1990.  Yet, women make up more than half of our nation’s population and 57.3% of enrollments in institutions of higher education, according to data from the National Center for Educational Statistics.  In the next several years, women are projected to be well over 60% of the enrollments in colleges and universities.  (http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d13/tables/dt13_303.10.asp).  

The percentage of women who receive bachelor’s degrees in engineering increased slightly to 19.2% in 2013, up from 1% in 1970. Women earning bachelor’s degrees in computing make up only 18.2%, which is now half of what it was 30 years ago.

When you consider minority women in engineering, the picture is much more dismal.  African American women make up 1% of the engineering workforce and 3% of the computing workforce, while Hispanic women hold just 1% of jobs in each field. And it is much worse for American Indian and Alaska Native women who make up only a fraction of a percent of each workforce (http://www.aauw.org/research/solving-the-equation).

So why are there so few women in engineering and computer science?  The answer can be found in the gender biases and stereotypes that exist in our society.  The AAUW research suggests that:

• Women in engineering and computing often report feelings of being isolated and unsupported.
• “Stereotype threat” - or the fear of confirming a negative stereotype about being female - has been shown to result in decreased interest and sense of belonging in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
• Women strongly value helping others, and coupled with their perceptions of engineering and computing jobs as lacking those social opportunities may turn women away.

Additionally, the AAUW report mentioned one study which asked “science faculty to evaluate résumés that were identical except for the candidates’ names. The researchers found that scientists were more likely to choose a male candidate over an identical female candidate for a hypothetical job opening at a lab. Both female and male scientists also offered a higher salary to the male candidate and were more willing to offer him mentoring opportunities.”  In another study, mention in the AAWU report, “potential employers systematically underestimated the mathematical performance of women compared with men, resulting in the hiring of lower-performing men over higher-performing women for mathematical work” (http://www.aauw.org/research/solving-the-equation). 

The research conducted by AAUW suggests several changes that can be made by universities and employers: 

• Introduce the idea of engineering and computing at an early age, and expose girls and boys to positive female role models in both fields.
• Encourage employers to maintain fair and consistent management practices, be aware of gender bias, and promote diversity.
• Make engineering and computing more socially relevant by emphasizing its societal benefits in college curricula and the workplace.
• Provide opportunities for female engineering and computing students to tinker and build confidence in their design and programming capabilities.

I recall many years ago when I was asked to create a successful program to increase the number of underrepresented students in engineering and computer science.  My boss, at the time, was primarily concerned with Hispanics, given that they were the largest minority at that particular university.  In creating the program, I argued the need to include women since they were underrepresented in those fields.  The boss expressed little concern in including women in the program.  I presume this was a subtle form of gender bias, since the boss was male.   However, once I showed him the enrollment data of women in engineering and the fact the organization that was initially funding the program was also interested in women, he reluctantly agreed to include women.  The women in the program, as I recall, were some of the best students with some of the highest grade-point-averages.  Companies were dying to hire my female graduates. 

The bottom line is that we must make the necessary changes to the educational and work environments to welcome and celebrate women.  We must provide females with mentoring and a supportive environment both in the university setting and in the work place.  We must minimize or hopefully eliminate gender bias.  We must help women understand the positive impact that they can have on society with degrees in engineering and computer science.  We must provide monetary incentives in the form of scholarships for women to enter, remain, and graduate in these fields.  When hiring, employers must pay women the same salaries as men for the same engineering and computing jobs.  By 2022, the United States will need 1.7 million more engineers and computer scientists.  Let’s make sure the women are fairly and equally represented.