IEEE Strives to increase the Global Ranks of Women Engineers

As the 1st World Engineering Education Flash Week kicks off next week in Lisbon, members of IEEE and the IEEE Women in Engineering (WIE) group claim that the world can no longer afford the significant gender gap in engineering that currently exists.

"In developed countries like Japan, the U.S, and Australia, traditional thinking about women's role is still quite predominant and it deters women from studying engineering. We must overcome conservative opinions to encourage female students to attend engineering universities," said Dr. Takako Hashimoto, IEEE WIE Coordinator, Asia Pacific region & Associate Professor of Computer Science, Chiba University of Commerce, Japan.

IEEE members advocating for women in engineering will be part of a month-long drive on the IEEE WIE Facebook page to engage people worldwide in discussions about how to interest more girls in engineering and ensure women are able to build successful engineering careers. For example, former Chair of WIE Dr. Karen Panetta started the Nerd Girls program at Tufts University, where she is a professor.

"When I first started teaching at Tufts University, I recruited a group of women engineer students who I saw had some confidence problems even though they had better grades than their male counterparts. I wanted to show them through engineering projects that the skills they build as engineers can allow them to take on any challenge," said Dr. Panetta, an IEEE Fellow.