Background
To meet the needs of the global industrial workforce, the engineering workforce needs highly qualified and trained people. Despite the progress made in recent years, it is still common that women are frequently underrepresented in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) and specifically in engineering. Women are nearly half of the U.S. workforce, but only 27% of STEM workers (U.S. Census Bureau, 2021). According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, only 15% of women worked in engineering occupations in 2023.
According to a phenomenon called a "leaky pipeline", more than twice as many middle school boys as girls intend to work in science or engineering related jobs. (Charlesworth, 2019) Among first-year college students, 49.2% of women who originally intend to major in Science and Engineering switch to a non-STEM major, compared to 32.5% of men. (NSF NCSES), 2017, 2019) According to research firm Fictiv, men outpaced women in the global engineering workforce by 86.3% to 13.7% in 2023.
General Program Scope
Strategy #1- Increasing Women in Engineering
Work needs to be done to encourage girls to become interested in engineering as a career, and to retain women in engineering through college and beyond. Given this background, EiF is interested in funding programs in the following areas:
1. Program to Encourage Middle School Girls in Engineering conducted by engineering educators (at ABET accredited institutions) and others that encourage them to prepare for and undertake careers in engineering.
2. Programs designed to improve the retention rate of undergraduate women in engineering. These must cover such diverse areas as classroom climate, learning behaviors, classroom pedagogies, and academic and social support programs.
3. Programs for high school girls enrolled in STEM courses, exposing them to careers in engineering.
EiF is especially interested in:
• Innovative projects, with measurable results
• Projects that promote significant and lasting change
• Projects that can be successfully replicated elsewhere
• Methodologies that are specific, well-defined and cost-effective
Successful proposals might include, but are not limited to, approaches that:
Illustrate career options for middle school girls with either trips to engineering workplaces or providing contact with engineers in another forum
Connect engineering students with current practicing engineers to act as mentor and support
Give engineering students exposure to real world engineering workplaces to give context to their education
Strategy #2- Women in Engineering- Engineers Without Borders- Chapter Diversity Program
Research has shown that the more women are engaged in engineering school, the more likely they are to graduate and become working engineers. Female students who participate in EWB activities fall into this category. Due to the many proposals EiF receives from EWB chapters, we are instituting a formal EWB program focusing on gender diversity.
EiF will support EWB teams that are all-female, or a majority female. The project leader of the team MUST be female. Under this program, EiF will fund a maximum of 2 grants per year of $5,000 each (only) to EWB chapters.
Proposals should be sent in the normal manner, with a cover letter that clearly communicates the mailing address and email address for your contact person (see How to Apply), but additional details on the team's gender composition MUST be included. If a grant is awarded, an evaluation report must be submitted at the end of the grant period. The report should contain a detailed narrative account of what was accomplished and the goals fulfilled, a financial account, and copies of any publications resulting from the grant.
