Major segments of the young people in our country do not participate in engineering. Despite the efforts of many individuals and organizations over the past 30 years, progress seems to have stalled. Economic, cultural, social, educational, and institutional factors continue to discourage or prevent American women and underrepresented minorities from pursuing engineering education and rewarding careers in engineering.

The number of young women, for example, who graduate from high school with math, engineering, and technology skills and knowledge are comparable in numbers and percentages to the number of young men (Campbell et al., 2002). Women represent more than 55 percent of all undergraduate students in every major racial and ethnic group on campus. Yet, four times as many freshmen males in every racial and ethnic group identify engineering as a potential undergraduate major (NSF, 2004). The reasons for this are complex and not fully understood.

Underrepresented minority students express as much interest in engineering as majority students. However, minority students, many of whom grow up in socio-economically disadvantaged communities, are less likely to have access to college preparatory and advanced placement math and science courses in high school; even minority students with access to such courses are, on average, less well prepared to take advantage of them than majority students (Campbell et al., 2002).

Although long-term demand for engineering talent is notoriously difficult to predict, current demographic trends virtually guarantee that the minority groups that are underrepresented in engineering will account for an increasing share of the overall population and workforce as the century progresses. For engineering to continue to be a vibrant profession and a major contributor to the well-being of the nation, the profession must avail itself of this resource.

References

Campbell, P. E. Jolly, L. Huey, and L.K. Perlman. 2002. Upping the Numbers: Using Research-Based Decision Making to Increase Diversity I the Quantitative Disciplines. Newton, MA: Education Development Center, Inc.

NSF (National Science Foundation). 2004. Science and Engineering Degrees, by Gender