EngineerGirl

Project Status
In Progress
March 20, 2019
Sponsor
Chevron, Kenan Institute for Engineering, Technology, & Science, Oracle
Related News
  • EngineerGirl Announces First Class of Student Ambassadors
    EngineerGirl Announces First Class of Student Ambassadors
    Thu, September 13, 2018
    The National Academy of Engineering today announced the first class of the EngineerGirl Ambassadors program. The six selected EngineerGirl ambassadors will participate in a yearlong program that builds leadership skills in female high school students by helping them promote engineering to younger ...
    Read More
Official Website
A key component of the National Academy of Engineering’s diversity program is the EngineerGirl! Website - a website that addresses the gender gap in engineering.
At-a-Glance
A Web Site for Middle School Students, Parents, Educators, and the Engineering Community.
Objectives
  • A key component of the National Academy of Engineering’s diversity program is the EngineerGirl Website (www.engineergirl.org)—a website that addresses the gender gap in engineering.
Key Contacts

The purpose of the EngineerGirl website is to attract young girls to engineering at a time in their lives – middle school – when they are making important educational decisions that ultimately will impact their career options. The message that the site seeks to communicate is that students who become engineers can make a difference in society. The website which has been holding the number one spot on Google for “girls and engineering” since 2001 and has over 16,000 unique visitors per month, is a regular resource for educators, parents, and students alike.

Among the most popular resources on the site, the Gallery of Women Engineers features profiles of women from all walks of life and highlights their daily life in engineering. Women volunteers from across the world post a picture and personal comments about their lives, their inspiration, and their careers. These volunteers also answer questions for website visitors in the “Ask an Engineer” feature which attracts questions from girls and young women from elementary school all the way through college and masters degree programs. 

In addition to the regular features, the popular annual EngineerGirl Essay Contest engages students (male and female students in grades K-12) in writing about some aspect of engineering, and is used by teachers of math, science, and even English as a writing assignment in their classrooms. Responses to the contest have been remarkably favorable, and in a 2009 survey of contest participants, 88% of female student respondents said participation in the contest changed their views about engineering. 85% of those students also indicated that they might consider studying engineering in college. You can access the web site at www.engineergirl.org.

Thousands of weekly visitors stop by to find interesting links, games, facts, teaching resources and career guidance. Here are some quotes from our visitors:

 “I am so glad that I found your website. I am a sophomore at Itawamba Community College in Mississippi. I am currently a ‘Pre-engineering’ major, but I hope go on and receive a degree in Civil Engineering. But before viewing your website I was not 100% sure that this was the career path that I wanted to go into. But now I am certain…”

“…I am writing to you because I found your website and wanted to thank you for having a website up for young girls to see that being an engineer is not all about factories and desk jobs…”

“…Thanks for maintaining the Engineer Girl website. It gives [my daughter] a glimpse of how high she can reach with her engineering aspirations.”

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