While Black and Hispanic workers made up 14% and 19% of the population in 2021, they made up only 9% and 8% of the STEM workforce.
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Diverse teams can not only solve engineering problems more effectively, but the outcomes tend to be more inclusive, as a geographer and feminist scholar explains.
Connecting studies to the real world, mentoring and building community make all the difference.
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Research shows underrepresented people in STEM studies thrive in learning environments that address their need to belong, feel competent and find meaning in their work.
Research shows women who study engineering do better when mentored by other women.
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A negative environment dissuades many women engineering students from staying in the field. Can colleges and universities do anything to reverse the trend?
A 19-year-old first-year student from Promoting Opportunities for Women in Engineering at McGill addresses Grade 11 students in 2017 in Montréal. Progress has been made to encourage more women to study STEM since the Montréal Massacre in 1989.
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Engineering is in a better place than in 1989. More women are studying the field, and academic administrators and managers want to hire female engineers. But more work is still needed.
Associate Director of the Center for Women in Technology and Research Assistant Professor in the Engineering and Computing Education Program, University of Maryland, Baltimore County