(Robotic) Steps Toward Increasing the Representation of Women in Engineering

It is well know that in the U.S. and other countries, women are under-represented in engineering and the sciences[1]. Several innovative programs are aimed at correcting this imbalance to not only provide women with more opportunities, but also to enrich the workplace.

Japan is well known for having one of the lowest percentages of women pursuing careers in engineering (less than 10%), both in industry and at the academic level. The Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology (Nodokai) is one of very few national universities in Tokyo with a faculty of engineering active in robotics research. It is also one of the most popular engineering programs among young Japanese females. The university has several programs intended to reach women from the junior high school level to the research and faculty level to promote scientific paths and careers. Read about the program in an article from the September 2013 issue of the IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine.

Another article discusses the popularity of the MIT robot design competition where teams of students work for four weeks to design, build, and program robots to compete with one another on a specified task. When two Wellesley College professors tried to organize a similar event at Wellesley, an all-women liberal-arts college outside Boston, they weren’t sure a robot competition would attract the same level of interest among Wellesley students. The professors decided they need a different approach, so they organized a course called Robotic Design Studio, a month-long immersive experience using the same robotics technology as the MIT students. However, the Wellesley students built a diverse collection of artistic and creative expressions such as a robotic flower that closed its petal when an insect approached. Read the entire article from MIT’s Lifelong Kindergarten program to hear about the many other innovative programs to engage girls in creative engineering presented to the National Science Foundation, Informal Science Education Program.

For an account of an award-winning all-girl’s robotics team in New Jersey (U.S.), read Exit Is the Way In, from the June 2013 issue of the IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine.

For Further Reading

1. A report from the National Sciences Foundation provides current statistics regarding the number of women, minorities, and people with disabilities in the science and engineering fields in the U.S.