March is Women’s History Month, a great time to remember pioneering women in engineering, celebrate women who are making a world of difference today, and inspire the next generation. For years women faced many institutional obstacles to entering engineering education, although some women overcame bias and other challenges to succeed in engineering. Some came from a long line of revolutionary women; others became pioneers due to life circumstances. These women still serve as role models for current engineers, students, and kids who are interested in engineering.

Although today there are more women in engineering education and occupations than before, women are still not equally represented. Half the US population and over half of college students and graduates are women, yet women are merely 20% of engineering graduates and only 14.5% of employed engineers. This underrepresentation of women in engineering is more than just unfair; engineering as a field is better with a more diverse group of engineers involved in the design process. For example, early automobile air bags were only designed for men because “many automakers claimed that considering women’s health in engineering was too radical” and they did not want to spend the extra money for two crash test dummies. Because women were not included in the research, development, or testing of air bags, they were at much greater risk of injury from contact with the air bag itself than men were. As recently as 2012, female crash test dummies were still not placed in the driver’s seat for testing frontal crashes, leading to potentially dangerous situations for all women who drive cars! A similar situation has occurred in medical research and biomedical engineering; it wasn’t until 2014 that researchers were required to use female lab animals in early trials for new medications. Years of research focused on male animals and humans had resulted in unsafe medical advice to women. It is critical for engineering to consider all the consequences for a particular designed item for all potential users or affected bystanders.

Engaging students around the idea of considering a wide variety of viewpoints during an engineering design activity is an important step in the process. One method is to have the students discuss the possible benefits and detriments of an existing engineered product. In this hands-on engineering ethics activity from TeachEngineering, students will evaluate the environmental and societal impacts of designs and then develop solutions to make those designs more equitable and accessible to all populations.

LinkEngineering has several resources to support educators interested in diversity in engineering education, and many of our community members are happy to share their expertise in issues of diversity and equity. If you have questions about incorporating Women’s History Month into your educational activities, log in and ask the community!