Career Tips

We’ve compiled some of the latest statistics about women in engineering. You can find more of this data on the Society of Women Engineers’ research site: research.swe.org.

Freshmen Intentions to Major in Engineering, Math, Statistics, or Computer Science:¹

• 2006: 18.4% (men); 3.5% (women)
• 2014: 26.9% (men); 7.9% (women)

Women Leaving Engineering/STEM

• Over 32% of women switch out of STEM degree programs in college.
  
• Only 30% of women who earn bachelor’s degrees in engineering are still working in engineering 20 years later.
  
• 30% of women who have left the engineering profession cite organizational climate as the reason.
  

Degrees Awarded
38% increase in bachelor’s degrees awarded in engineering and computer science from 2011 (136,163) to 2016 (188,414).

• 54% increase in bachelor’s degrees awarded in engineering and computer science to women from 2011 (23,606) to 2016 (36,453).
  
• 3% of bachelor’s degrees awarded to women in engineering and computer science.
  
• 6% of bachelor’s degrees in engineering awarded to women of color.
  

In the Workforce
Only 13% of engineers are women.
Only 26% of computer scientists are women.

• Female engineers earn 10% less than male engineers.
  
• 61% of women engineers report that they have to prove themselves repeatedly to get the same level of respect and recognition as their colleagues.
  

Top 10 Engineering Degrees for Women 2016-17

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