We hope our Women in Engineering podcast series inspired you! Engineering is a field that will take you to many places; space, across the country, and behind “mahogany desks.” To get involved or support in the engineering field, consider be a part of one of these organizations.

EngineerGirl

The EngineerGirl website, provided by the National Academy of Engineering (NAE), brings national attention to the exciting opportunities that engineering represents for girls and women. You can “meet” real-life female engineers and read their profiles, learn about clubs and programs, compete in contests, apply for scholarships, ask engineers questions and more!

The Society of Women Engineers

SWE started in 1950 (just like us!) and is a global organization with more than 30,000 members. They offer an annual conference, awards, scholarships, and a great learning center on their website full of ebooks, podcasts, and more!

IEEE

IEEE is the trusted “voice” for engineering, computing, and technology information around the globe.

If you know of any other organizations worth mentioning, please let us know!

Pullman Scholar Julissa Garcia, University of Illinois at Chicago, Class of 2018, interviews Pullman Scholar Alumna Valarie King-Bailey, University of Wisconsin- Madison, ’82, and CEO of OnShore Technology, about being a CEO, how to be a success & more! This is the third episode of a three-part series focusing on female engineers. To listen to other podcasts, click here.

Pullman Scholar Julissa Garcia, University of Illinois at Chicago, ’18, interviews Pullman Scholar Alumna Valarie King-Bailey, University of Wisconsin- Madison, ’82, and CEO of OnShore Technology, about how she found engineering, what it means to be an engineer & more! This is the first episode of a three-part series focusing on female engineers.

Pullman Scholar Alumna Valarie King-Bailey, University of Wisconsin – Madison, ’82, summed up the importance of engineers perfectly, “look around you, everything around you is courtesy of an engineer.” The air we breathe, the roads we travel on, the water we drink; an engineer has done something with it. With that in mind, the Foundation is proud of the 13% of Pullman Women in STEM (around 250) who study or studied some type of engineering. We have seven current female engineer scholars, and we are excited to see where their studies take them.

There are four main branches of engineering with hundreds of specialties. Pullman Women have majored in around 18 different types of engineering; chemical (52), general (47), mechanical(23), and industrial engineering (19) having the most. According to the National Science Board, the areas of engineering with the most women are environmental engineers (38% of full workforce), chemical engineers (23%), and civil/architectural/sanitary (18%).

Stay tuned this week for a three-part podcast series featuring current scholar Julissa Garcia, University of Illinois at Chicago, ’18, interviewing Valarie King-Bailey. They talk about what it’s really like to be a female engineer. If you are in the engineering field and are a member of the Pullman Scholar Community, please contact Katie Desir to share your story.

Listen to episode one of three Women in Engineering podcast, “An Intro Into a Profession With Great Impact,” here.

Listen to episode two of three Women in Engineering podcast, “A Real Account of Being a Female Engineer,” here.

Listen to episode three of three Women in Engineering podcast, “What It Takes to Be a Success,” here.

In celebration of Women’s History Month, the Foundation will be focusing on one “letter” of STEM each week of March. You will get to know several of our Pullman Scholars and Pullman Scholar Alumnae in STEM and learn more about their contributions to the fields.

STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics; industry fields that make up 6.2 percent of the nation’s employment force (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Jan. 2017). That may seem like a small percentage, but these fields are crucial to the U.S.’s global competitiveness and innovation. STEM fields influence our health, economics, infrastructure, technology, and more. So why is it that women who comprise 47% of the U.S. workforce only represent 25.8% of STEM careers?

There are many factors, but at the Pullman Foundation, we work to ensure our scholars have the resources and role models to pursue their dream careers. As a matter of fact, throughout the years, the Foundation has supported nearly 2000 women who pursued or are pursuing degrees and careers in STEM, roughly 14% of the scholars the Foundation has supported throughout the years. Forty percent of current female Pullman Scholars are pursuing careers in STEM, and 75 percent of our STEM females are in science majors! We’re extremely proud that they’re pursuing challenging fields like neuroscience and biochemical engineering.

Please contact Katie Desir, Manager of Communications, if you are a current scholar pursuing a degree in a STEM field or Pullman Scholar Alumni whose career is in STEM. She is available at 312.422.0444 or kdesir@pullmanfoundation.org. We would love to know more about you!

Learn about women in Science here.

Learn about women in Technology here.

Learn about women in Engineering here.

Learn about women in Math here.