– Women’s representation among first-year engineering students has increased since the early 1970s.
– Interest in engineering fluctuates from year to year, generally declined between 1980-2007, and has rebounded. The decline in men’s representation, rather than the forward strides of women, is a significant contributor to women’s growing share of prospective engineers.
– Women now represent 57% of college graduates. Thus, a combination of declining interest on the part of men and increasing numbers of women in college accounts for the growing share of women in engineering, rather than a substantial increase in the fraction of female college students who express an interest in this field.
– Predictors that remain stable over time for both genders include having a father in a STEM career; identifying as Asian/Pacific Islander, Latino/a, or other/multiracial; and being Catholic. Students who earned higher grades in high school and who aspire to earn a terminal master’s degree are also more likely to pursue engineering. Compared to students in other majors, students in engineering have consistently attended college farther from their families.
– Characteristics that consistently divert students from engineering include having an artistic orientation or more liberal political views.
– Having a mother in a STEM career is a significant positive predictor of majoring in engineering for men, but not for women.