Checking Up on Degree Attainments for Women in Engineering

A new report by Brian Yoder for the American Society for Engineering Education finds that in 2011, women earned 18.4 percent of all bachelor’s degrees awarded in engineering. This was up slightly from 18.1 percent in 2010. But, a decade ago in 2002, women earned 20.9 percent of bachelor’s degrees in engineering.

Georgia Tech awarded the most bachelor’s degrees in engineering to women in 2011 with 387. MIT awarded 289 bachelor’s degrees in engineering to women in 2011. The University of Michigan ranked third with 284 bachelor’s degrees in engineering awarded to women. Other universities that awarded at least 200 bachelor’s degrees in engineering to women in 2011 were Purdue University, the University of Illinois, Texas A&M University, the University of Texas, Virginia Tech, Cornell University and North Carolina State University.

Women earned 44.9 percent of all bachelor’s degrees awarded in engineering at Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering, the highest rate of any university. MIT and the University of Tennessee Chattanooga were the only other universities where at least 40 percent of all bachelor’s degree awards in engineering went to women.

In master’s degree awards, women earned 22.6 percent of all engineering degrees in 2011. This was the same percentage as the year before and only slightly higher than a decade ago. At Loyola Marymount University, women earned 39.5 percent of all master’s degrees awarded in engineering, the highest rate in the nation. Catholic University of America ranked second.

In doctoral degrees, women earned 21.8 percent of all engineering awards. This was down from 22.9 percent in 2010. At the University of Pittsburgh, 38.6 percent of all doctoral awards in engineering went to women. This was the highest rate of any university in the United States. Johns Hopkins University ranked second and the University of Massachusetts and the University of California at Santa Cruz tied for third.