ASU FC S 04 - Center for Adaptive Neural Systems - Arizona State ...

Student News
Women Pick Up the Pace
The number of women in ASU engineering, computer science and construction
has grown significantly since the early 1990s. In fact, undergraduate enrollment
of women in the Fulton School has increased 77 percent from 1991 to 2003,
three times the national average of 24 percent for the same time period.
But even with such dramatic growth, only
about one in five students in the school is
female. Nineteen percent of undergraduates
are women; the number is slightly higher—at
21 percent—for graduate students.
The averages mask underlying differences
UNDERGRADUATE
Bioengineering
Chemical & Materials
Civil & Environmental
Computer Science
Construction
Electrical
Industrial
Mechanical & Aerospace
by department, however. A closer look at the
data shows that women comprise almost half
of all students in bioengineering (see the
table on this page). One third of all chemical
and materials undergraduates are women, as
are one third of all graduate students in civil
238 210 448
197 103 300
326 101 427
1117 178 1295
373 40 413
597 95 692
122 72 194
826 104 930
0 300 600 900 1200 1500
and environmental engineering. And 37 percent
of the undergraduate students in industrial
engineering are women.
Smaller numbers of women have chosen
computer science and engineering, electrical
engineering, construction, and mechanical
and aerospace engineering as majors. Three
of these four are also the largest departments
in the school, which impacts the
overall average.
Diversity among the student and faculty
populations is an important objective for
almost all institutions of higher learning. It
ensures a rich cultural and intellectual environment
that facilitates growth and innovation.
As we continue to build our programs
for recruiting and retention of underrepresented
groups, we must understand the
dynamics that attract individuals to an area
of learning and motivate them to pursue it
as a profession. In this issue of Full Circle,
we are highlighting several successful
women in engineering, computer science
and construction in order to gain insight
into what has led to their success.
GRADUATE
Bioengineering
Chemical & Materials
Civil & Environmental
Computer Science
Construction
Electrical
Industrial
Mechanical & Aerospace
50 40 90
75 21 96
66 33 99
301 91 392
43 9 52
500 103 603
138 33 171
100 9 109
0 100 200 300 400 500 600
WOMEN
MEN
16 IRA A. FULTON SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING – SPRING 2004