Student projects that celebrate engineering: a path to diversity in the profession

According to a 1998 Harris Poll, most Americans don't know what engineers do. When this situation is coupled with the recruiting efforts of engineering schools and professional societies that focus on math and science, the reason for the dearth of women engineers becomes clear. Engineering students can be a good source of fresh ideas on how to make the general public as enthusiastic about engineering as they are. Class projects can be focused in this direction, especially in freshman classes where the students are excited about engineering, but are really just learning what engineering is all about. These projects, which include writing a TV show scenario in which engineers are heroes, will not have an immediate or direct effect on the number of women in engineering. However, the long-range benefit will be that young people entering the profession will be more skilled in celebrating their profession. The eventual result will be to attract more women to the profession.