It’s no secret that women are greatly underrepresented in engineering and computer science. According to the 2012 report “Stemming the Tide” (Project on Women Engineers’ Retention [POWER], University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee), women comprise more than 20% of engineering school graduates, but just 11% of practicing engineers. With women representing more than half the population, both figures reveal a tremendous disparity and an opportunity to improve retention of female engineers.
Northrop Grumman has been focused for many years on recruitment and retention of students in engineering, and the company recently provided a generous $45,000 gift specifically to support female CECS students. The grant will target CSUN’s chapter of the Society of Women Engineers (SWE), providing funds to send students to conferences, support multidisciplinary team projects outside the classroom and launch a campus lecture series featuring professional women from Northrop Grumman and other companies. It will also provide career advancement workshops for female students in the college.
“The high-level goal is to support the existing infrastructure on campus that supports women in engineering, and one of the most powerful is SWE,” says Ani Nahapetian, associate professor of computer science and SWE faculty advisor. “Northrop Grumman will enable SWE members to think bigger than they have been, to have the resources to get enrichment at conferences and from leaders in the field and to use their meeting time to develop a project that is helpful for getting jobs.”
Peggy Nelson, vice president of Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems’ Engineering and Global Product Development organization and a member of the college’s Industry Advisory Board, notes that the workforce has changed considerably since she went to work at the company in 1983 and was the only technical woman in the lab. “But hiring and retention of women remains a concern,” she says. “As a company, we want to improve the allure for women to enter the field and stay in the field. This grant is a step in that direction.”