ABOUT THE GENDER PARITY INITIATIVE

The Gender Parity Initiative is a project of The Institute for Engineering Education at SMU, which was created in 2001 with support from the federal government.

The initiative was launched to help fill the projected shortage of engineers by tapping into an undertapped source of engineering talent - women.

While many universities have special programs for women in engineering, SMU is taking a different approach. Rather than creating separate programs for women in engineering, SMU is creating opportunities in engineering that are attractive to women but not exclusively for women.

Engineering programs at SMU focus on how engineers help society, as well as the many different career paths a degree in engineering can lead to - careers such as medicine, law and business.

By taking this approach, SMU hopes to become the first school in the country to enroll an equal number of male and female students. The initiative is called the Gender Parity Initiative.

The Gender Parity Initiative seeks to provide a model that can be implemented at other institutions to reach gender equity in the field of engineering.

For more information:
Betsy Willis, Ph.D.
SMU School of Engineering
P.O. Box 750335
Dallas TX 75025-0335

bwillis@engr.smu.edu 214-768-1732

It's a Fact:
The number of women earning degrees in engineering has remained stagnant for the
past 10 years.