| Abstract: | During the past decade, the number of biomedical engineering (BME) undergraduate degree programs that reported engineering bachelor's (BSE) degree recipients to the American Society for Engineering Education increased from 19 to 38 among the Association of American Universities institutions (AAUs). This increase in BME BSE degree recipients coincided with substantial decreases in the percentage of women receiving BSE degrees at the public AAUs. AAUs that had BME BSE degree recipients in 2000 or first reported BME graduates between 2000 and 2009 experienced a decrease in the percentage and number of women receiving engineering undergraduate degrees across the other engineering disciplines. Demographic data for public and private AAUs and within the four largest engineering disciplines, electrical and computer engineering, mechanical engineering, civil engineering, and chemical engineering show that the percentage and number of non-BME female BSE degree recipients decreased contemporaneously with an increase in the number of BME degree programs and BME BSE degree recipients. Academic leaders and diversity professionals should see the results presented here as cautionary. The targeting of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics disciplines toward specific underrepresented groups is discussed with respect to ongoing limited degree attainment of women in these fields. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved) |
