SWE - Winter 2008 - (Page 12)

Engineers Week EWeek 2008 brings greater emphasis on encouraging more women and underrepresented minorities to enter the field W This year’s EWeek poster is available online at: www.eweek.org hen a coalition of businesses, professional societies, and academic and advocacy organizations met in Washington in mid-October to create the Engineers Week Diversity Council, it signaled a deeper and more serious commitment. Engineers Week has always been about developing the next generations of engineers, including underrepresented groups. However, there is a greater sense of urgency regarding the future of engineering and the future of innovation in the U.S., as captured in the words of Ronald Glover, IBM’s vice president for Global Workforce Diversity, who convened the gathering. In a news release announcing the council’s formation, Glover was quoted: “Our country is at a critical, strategic inflection point where forces of innovation, history, and demographics offer us an opportunity to ensure that we remain the innovation engine of the world. The case for the ‘business of diversity’ has transformed from social responsibility to survival imperative.” All of the council’s founding partners, along with many engineering firms and societies, have had ongoing outreach policies and programs aimed at increased diversity, but the Diversity Council is the profession’s first attempt to reach consensus to work together and unite those various efforts under a single umbrella to provide for a comprehensive national agenda. The Society of Women Engineers was among the organizations that joined the National Engineers Week Foundation and IBM in founding the council. Betty Shanahan, executive director of SWE, provided the council with an update on the Society’s efforts to extend the provisions of Title IX to STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) education. “Few people even know that Title IX applies to anything beyond athletics,” said Shanahan, “even though there was 12 SWE WINTER 2008 http://www.eweek.org http://www.eweek.org http://www.eweek.org

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of SWE - Winter 2008

SWE - Winter 2008 Heritage Club President’s Note View from the Executive Suite Editor’s Page Readers’ Forum EWeek 2008 New Faces of Engineering The Leaky Science and Engineering Pipeline Why Do Women Leave the Engineering Work Force? A Greener America = New Growth Fields for Engineers The Off-On Ramp Revolution Recognizing the Historic Contributions of African-Americans Membership Information & Calendar A&B Women in Tune with Technology: SWE 2007 Conference Overview Keynote Address Achievement Award Region, Section, and Collegiate Awards SME Bowl and SWE Anniversaries Engineering World: Point of View: Why I Blog Career Toolbox Book Review SWE Smiles Opportunity Index SWE Scrapbook

SWE - Winter 2008

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