Reducing the gender gap in engineering
The statistics for bachelor’s degree graduates in the UTRGV College of Engineering and Computer Science over the last five academic years highlight the persistent gender gap in engineering, university reports show.
Reports from the college show that 15% to 21% of its graduates receiving bachelor’s degrees in engineering programs between 2018 and 2023 were female.
“As you know, there is an underrepresented section of women in engineering in general,” said Ala Qubbaj, dean of the college. “So, women in the engineering workforce represent about 17, 16, less than 20% in general. … Now, if you talk about Latinas, it’s much smaller. You talk about 1 to 2% of Latinas. Now, if you talk about, you know, representation of women in higher degrees, it goes even less. Like, for example, women who have Ph.D.s in STEM is less than 1%.”
In the 2018-19 academic year, 340 men (81.73%) graduated with their bachelor’s degree in engineering programs from UTRGV, compared to 76 women (18.26%). After increasing to 21.75% in 2020-21, the percentage of women obtaining a bachelor’s degree fell to 15.83% during the academic year 2022-23, compared with 84.16% for men.
Victoria Padilla, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering, said the challenges women face in the engineering field are “unfortunate.”
“You always have to be working at 300% so that people see you,” Padilla said. “It is a lot of work, but at the same time, you feel proud because things have cost you. But it is possible.”
Qubbaj said when the college started in the 1990s, there were “one to two girls in each class.” Now, the college has more than 1,000 female students.
“We are the future of Texas,” he said. “I think we are the future of the nation. … I’m happy that UTRGV is taking the lead in terms of increasing the representation in engineering, you know, when it comes to women, when it comes to Latina, when it comes to Hispanics as well.”
Qubbaj said students do not have to go out of state to get a degree when UTRGV offers “high-quality” education at a low cost.
“One of our graduates … she’s working in NASA,” he said. “She’s leading one of their designs of rockets and spaceships and things. And actually, she visited with me last year and she was telling me, ‘Dr. Qubbaj, I’m really impressed of what’s going on here and how we are changing the mindset of the new girls and the new women coming to engineering.’”
Qubbaj said in the Spring 2024 commencement ceremony his daughter, Intisar Qubbaj, graduated with a Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering.
“It was very personal to me,” he said. “I’ve given, you know, I don’t know how many degrees all these years, but it was personal to give the degree to my own daughter. And she graduated as an engineer from this college and, you know, I see all the students like my daughter. … That’s why I want to give the opportunity to all the girls the same way that my daughter had this opportunity.”
The Society of Women Engineers is a nonprofit educational and service organization that empowers women to succeed and advance in the field of engineering, according to its website.
Daniela Rivas Tapia, president of the society chapter at UTRGV and a manufacturing engineering senior, said the organization is open to any UTRGV student.
“What we try to do is inspire others,” Rivas Tapia said. “ … Networking, it’s the key to success and that’s why we try to focus on SWE. It’s just letting them know that it’s not about who you know, but who knows you. And whenever you set that up, you’re going to set up a path that it’s going to help you out in the future to become the engineer and professional that you are trying to [be].”
She said she was happy when Karen Horting, CEO of the Society of Women Engineers, visited the College of Engineering and Computer Science during the spring semester.
“She gave us a really great speech, inspiring others, inspiring the women,” Rivas Tapia said. “And she told us, ‘Girls, you are making a movement.’ When she told us those words, we knew that we were doing something right and we wanted to [go] above and beyond to continue doing that job.”
She encourages students to join the organization through V Link.
“There’s a big world out there where we are going to be the change,” Rivas Tapia said. “We are going to be determined to make an impact in the world. … Always inspire others as we inspired you, because that’s the track of it. If you inspire others, you’re going to make this an ongoing circle that is never going to end. And it’s when we are going to make an impact. And I know that my members are making an impact, and I know that my officers are making an impact.”
The Rider interviewed female students in engineering to learn how they feel about the gender gap.
“I was always surrounded by male figures,” said Kaylie Gonzalez, a computer science freshman. “Working was a very important part of my dad’s life. … He was always a hands-on person and my brother was always more of a computer-type. So, I kind of just developed more of that type of state just looking at them and not focusing, like, what other women do, where it’s mostly nursing, and I just adapted to that sense.”
Gonzalez said the common stereotype about women in STEM is that they have to “work twice as hard as a man to even be viewed as equal.”
Lorena Astudillo, a civil engineering senior, said she has always received help in school but is scared to go into the workforce and be seen differently for being a woman in engineering.
“Professors are really, like, caring and willing to help everyone,” Astudillo said. “… But I am a little bit scared of going outside of school. I really don’t know, like, how other companies will see me as a woman because I know it’s not super common for women to be in engineering. I know it’s becoming more common lately so, hopefully, that won’t be a problem. But it is kind of scary to go outside.”
Ericka Salinas, a civil engineering senior, advises young girls considering a future in engineering to take the challenge.
“I know it can seem hard every year and it has its challenges, but if you really want it, if you really like it, you can do it,” Salinas said. “… Don’t worry too much about the stereotypes of women in engineering. In today’s world, women in engineering are becoming more strong and, hopefully, one day, it’s not going to be seen as women in engineering. It is going to be engineering in general for women and men.”
