Gayle Ermer’s scientific contributions

It is no secret that women are under-represented in engineering schools across the U.S. At Christian colleges, this disparity is even higher. Many programs are in place to attempt to increase the number of women engineers. Is this simply a case of political correctness run amok as policy, or do these programs represent a justifiable attempt to correct a serious problem? The evidence, both biblical and psychological, supports that women are as capable as men of doing engineering work. Thus, from a justice standpoint, Christians should be concerned that there are not barriers preventing women from pursuing an engineering career. However, this is not to say that women and men are identical. In fact, women engineers likely would, on average, make different contributions to the field. Both from a moral standpoint and because of the practical benefits, Christians should be eager to embrace the richness that a more diverse workforce would bring to engineering. In 2004, Ermer surveyed the status of women, both nationally and at Christian colleges. This paper presents updated data regarding the status of women (both students and faculty) at Christian engineering schools. New initiatives being tried at one Christian college in an attempt to improve the gender balance are presented. Reasons for the under-representation of women, both anecdotal and scholarly, are discussed. Some practical suggestions are provided for increasing the number of women graduating with engineering degrees.