Society of Women Engineers

The Society of Women Engineers (SWE), founded in 1950, is a not-for-profit educational and service organization. SWE is the driving force that establishes engineering as a highly desirable career aspiration for women. SWE empowers women to succeed and advance in those aspirations and be recognized for their life-changing contributions and achievements as engineers and leaders. SWE has over 17,000 members in nearly 100 professional sections and 300 student sections throughout the United States of America.

History

Though the Society of Women Engineers did not become a formal organization until 1950, its origins began in the late 1940s when shortages of men due to World War II provided the new opportunities for women to pursue employment in engineering. Female student groups at Drexel Institute of Technology in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Cooper Union and City College of New York in New York City, New York began forming local meetings and networking activities.

On the weekend of May 27, 1950, about fifty women representing the four original sections of the Society of Women Engineers, New York City, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., and Boston met for the first National Convention at Green Engineering Camp of the Cooper Union in New Jersey to elect the first president of SWE, Dr. Beatrice A. Hicks.
It wasn't until 1960s after Russia launched Sputnik and interest in technological research and development intensified that many engineering schools began admitting women. Membership in SWE doubled to 1,200 and SWE moved it's headquarters to the United Engineering Center in New York City.

In 1972, SWE met with other women's professional organizations to help form the Federation of Organizations of Professional Women (FOPW). In 1973, SWE signed an agreement with the National Society of Professional Engineers to recruit more women engineers and students as members.

Mission

Its mission statement, adopted in 1986, is "Stimulate women to achieve full potential in careers as engineers and leaders, expand the image of the engineering profession as a positive force in improving the quality of life, demonstrate the value of diversity."

Objectives

* Inform young women, their parents, counselors, and the general public, of the qualifications and achievements of women engineers and the opportunities open to them.
* Assist women in readying themselves for a return to active work after temporary retirement.
* Serve as a center of information on women in engineering.
* Encourage women engineers to attain high levels of education and professional achievement.

Programs

SWE offers support at all levels, from K-12 outreach programs and collegiate sections to professional development in the workplace.

Collegiate sections are organized at the local, regional, and national levels, and have annual regional conferences and a national conference.

Scholarships

One method that SWE uses to provide support for women in engineering is through scholarships. SWE offers scholarships for incoming freshmen, undergraduate students, and graduate students in various fields of engineering.

External links

* [http://www.swe.org SWE's National Home Page] An example of a collegiate section:
* [http://swe.tamu.edu Texas A&M University SWE Section]
* [http://www-scf.usc.edu/~sweusc University of Southern California SWE Section]
* [http://www.seas.columbia.edu/swe Columbia University SWE Section]
* [http://engr.ku.edu/swe/ University of Kansas SWE Section]
* [http://www.NJIT.edu/SWE/ New Jersey Institute of Technology's SWE Section]
* [http://www.uwplatt.edu/org/swe/ University of Wisconsin - Platteville's SWE Section]
* [http://ece.uprm.edu/swe/ University of Puerto Rico - Mayagüez Campus SWE]
* [http://msgroups.tech.northwestern.edu/swe/ Northwestern University SWE Section]

Sources

Society of Women Engineers Web Site [http://www.swe.org] SWE History [http://www.reuther.wayne.edu/SWEhistory.html]