The Society of Women Engineers awards more than $1 million each year in scholarships to deserving students, both undergraduate and graduate, who are pursuing degrees in engineering, engineering technology, or fields related to engineering. How impactful is this investment?
Research indicates that women pursuing bachelor’s degrees in STEM switch to non-STEM fields at higher rates than men, with 32% of women major switching compared to 26% of men [1]. Overall, less than half of women persist in their bachelor’s degree programs in STEM [2].
SWE annually conducts an analysis of data from the National Student Clearinghouse (NSC), which collects information on students’ higher education pathways and outcomes, including choice of major, institutional transfer, and degree completion. Our most recent analysis looks at SWE scholarship recipients from 2017 to 2025. SWE obtained data from NSC on approximately 40% of the almost 2,000 women who had received at least one scholarship during this time period.
The impact of a SWE scholarship is remarkable! 79% of undergraduate scholarship recipients have either earned or are still pursuing a STEM degree, with 96% of these STEM students majoring in engineering, engineering technology, or computer science. This research study was funded by the Amateur Radio and Digital Communications (ARDC) Foundation.
The Impact of SWE Scholarships in 2025
Read the paper presented at the 2024 ASEE Conference.
References
[1] Chen, X. (2013). STEM Attrition: College students’ paths into and out of STEM fields. Statistical Analysis Report. NCES 2014-001. National Center for Education Statistics.
[2] Koch, A. J., Sackett, P. R., Kuncel, N. R., Dahlke, J. A., & Beatty, A. S. (2022). Why women STEM majors are less likely than men to persist in completing a STEM degree: More than the individual. Personality and Individual Differences (190)111532.