The Gender Gap in Minority Engineering Education.

This document presents data collected from all American engineering colleges for the academic year 1990-91 on minority enrollment and graduation rates by gender. The objective in analyzing the data was to determine what gender-specific engineering education issues should be considered in pursuing the goal of increased minority participation. To measure the participation level in engineering relative to population distribution, a new parameter, the Engineering Participation Factor (EPF), was developed that establishes the ratio of the percent of engineering graduates to the percent of college-age population for any particular group. EPF data are presented for: (1) minority and nonminority enrollment and graduates by gender; (2) minority freshman engineering enrollment by ethnicity and gender; (3) total minority engineering enrollment by ethnicity and gender; and (4) minority engineering graduates by ethnicity and gender. Analysis of the data indicated that minority women face two dimensional obstacles with respect to access to engineering careers, one associated with their status as minorities and the other with their status as women. The study concluded that minority women constitute the most under-represented group in the field of engineering. Implications of the data with respect to reducing barriers for minority women in engineering, increasing retention rates, and the relatively larger proportion of minority women in engineering compared to nonminority women are discussed. (MDH)