According to the Congressional joint economic committee of the US, only 14% of all engineering professionals are women. The minuscule number remains a concern since women started joining the engineering field as early as the mid-1800s. Though the number is rising now, women in STEM fields, i.e., Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math, still face a bias.
From birth, we tend to condition children towards certain professions depending on their gender. The gender bias leads to the suppression of a vast number of women with tremendous potential, who could be achievers in engineering. It is interesting to know about a few female engineers who emerged first in their respective fields. WomELLE salutes these women for paving a way for more women from subsequent generations.
Edith Clarke – First Woman Electrical Engineer
Clarke, born in 1883, holds the distinction of being the first female electrical engineer in the United States. Clarke’s parents passed away when she was only twelve. But not the one to give up, she studied Mathematics and Astronomy at Vassar College in 1908. Subsequently, she graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1919.
Clark holds the distinction of being the first female professor of electrical engineering. She also became the first woman to present a paper before the American Institute of Electrical Engineers. Clarke was the first woman engineer to be recognized by Tau Beta Pi. the largest engineering honor society in the US. She was also the first woman to be named a fellow of the American Institute of Fellow Engineers. Clarke is remembered for writing ‘Circuit Analysis of AC Power Systems’.
Elizabeth Bragg – The First Woman Civil Engineer
It was in 1858, that Elizabeth Clarke was born into a wealthy family. From the beginning, Clarke was extraordinary at Maths. It was unimaginable for a woman to study engineering in that era. Clarke broke all stereotypes to graduate as the first woman civil engineer in 1876.
Clarke joined the teaching profession before marrying a civil engineer George Cumming in 1888. In 1929, Bragg died, making her legacy immortal as the first woman civil engineer.
Kitty O’ Brien Joyner – NASA’s First Woman Engineer
Joyner, born in 1916, was the first female engineer to join Langley Research Centre, Nasa in 1939. The journey for Joyner had been challenging right from the beginning when she had to sue the University of Virginia to enter the male-dominated engineering school. She became the first woman to graduate from the University of Virginia. Joyner even received the Algernon Sydney Sullivan Award upon her graduation for the excellence of character and service to humanity.
It was her engineer father who inspired her to take up engineering. Joyner was an outstanding student. During her university days, her research paper on ‘Fluorescence, the light of the Future’ won second prize at a conference in Florida. In 1939, she joined as a junior civil engineering aide and played a significant role at NASA.
Joyner worked on supersonic wind tunnels, circulating wind faster than the speed of sound. Her work was helpful in military and commercial flight applications. With her sheer determination and dedication, she became the branch head. At the age of 77, Joyner died in 1993.
Elsie MacGill – First Aeronautical Engineer
MacGill, popularly known as the ‘Queen of Hurricanes’, was the first woman to earn a master’s degree in Aeronautical engineering in 1929. She got her first job as an assistant aeronautical engineer in Canada. MacGill proved her mettle during World War II to make Canada a stronghold in aircraft construction.
MacGill graduated from the University of Toronto’s Applied Sciences Program. During this program, she learned about aeronautical engineering. Unfortunately, MacGill contracted polio but not the one to give up, she continued undeterred.
MacGill was appointed as the Chief Aeronautical Engineer at Car and Foundry (CanCar). She designed the Maple Leaf Trainer, the trainer aircraft etcetera. She was instrumental in building Hawker Hurricane aircraft for the Royal Air Force as well. MacGill designed de-icing instruments for hurricanes as Canada faces extreme sub-zero temperatures. She also holds the distinction of being honored posthumously in the international pioneer ‘Hall of Fame’ as one of the first females in the aviation world. MacGill’s biography ‘Her Daughter the Engineer’ is a great read.
“I have received many engineering awards, but I hope I will also be remembered as an advocate for the rights of women and children,” Elsie MacGill once said. During the 1960s, she contributed significantly to women's rights.
There have been so many promising women engineers who hogged the limelight or simply vanished into oblivion. Yet it is beyond doubt that women could prove to be as efficient engineers as their male counterparts. A changed society's general outlook towards accepting women engineers can help dig out more potential in the form of women engineers. They are breaking the stereotypes by entering new fields of engineering. Women engineers have now found a ground for themselves and there seems to be no looking back.
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