May 2010 | PROJECT STAGE 4 - Fulfillment - Completing Deliverable

Since 2000, the number of female science and engineering (S&E) B.S. graduates in the U.S. has exceeded male S&E B.S. graduates. Although the number of men obtaining advanced S&E degrees is still greater than women obtaining S&E advanced degrees, the total number of male advanced degree graduates has steadily decreased since 1996, whereas the total number of female S&E graduates has continued to increase in the same period. Yet, the increasing number of female S&E graduates is not reflected in the number of women in leadership roles in R&D, engineering, and technology. 

To better understand this trend, the Gender Diversity ROR working group designed a survey aimed at assessing what IRI member companies are doing to encourage, promote, and retain women in S&E leadership roles in their companies, and to identify organizational best practices to do so.