The Pipeline Still Leaks and More Than You Think: A Status Report on Gender Diversity in Biomedical Engineering

Abstract

While the percentage of women in biomedical engineering is higher than in many other technical fields, it is far from being in proportion to the US population. The decrease in the proportion of women and underrepresented minorities in biomedical engineering from the bachelors to the masters to the doctoral levels is evidence of a still leaky pipeline in our discipline. In addition, the percentage of women faculty members at the assistant, associate and full professor levels remain disappointingly low even after years of improved recruitment of women into biomedical engineering at the undergraduate level. Worse, the percentage of women graduating with undergraduate degrees in biomedical engineering has been decreasing nationwide for the most recent three year span for which national data are available. Increasing diversity in biomedical engineering is predicted to have significant research and educational benefits. The barriers to women's success in biomedical engineering and strategies for overcoming these obstacles-and fixing the leaks in the pipeline-are reviewed.

The Status of Women in STEM in Higher Education: A Review of the Literature 2007–2017

“…Campbell (2011, 310) proposes a new model "Sequence of Life Events Leading to Career Choices," providing a linear progression which maps out a career path from grade school through career. The leaky pipeline is a metaphor for the greater likelihood for women to leave STEM fields at every point, from recruitment to attrition after graduation (Goulden, Mason, and Frasch 2011), in the private sector (Harris 2015) or as faculty members (Chesler et al 2010;Gibbs et al 2014); because of a significant amount of barriers. These barriers are discussed further later in this paper.…”

Results from a Pilot Implementation of a Biomedical Engineering Program for Middle and High School Students (Evaluation)

“…Clearly, early intervention of students to enter engineering is extremely important when considering current challenges in engineering education. The percentage of women for example obtaining BS, MS, and PhD degrees in biomedical engineering is higher than nearly any other engineering discipline, but graduation rates have not steadily increased over time and past graduation rates have not led to higher percentage of women in faculty positions (Chesler et al, 2010). The STEM pipeline is leaky with regard to engineering, and current trends will continue unabated without directed intervention at different levels (Chesler et al, 2010).…”

“…For instance, Chesler et al (2010) found experience with diverse peers early in college years fosters more positive, cross-racial interactions. Students with the most classroom experience with diversity and most diverse friends and experiences on campus are more engaged in learning, and selfreported more gains in critical thinking, problem solving, and self-confidence.…”

Characterization of Intellectual Merit and Broader Impacts Criteria in NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program Applications

“…More "human"-centered engineering subdisciplines, such as biomedical engineering, have capitalized on the impacts of their particular engineering work as they relate to women who seek careers that have a broader impact on human lives. Indeed, biomedical engineering is often cited as a benchmark for women in engineering fields 24 , as their demographics tend to reach critical mass at the student and faculty levels, although there is still work to be done in retaining women across all levels in engineering fields 25 .…”