In ASEE’s 2021 report, women received 15.5% of Electrical Engineering bachelor’s degrees awarded from July 1, 2020, through June 30, 2021. That is a degree-award statistic—not the share of electrical engineers in the workforce, the share of EE students enrolled, or a current demographic estimate.
What percentage of electrical engineers are women?
The answer depends on what is being counted. The clearest EE-specific figure in ASEE’s 2021 report is that women received 15.5% of Electrical Engineering bachelor’s degrees awarded during the 2020–21 academic year. The figure describes graduates, not everyone studying the subject or working as an electrical engineer. ASEE’s report also includes Fall 2021 enrollment and faculty head counts, but those measures have different reference periods from its degree awards.
A separate federal measure offers workforce context: women accounted for 16% of U.S. engineers in 2019, according to the National Science Board and NCSES. This is an occupation-wide figure, not an EE-only estimate, and it predates ASEE’s 2020–21 degree-award period. The two percentages should not be treated as a direct comparison. The State of U.S. Science and Engineering 2022 reports the workforce figure.
How diverse is electrical engineering?
There is no single percentage that captures diversity in the field. A useful answer must specify the population (students, degree recipients, faculty, or workers), the degree level or occupation, the year, and the demographic categories being counted. A measure for all engineering or all STEM workers cannot be presented as an EE-specific statistic.
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ASEE’s report covers data collected through ASEE Profiles from participating institutions with at least one ABET-accredited engineering, engineering technology, or computer discipline program. Its race and ethnicity categories align with the U.S. Department of Education’s IPEDS reporting categories. That collection frame matters: the figures describe the report’s covered institutions, not necessarily every person or program that could be considered part of engineering education.
ASEE uses “underrepresented minority” for Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, and American Indian or Alaska Native people “whose representation in S&E education or occupations is smaller than their representation in the U.S. population.” The term is a specific combined reporting convention, not a synonym for every racial or ethnic group, and it does not make the included communities interchangeable. Where figures are available separately, those categories should be read individually. ASEE’s report provides its definition and reporting context.
What do broader workforce figures add?
For scale, the National Science Board and NCSES reported that Black, Hispanic, and American Indian or Alaska Native workers together made up 23% of the STEM workforce in 2019. This is broad STEM context; it is neither an engineering-only figure nor an estimate for electrical engineering. It also measures workers, unlike ASEE’s 15.5% statistic, which measures EE bachelor’s degrees awarded. The federal report uses the 2019 workforce reference year.
Federal survey datasets can connect degree fields, occupations, and demographic characteristics, but their scope and occupational groupings still need to be checked before drawing EE-specific conclusions. The National Survey of College Graduates 2021 used the week of February 1, 2021, as its reference period and was released January 27, 2023. It is a biennial Census Bureau survey conducted with NCSES of U.S.-resident college graduates with at least a bachelor’s degree who were younger than 76. NCSES describes the survey’s design and coverage.
Why does the 2021 label need context?
ASEE’s report title year does not mean every statistic refers to calendar year 2021. Its degree awards cover July 1, 2020, through June 30, 2021, while enrollment and faculty head counts refer to Fall 2021. Always attach the population and period to a number when using it.
Publication dates and data dates also differ in federal reporting. NCSES’s Women, Minorities, and Persons with Disabilities in Science and Engineering: 2021 was published April 29, 2021, and says its data were collected before the pandemic. A report’s publication year is not automatically its data reference year. NCSES describes the publication as a statistical resource: “Its primary purpose is to serve as a statistical abstract with no endorsement of or recommendations about policies or programs.” The report explains its scope and purpose.
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What can demographic data say about the push for diversity?
These figures establish representation patterns in defined populations and periods. They do not explain why disparities exist, demonstrate that a particular intervention caused a change, or prove that any one program will improve representation. NCSES likewise characterizes its Women, Minorities, and Persons with Disabilities in Science and Engineering report as descriptive statistical information about participation in science and engineering education and employment.
For readers assessing claims about progress or proposed programs, the practical test is whether the evidence matches the claim: same field, population, demographic categories, and comparable years, with an outcome measure that can support a causal conclusion if effectiveness is being asserted. A degree-award share can describe who completed an EE bachelor’s degree in a given period; it cannot by itself establish what changed the share or what policy would change it next.
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