CHICAGO, March 8 /PRNewswire/ -- The need for the United States to build a new generation of leaders proficient in science, technology, engineering and math is at the top of the nation's agenda. While encouraging all young people to take more math and science classes and pursue careers in related fields is critical, this initiative has even greater significance among the nation's young women. Less than 10 percent of American engineers today are women. Yet, this is where we face the greatest challenges. According to survey results released today by the Society of Women Engineers (SWE), 75 percent of girls surveyed do not plan on pursuing a career in science, math or technology, and only 10 percent of those surveyed have considered engineering as a future career option. In order to change negative perceptions and to encourage young women across the country to get involved in engineering and technology, SWE today announced a new program: "Develop, Design, Discover ... Women Innovating with Technology." And the timing couldn't be better. SWE's survey reveals that while 95 percent of girls said that careers in science fields are "cool," 66 percent of the same group claimed these careers are "not for them," citing that careers in entertainment (49 percent), fashion (46 percent), and cosmetics (48 percent) would be more interesting. It also underlines a major disconnect between girls' perceptions of engineering and those careers that actually need engineers to deliver new products: fashion, cosmetics, entertainment. Girls simply don't know that the very industries that they would be interested in pursuing as a future career require engineers and technologists in all facets of the business. The program kicks off with an inspiring and educational special event series called "Wow! That's Engineering?", a new Web site (http://www.developdesigndiscover.org/), the survey on girl's attitudes toward engineering, and a nationwide contest to find out what young women will discover next. "With today's multi media, multi influence culture, young women in the United States are continuing to drift away from careers in areas that are vital to the country's economic future," said Ronna Robertson, president of the Society of Women Engineers. "American culture has traditionally misled young girls to believe that they cannot excel in math or science and as a result, they harbor negative perceptions of engineering. Now more than ever we face an urgent need to build a generation of leaders proficient in science, technology, engineering and math. We have a real opportunity to right previous wrongs and show young women what engineering is all about and give them a chance to change the future."
