IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - June 2008 - 14

The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly
Engineering FACTS

Education Is the Key to
Success for Women
But how do we get them to study engineering?

Why Won't Jane Go to
Engineering School?

The campaign to attract women to American law schools had really taken off in
the early 1970s. The American Bar Association and state legislatures in the ten
largest states took it upon themselves to
double the percentage of female lawyers
in a decade. The slogan for the campaign
was "20 Percent by 1980."
Civil leaders, entertainers, and politicians took part in the well-financed campaign to inform girls and young women
about the virtues of the legal profession.
They highlighted the contributions made
by lawyers, judges, and legal scholars to
programs involving equality, social justice,
and welfare. They publicized the professional and economic rewards of becoming
a patent lawyer or a judge. The long-running TV series Defender of the Damned
highlighted the life and times of Gladys
Towles Root, the controversial 1920s Los
Angeles lawyer. It was a runaway hit during the 1974-1978 seasons and gave rise
to the equally successful TV series on the
life of the first black female lawyer in the
United States, Charlotte E. Ray.
There were numerous lectures in
schools, and public events were held in
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/MWIE.2008.925765

IEEE WOMEN IN ENGINEERING MAGAZINE

large and small towns alike. Lawyers and
judges descended on schools in their
local communities to make presentations to eager female students and to
provide the ever-so-needed "human
side" of the story. Governors declared
"Woman Jurist Day" in state after state.
Bus, newspaper, radio, and TV ads promoted "legal summer camps" for girls,
heavily subsidized by local bar associations and large corporations. By the
time U.S. President Reagan introduced
Sandra Day O'Connor to the nation in
1981 as the first woman to be appointed
to the U.S. Supreme Court, the leaders
of the campaign could point to great
successes everywhere.
The percentage of female lawyers
doubled in three years (from 9.5% in
1971 to 20.1% 1974). By 1981 it was
35.8%, certainly better than the original
plan of "20% by 1980." By 1996, the percentage climbed to 44.4. Strong gains
for women were recorded in the leadership of the legal profession-the percentage of women among the ranks of
federal judges, law school full professors,
and law firm partners has been rising
steadily. Although some claims about
discrimination and a salary gap between
men and women in the law persist, there
is no doubt that the scene has changed
dramatically since the beginning of the
public crusade.

SUMMER 2008

The Truth
If, after reading this, you are puzzled
about some of my facts or have somehow
missed the reruns of the ever-popular
Defender of the Damned, I have a good
explanation: the numbers I quoted on the
percentages of women professionals in
the legal profession are correct, and
Gladys Root and Charlotte Ray were
indeed significant historical figures; however, the rest of the story is fabricated.
There was no ABA campaign, no bus
ads, no summer camps, and no
"Woman Jurist Days." In the legal and
medical professions, the phenomenal
rise of women to prominence (if not yet
equality with men) occurred with very
little institutional inducement. It was
the result of social change, the rise of
new political movements, increased
political freedom, new legal rights, economic pressures, and changes in technology. Women identified opportunities
in these fields and fought to be admitted. No degree of conservatism
expressed by the "Old Boys Network" or
artificial barriers to admission proved
to be real obstacles.
When female graduates of law schools
were refused entry to the bar in the late
19th century, they created their own support groups and arranged political campaigns to fight rejection. There were
battles in the legislatures of Massachusetts, Minnesota, and many other states.
Societies of "sisters-in-law" sprung up
everywhere, and intense action by
activists has continued for more than a
century. The number of women in medicine and law is projected to stabilize in
about a decade, at close to 50%.

Engineering Standstill
Which brings us to our profession: engineering. The participation of women in
engineering, in spite of some increases in
the last two decades, continues to be

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - June 2008