IEEE Women in ascent membership engineering

Three years have passed since IEEE Women in Engineering Celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2022.

WIE facilitates recruitment and retention of women in technical disciplines worldwide. It also works to inspire girls to follow an engineering career. There are affinity groups of the student branch in universities around the world. Men can also join the affinity group.

Women represent less than a third of the world’s workforce in fields related to technology, according to a report by the World Bank Group.

WIE has introduced several programs focused on increasing the number of women in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. The new initiatives include subsidies and leadership programs, and several competitions have been launched to encourage and support students who are considering a Stem career.

The arduous work of the group is paying off. Winnie YeThe current WIE chair and an electronics teacher at Carleton UniversityThat is just south of Ottawa, reports that, as of February, the number of members and members of the students increased during the same period last year. There are more than 28,800 members, an increase of year after year more than 17 percent. The student membership, with almost 21,000, has approximately the same percentage. Now there are more than 1,100 affinity groups.

“Despite this growth, attracting and retaining members who pay is still a challenge, particularly because students make the transition to professional membership,” says Ye. “Ensuring long -term commitment requires demonstrating clear value through professional development, networks and leadership opportunities.”

A day of celebration, subsidies and leadership training

Many of the new programs were launched under Celia ShahnazLeadership. The first elected president of the WIE Committee, Shahnaz served in 2023 and 2024. In 2022, the Committee made the president a position elected.

Shahnaz has been a WIE volunteer for more than 24 years. She established the first WIE group in the IEEE Bangladesh section In 2010 and became his first chair. The Senior of IEEE is a professor of electrical and electronic engineering at the University of Engineering and Technology of Bangladesh, In Dhaka.

She says she is more proud to bring the annual back IEEE WIE DAYheld on June 29, the date on which the group was formally established in 1997.

“The day is an event of understanding members that is directed to the development of membership and membership retention,” says Shahnaz. Activities include networks, seminars and workshops.

This year’s theme is safe cyberspace: bridge technology and security light.

For some groups, one day is not enough, so Wie Day events extend for several weeks. The opening event held in 2023 presented more than 120 activities worldwide. The number almost doubled last year, with more than 230 events. This year’s celebrations are scheduled to begin on June 23, to coincide with International Women on Engineering DayThen end on July 7.

He IEEE WIE WIE FAMILY CARES GRANT The members were established to financially help with the care tasks so that they can attend an IEEE conference. A subsidy provides up to US $ 1,000 to cover expenses related to the care of children, the elderly and family members who are disabled. The subsidy is sponsored by the IEEE Foundation.

To keep its members updated on industry trends, as well as the results of the research and its practical applications, WIE has associated with several IEEE societies and advice to offer a virtual Distinguished teachers program. More than 20 groups have provided speakers, including Computer Society, Power Electronics Societyand Sensors Council.

“I want to really strengthen WIE’s leadership with the local community so that we can provide more specific resources and support women.” “Winnie Ye.”

There is also the new Industry Expert NetworkA global database of industry professionals, researchers and leaders who can be asked to participate in an event.

“For any of our events, we can access this list of incredible people, whom we can ask to give talks and offer workshops and seminars,” says Ye. Several WIE programs focus on providing women with leadership skills. Less than 10 percent of women take positions such as CIO, CTO and IT manager, or serve as technical team leaders, according to this year. Women in technological statistics report.

He WIE International Leadership Summitthat are carried out worldwide, provide opportunities to establish contacts, tutoring and collaboration. Eight were held last year, and seven are scheduled for this year in countries such as Jordan, Pakistan, Poland and the United States.

He WIE FORUM USA EAST It helps your attendees to develop and improve their leadership skills through conversations of successful leaders. This year’s event is scheduled for November 6 to 8 in Arlington, VA.

Ye says she is more excited about Wie’s’s return International Leadership Conference. After an absence of two years, the event is scheduled for May 15 and 16 in San José, California. The theme is accelerating leadership in a world with AI. Registration is now open.

Stem -related contests

Several competitions have been launched to encourage young women to follow a Stem career, says Shahnaz. Women represent about 35 percent of Stem graduates, a gender disparity that has not changed in the last 10 years, according to UNESCO Global Education Monitoring Report.

First held in 2023, the Wie Climated Tech Great Idea The competition encourages engineering students and researchers to be entrepreneurs and is designed to increase the number of new technical companies led by women.

“He really wanted to inspire women to develop their ability using their technical knowledge and professional skills to be a starting founder,” says Shahnaz. “We wanted them to present a solution to the problems related to climate change and show their business ideas and models. We also wanted to encourage women’s talent in all membership qualifications, including high -level members, fellows and scholars of life.”

In the 2023 contest, a team of engineering students from the Bangladesh Engineering and Technology University He won the first place in the impact category for his design of a bamboo filter for diesel engines.

There were 60 presentations that first year, and the number doubled last year. The deadline for presentations for this year’s contest will be announced soon.

Taking advantage of the popularity of manga comics and graphic novels with young people, Wie launched a competition in 2023 to find the best writing manga that focused on Riko-chan, a fictional character who is a pre-university student. Riko-chan uses Stem tools to help solve everyday problems. More than 40 people participated in the 2023 contest, and there were 81 presentations last year. Their stories are available to read online, and many have been translated into nine languages, including Bangla, French, Hindi and Spanish.

“We see this contest as an opportunity to show the various models to follow in engineering technology,” says Ye. “The goal is to cause curiosity between our youngest audience and make Stem fields more identifiable and more exciting for them.”

This year’s manga competition now accepts presentations. Look at the Rules and deadlines on the WIE website.

Tutoring and dissemination programs

We are working on a new mentoring program, says Ye.

“We really want to create an active platform for participation and coincidence of mentors in the mentor within the Wie community,” she says.

As part of his vision for a more compromised and inclusive community, he has launched the Wie Ambassador program. The initiative is designed to empower WIE members dedicated to advocate for the IEEE mission worldwide. Ambassadors can promote WIE initiatives, organize local events and inspire more women to follow Stem races, says Ye.

She emphasizes the importance of expanding the presence of WIE in underrepresented regions such as China and South Africa.

“During my mandate,” she says, “I am committed to expanding our presence in these regions. I want to really strengthen WIE’s leadership with the local community so that we can provide more specific resources and support women. We want to make sure they know us and be more active.”

This article was updated on April 11, 2025.