LETELmetrics Celebrates the Women that Have Impacted Our Industry

Did you know it’s Women in History Month? Turns out there have been a lot of really important women in our industry. (duh!) Over the last century and a half, women have stepped up in the engineering sector despite encountering obstacles and resistance along the way. 

LETELmetrics has put together this little timeline with some links to stories on some of the women who’ve made an impact on Engineering. 

Very cool stories of Women in Engineering: 

1872 – Emily Roebling steps in to finish the Brooklyn Bridge when her husband, the Chief Engineer, becomes ill. 

1876 – Elizabeth Bragg becomes the first woman to receive a bachelor’s degree in engineering. 

1873 – Ellen Henrietta Swallow Richards is the first woman admitted to MIT. 

1894 – Julia Morgan graduates from U.C. Berkeley’s College of Mechanics and goes on to design more than 700 buildings in California. 

From 1876 to 1900, an average of one woman a year received an engineering degree in the United States. 

1921 – Edith Clarke invents powerful graphing calculator

1926 – Lillian Gilbreth is accepted into the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. 

1927 – Elsie Eaves becomes the first woman to become a full member of the American Society of Civil Engineers.

1965 – Lillian Gilbreth becomes the first woman elected to the National Academy of Engineering. 

Since the 60s, women have made great gains in the engineering space. However, women still only account for about 19% of all bachelor’s degrees in engineering in the U.S. in a given year. There are fewer women in engineering than in any other profession. 

Let’s support women in Science, Tech, Engineering, and Math and get these numbers up in the 21st century! We hope you enjoy these stories and continue to follow LETELmetrics on social for more updates.