Who are we?

Women’s Initiative is a student group at MIT dedicated to encouraging more women to pursue degrees and careers in Engineering. During the month of January, enthusiastic women from the School of Engineering at MIT are selected to speak with high school girls nationwide about the excitement of careers in engineering. The presentations include activities to engage students in thinking about engineering concepts, demonstrations of projects on which the presenters have worked, and information about the different engineering fields and the life of an engineering student.

Inception and Purpose

In the spring of 1998, Microsoft challenged the MIT Chapter of HKN to propose methods of addressing the lack of women enrollment in EECS studies and industry. A committee of four HKN students investigated the issues and proposed two programs, one of which called for presentations at high schools across the country, and came to be known as the Women's Initiative. The Women's Initiative was proposed to address the problem of low enrollment in EECS by women early their career decision making process -- when high school women are exploring potential majors and careers as they decide which universities to attend.

In 2001-2002, the program’s focus expanded from educating students about Computer Science and Electrical Engineering to encompassing the entire field of engineering. Presenters were chosen from several different engineering disciplines and were able to share their experiences with students from their various perspectives. This enabled presenters to identify with the interests of more high school students. Since 2001, presenters have come from mechanical engineering, materials science, EECS, chemical engineering, nuclear engineering, and biomedical engineering.