Since 2009, Georgia Tech has annually led the nation in engineering degrees awarded to women. This past spring, 32% of graduates were female. It’s fed a national trend — according to the National Science Foundation (NSF), the number of women earning engineering degrees has more than doubled over the past two decades.

However, the nationwide ratio is just 1 in 5. In addition, according to the Society of Women Engineers, only 18% of tenured/tenure-track faculty in engineering are women.

Devesh Ranjan, Eugene C. Gwaltney, Jr. School Chair and professor in Georgia Tech’s George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering, wants to ensure that women students and faculty have equal and equitable opportunities within the Woodruff School. One of his top priorities since becoming chair in January has been to increase access to engineering education, as well as teaching and research opportunities, amongst women.

“To support the Woodruff School’s strategic vision of becoming an inclusive and equitable community, we are striving to increase the number of women graduate students to 30% by 2030,” said Ranjan.

It’s the reason why Ranjan and the Woodruff School are launching a new initiative called Women of Woodruff (WoW). WoW, which is still in development, is an organization made up of College of Engineering alumnae and friends who are committed to ensuring women mechanical engineering students and faculty have the tools they need to thrive at Georgia Tech.

Read the full story on the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering website.