What Is Women in Engineering Committee?

The Women in Engineering Committee, known within IEEE as IEEE Women in Engineering (WIE), is an organizational body of the IEEE dedicated to promoting the recruitment, retention, and advancement of women in engineering and related technical fields. As the largest international professional organization with that specific mission, IEEE WIE connects women engineers and scientists through a global network of affinity groups, conferences, scholarship programs, and mentoring initiatives. The committee operates at the intersection of technical society governance and workforce development, seeking both to expand participation in engineering and to support practitioners already active in the field.

IEEE WIE originated as an ad hoc committee formed in 1994 by the IEEE Ultrasonics, Ferroelectrics, and Frequency Control Society, reflecting growing recognition within the engineering community that professional organizations had a role to play in addressing gender underrepresentation in technical workforces. The committee was formally established in 1997, with a dues-paying membership option introduced in 1999. It has since grown into one of the most widely recognized diversity programs in the global engineering community, with affiliated groups in IEEE sections across more than 100 countries.

Organization and Governance

IEEE WIE functions as a committee under the IEEE Member and Geographic Activities Board (MGAB), with a chair elected from the membership. The first chair, April S. Brown, took the position in 1995 and established the organizational framework that subsequent leadership has built on. The committee publishes a quarterly magazine that highlights achievements by women in engineering and ongoing mentorship efforts, and it coordinates an annual international leadership conference that brings together student and professional members from multiple IEEE technical societies. The IEEE WIE history page documents the committee's founding, key governance transitions, and the expansion of membership programs since the late 1990s. Affiliated affinity groups at the section and student branch level operate independently within the global network, organizing local seminars, workshops, and outreach activities tailored to their regional engineering communities.

Programs and Professional Development

The committee administers several programs designed to support women at different career stages. Student members participate in mentoring pairings with established engineers, attend leadership training, and compete for WIE-specific scholarships. Professionals benefit from networking events organized around IEEE technical conferences, visibility through the WIE magazine, and access to a global directory of peers in similar disciplines. In collaboration with IEEE's broader Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion portfolio, WIE has developed curricula aimed at K-12 audiences, seeking to encourage interest in STEM before students reach the undergraduate selection stage. The UNESCO profile of IEEE WIE recognizes the organization's contributions to open and inclusive science within the broader international framework for scientific workforce diversity.

Global Outreach and Affinity Groups

IEEE WIE affinity groups operate in most IEEE geographic sections worldwide, making the committee's programs accessible far beyond North America. Sections in Asia, Africa, Europe, and Latin America run their own WIE events, adapted to local engineering education systems and labor markets. The WIE Manga Story Contest, launched to engage younger audiences in regions where graphic storytelling has cultural resonance, illustrates how the committee tailors outreach formats to specific audiences rather than relying solely on conference attendance. A 2023 initiative, IEEE WIE Day, established an annual date for global coordinated activities across all sections. The IEEE Region 8 WIE activities page documents the range of programs run by European and Middle Eastern sections, showing the variation in local implementation within the unified global structure.

Applications

The Women in Engineering Committee supports activities across a range of professional and educational settings, including:

• University student chapters: mentoring programs, networking events, and leadership workshops for women in undergraduate and graduate engineering programs
• Professional development: career panels, technical workshops, and networking sessions organized at major IEEE conferences
• K-12 STEM outreach: hands-on activities and storytelling programs designed to encourage girls to pursue technical coursework
• International sections: locally adapted programs in over 100 countries supporting regional engineering communities
• Research recognition: visibility programs highlighting the contributions of women engineers in peer-reviewed research and standards development