Though they are the minority in the field of engineering, women play an important role in diversifying the industry.

"I think women engineers are different than men engineers," Christine Olmeed, a process engineer for Dupont said. "Both are capable of doing the job, but women look at problems a different way, and that's what makes the best teams and the best solutions people that think differently and bring their ideas together for a solution."

The problem with the persistence of women as a minority in engineering, Dr. Rosalyn Hobson, associate dean at Virginia Commonwealth University said, is not just the numbers, but the fact that capable women feel discouraged or incapable to enter engineering.

"We train our students to become problem solvers, and women do that every day. We have the capability to multitask and problem-solve in creative ways, and that's what engineering is," Hobson said.

Even though women have outnumbered men in undergraduate education since 1982, the national average of women enrolled in engineering has never topped 20 percent.

"Our program is typically on target with the state average, but the state average is always around 15 to 17 percent," said Lynn Nystrom, Director of News and External Relations for the College of Engineering at Virginia Tech.

Women have earned half of science and engineering degrees since 2000, but according to the National Science Board 2008 Science and Engineering Indicators, within the field of science and engineering, men and women typically pursue different fields of study. The majority of degrees awarded in engineering, computer sciences and physics were all awarded to men.

Meanwhile, women formed the majority in psychology, agricultural sciences, biological sciences, chemistry and social sciences.

Currently, the national average of women in engineering is 16 percent.

Maintaining female faculty in the engineering departments of colleges and universities is also a high priority. Of the 330 faculty in Virginia Tech's engineering department, over 40 are women. At Virginia Commonwealth University, nine out of 50 faculty members are women.

"Seeing women in the classroom has an impact on the students, both male and female because you have to change the male perspective. They need to learn that we're not the team secretary," Watford said.

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