Region besting nation in rate of awarding STEM degrees to women | Albany Times Union

Photo: Alicia Biggs

"Technology companies interested in eliminating the gender gap among technical workers will find an unmatched talent pipeline in the Capital Region, the Center for Economic Growth said in December in response to its analysis of National Center for Education Statistics" summarizes Alicia Biggs, Freelance Writer/Editor. 

Kaylee Petraccione, 17, of Schenectady, left, an alum of the summer camp, programs a robot with the help of GE intern Kelsey Harper during the 5th annual GE Girls summer STEM experience on Thursday, Aug. 11, 2016, at General Electric in Schenectady, N.Y.
Photo: Cindy Schultz / Times Union

During the past three years, area colleges and universities have awarded undergraduate and graduate science, technology, engineering and math degrees to women at a higher rate than the nation, according to NCES Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System statistics.

"If there's anything that employers want more than STEM talent, it's a diverse STEM talent pool," CEG President Andrew Kennedy said. "To be able to show that our colleges and universities are training so many women with STEM skills — and that the Capital Region regularly hosts popular STEM events such as Girls in STEM — definitely enhances CEG's industry attraction efforts."

General Electric is looking to have 20,000 women in STEM roles by 2020, to help it achieve 50:50 representation between men and women in its technical entry-level programs, Todd Alhart, a GE spokesman, said.

"Our commitment to increase the number of women in STEM roles comes from our strong belief that GE's engine of innovation should reflect the world we live in," Alhart said. "Men and women working together to advance scientific and engineering endeavors. This is what we're building across GE's engineering function."

Between the 2014 and 2016 school years in the Capital Region, 13 colleges and universities awarded women with 2,621 bachelor, masters and doctorate degrees in seven STEM fields, according to IPEDS. That represented 35.2 percent of the 7,455 total STEM degrees awarded during that period, above the national average of 34.6 percent and slightly below the statewide average of 35.5 percent. 
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Source: Albany Times Union