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Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology ranks third
nationally in the percentage of biomedical engineering bachelor's
degrees being awarded to women, according to a report in the October
issue of the American Society of Engineering Education’s Prism magazine.
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Making A Difference: Female biomedical engineering graduates
Megan Whitaker, Megan Lafferty and Kara Jackson capped their
undergraduate careers by developing a tag stamping device that
aided persons with disabilities for the Knox County Association
for Retarded Citizens. The device earned the 2006 National
Scholar Award for Workplace Innovation and Design. |
A total of 54.5 percent of biomedical engineering degrees awarded by the
college went to female graduates since 2007.
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute topped the list at 60 percent, followed
by Worcester Polytechnic Institute at 56.8 percent. Other colleges on
the list included North Carolina State University (54.3 percent),
University of Illinois-Chicago (52.3 percent), Case Western Reserve
University (52.1 percent), Brown University (50 percent) and University
of Tennessee (50 percent).
A total of 182 biomedical engineering majors make up the 216 students
currently enrolled in Rose-Hulman's Department of Applied Biology and
Biomedical Engineering, which started in 1998.
Biomedical is the fastest growing engineering field, having increased
187 percent since 1999. Meanwhile, the percentage of engineering
bachelor’s degrees awarded to women declined for the fourth consecutive
year in 2005-06. The 19.3 percent of engineering degrees awarded is far
below women’s general representation of 56 percent in the undergraduate
ranks.
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