Underrepresentation of Women in Tufts School of Engineering
The class of 2026 at Tufts School of Engineering is 49% women, while the department faculty is only approximately 35% women.
The distribution of faculty rank reveals a greater divide, with each increase in professorial position leading to a decrease in the percentage of women faculty. Approximately 45% of Tufts SOE assistant professors are women, a percentage that drops to approximately 25% for associate professors and 23% full-time professors.
This disparity raises the question: Why are female-identifying professors underrepresented in the Tufts SOE?
One possible explanation is that women simply haven’t had enough time to ‘catch up’ to their male counterparts in higher academia.
The first woman to graduate from Tufts SOE was Charlotte Taylor, who received her diploma in 1943, 78 years after Tufts first introduced a three-year degree program in civil engineering in 1865.
Author's note: Women underrepresented in engineering faculty.