An outreach program aiming to significantly increase enrollment and improve the experience of young women in engineering programs was recently named first runner-up by a global group of engineering deans for a prestigious diversity award.
The Hydro One Women in Engineering University Partnership (HOWEUP), led by a university group featuring the University of Waterloo, received second place out of three shortlisted projects for the Global Engineering Deans Council’s (GEDC) Diversity Award.
Established to celebrate diversity in engineering education, the GEDC presents the award annually to an initiative that inspires underrepresented students to pursue and succeed in engineering programs.
Bringing together an Ontario-based university consortium which includes the University of Waterloo, Toronto Metropolitan University, Ontario Tech University, Western University and corporate funding partner Hydro One, HOWEUP creates deliberate pathways for women in engineering. HOWEUP provides unique pre-university experiences to encourage and inspire natural curiosity in the field, opportunities for post-secondary training, and, post-graduation, the ability to explore fast-tracked employment at one of Ontario’s largest employers of mechanical and electrical engineering graduates.
To date, HOWEUP has proven effective at increasing the number of women in engineering – women undergraduate enrollment in electrical and mechanical engineering at each university participating in the consortium has grown more than 72% over the past decade.
Key to the initiative’s success has been the consortium’s investment in extensive research to understand better why women opt out of studying and practicing engineering. These insights have allowed the consortium to evaluate and re-develop evidence-based initiatives more effectively to recruit and support women engineering students to ensure continued impact.
The award was presented to HOWEUP's university consortium representatives at the GEDC’s World Engineering Education Forum in Monterrey, Mexico, on October 27, 2023.
The University of Waterloo's participation in the Hydro One Women in Engineering University Partnership was selected as the 2023 runner-up for the Global Engineering Deans Council's Diversity Award.