Viterbi Class of 2023 reaches full gender parity

When Viterbi School of Engineering professor Inna Abramova landed her first job as a chief engineer in the early ’90s, she said she was often mistaken as a secretary in the office.

“The [superintendent] looked at me, and [he] said, ‘What is the company sending the secretary for? They were supposed to send the chief engineer,’” Abramova recalled. “I looked at him and said, I am the chief engineer, and you have to work with me.”

Since then, Abramova said she witnessed major changes in female inclusion in STEM. The most recent milestone: Viterbi reaches gender parity with its class of 2023. 

In a tweet, Viterbi announced 50% of its incoming freshman class were women — a 6% increase from 2017, when Viterbi was already well above the national average for women in engineering schools. According to the American Society for Engineering Education, the national average is currently 21.3%.

Paul Ledesma, director for Viterbi undergraduate admission, said the school’s recruiting process for several years has pushed for more women and minority groups to study and work in male-dominated fields. 

“This has been a goal for a very long time,” he said. “With each year, we have seen more applications in part of the recruiting process … We have a fantastic current student body of women who have done amazing things. Each year, these women help to create an environment that more women want to be a part of.”

Rachel Glait, a senior studying mechanical engineering, said her Viterbi classes already seemed diverse, noting that she sometimes felt as if there were more women than men.

“It just depends on the class,” Glait said. “I’m thankful how other women are in STEM classes … It’s nice having girls around … to collaborate with for engineering projects.”

Ledesma said Viterbi is proud that the Class of 2023 is more representative as a whole. He hopes that having gender parity at the school will encourage more women to enter STEM. 

“The fact that we can be [the first engineering school] to have a complete incoming class at that level, that’s exciting,” Ledesma said. “We are helping to lead the charge, but this is part of the growing trend across the country that more young girls are getting interested in math and science, are being encouraged in math and science and that is starting to impact the applicant pool.”

Viterbi professor Julie Albright said having a diverse class in engineering schools will lead to better inclusion of people of varied backgrounds in the workforce.

“When you have more diverse engineers, students from different ranges of experience … you end up with stronger and more applicable engineering solutions,” Albright said. “Research also shows that companies that have more women in leadership roles … make more money and are more successful, so diversity … is good in the bottom line.” 

While she’s proud of the steps Viterbi has taken to encourage more women to study and work in STEM, Glait said there is still more that can be done to encourage women and other minority groups to enter the field. 

“These are great accomplishments but the fight’s not over yet,” Glait said. “In my experience working in the industry, there’s still a large gap in the ratio of men in the STEM industries, engineering specifically.”