On June 20, the Edith Clarke boardroom of the Advanced Center for Electrical and Electronic Engineering (AC3E) was inaugurated in honor of this outstanding person in the field of electrical engineering. Participants of the event included USM General Director of Planning Irene Ortega, the Director of the inES Gender Project Valeria Del Campo, Outreach Director Nina Hormazábal, AC3E Director Dr. Matías Zañartu, Deputy Director Dr. Samir Kouro, CEO Oscar Solar, as well as researchers and staff.

The event was part of commemorating the International Day of Women in Engineering, which was created to celebrate the work of women in the field and to encourage more girls to pursue careers in science.

To achieve gender parity, increasing the representation of women is a major challenge. Women’s participation in science and technology is around 30%, less than 15% in fields such as electrical and electronic engineering, and less than 2% in leadership positions.

In that sense, disseminating the work of scientists such as Edith Clarke could inspire other women. Clarke was considered ahead of her time as the first female electrical engineer in the US, the first woman to earn a Master’s degree in electrical engineering from MIT, the first woman to teach electrical engineering at a university, and the first woman to be named a Fellow of the AIEE, now the IEEE.

Narrowing the gender gap in science, specifically in engineering, will allow us to incorporate more perspectives into research, project development, and the creation of solutions to face future challenges.