To say that women are underrepresented in the field of engineering is to put it mildly. Women hold just 10.6 percent of all engineering jobs, the federal government reports, while male graduates of
baccalaureate engineering programs outnumber their female peers by a ratio of four to one. Even these low numbers are a high-water mark, representing two decades' worth of progress, but recent research shows that women's gains in engineering have stalled.

At the same time, there is growing awareness that women are increasingly needed in the field. "At a time when United States industry cannot fill the openings for technically advanced jobs, women are grossly underutilized. Equally important … are the perspectives women bring to the sciences," says the National Council for Research on Women in announcing its recent report that advocates a national commitment to narrowing the gender gap.

Beginning this year, eligible first-year Mount Holyoke students will have a new opportunity to launch a career in engineering, through an enterprising new kind of private/public collaboration between the College and the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. The five-year, dual-degree program will allow students working toward a bachelor of arts degree in mathematics or one of the sciences at Mount Holyoke to also earn a bachelor of science degree in chemical, mechanical, civil, electrical, or computer systems engineering from the university.

The College and the university have also joined to offer a dual-degree program in public health. MHC students will be able to earn a master's degree in biostatistics, epidemiology, or environmental sciences through an accelerated UMass program.

The new collaboration is similar to others the College has established with Dartmouth College and the California Institute of Technology, but with two key advantages: The two degrees come for the price of one, and participating students will be able to keep closer ties to friends and activities at Mount Holyoke.

The collaboration "provides students with the exceptional opportunity to earn a first-rate liberal arts degree and a world-class professional degree, without watering either down, and without additional tuition expense for the student or her family," says Donal O'Shea, dean of faculty. O'Shea says the partnership with UMass seemed like "a logical step" when College officials began discussing it eighteen months ago. "We're very excited about this," he adds. "It's an excellent opportunity for our students. The College of Engineering at UMass is first-rate, and the university is committed to educating women for careers in engineering."

"Likewise, the School of Public Health is very well respected, and students who have a master's in a public health major have many options," O'Shea says. Prominent among those options, he adds, is entry into medical school.

Charlena Seymour, provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs at UMass, is also enthusiastic. "The College's emphasis on women in leadership roles, and the university's ability to provide research opportunities, combine to make this project a particularly promising one," she says.

The new collaboration gives Mount Holyoke students the opportunity to receive a strong, rigorous liberal arts education while earning a science degree at a world-class research university, all for the cost of four years of tuition at MHC. For the College, historically a leader in the education of women in the sciences, the program extends the resources available. The university, which has established several programs to attract more women to engineering, will be able to bring more balance to its male-female student ratio.

The cost savings to the student are possible only through the Five College consortium. Each student will be enrolled at Mount Holyoke for the first four years, but will be resident at UMass in her junior year, taking courses at the university through the Five College Exchange. In the fifth year, the student will be enrolled at UMass, and will be responsible for her own room and board. MHC will collect four years of tuition, room, and board, and handle the tuition arrangements with UMass.

There is another advantage as well, one of accreditation. Each of the UMass engineering programs is accredited by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET), which allows graduates to take the Professional Engineer exam required for civil and several other types of engineering. In contrast, few graduate-level engineering programs are ABET approved, which means that students who choose that path face more hurdles to get their professional engineer certification.
O'Shea says the program will be widely publicized beginning in the 2002–2003 school year and is
available to interested first-year students this year. Enrollment in the program will be guided by two advisers, one at Mount Holyoke and one at UMass, each a member of the program advisory committee at his or her institution. Each participating student will have to plan carefully, starting in her first year, to fit in both MHC and UMass degree requirements.

The dual-degree arrangement advances the College's impressive record in the sciences among American institutions of higher education. In a study of graduates between 1976 and 1986, Mount Holyoke was the only purely undergraduate institution among the top eight institutions graduating women who went on to earn doctorates in chemistry, mathematics, computer science, physics, and engineering. After a 1995 site study, the National Science Foundation concluded, "Comparable student bodies at other institutions have not achieved as much in the sciences, and we are persuaded that the College deserves much of the credit for how fully the College develops their potential."