Learn about some famous women in engineering who reached new heights for female professionals in STEM.

As women in engineering are encouraged to follow their career dreams, it is important to remember the female engineers who broke through barriers, ignored critics, made some of the most innovative advancements of their time, and continue opening doors for future generations. The stories of the following women in engineering show that today’s dedicated female students can become tomorrow’s STEM leaders.

1. Edith Clarke

As an orphan from a small Maryland town, Edith Clarke’s story seemed to be another bleak tale of a 19th-century woman – until she decided to pursue higher education in civil engineering. Clarke’s engineering education set her upon the path toward becoming MIT’s (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) first female electrical engineering graduate-degree holder. Spending part of her career with AT&T, General Electric, and as the first of AIEE’s (American Institute of Electrical Engineers) female fellows, Clarke overcame many obstacles to become a pioneer of women in engineering and is also credited with inventing the graphical calculator.