Women in ME: A Bright Future with Emphasis on People Skills

Women remain significantly underrepresented in mechanical engineering, though there are signs of gradual improvement. In 2022, just 17.3 percent of bachelor’s degrees in mechanical engineering were awarded to women. Of all women engineers in that same year, 9.3 percent were mechanical engineers. The forward trend for mechanical engineering, however, appears to be bright. 

Sam Wright, head of partnerships and operations at Huntr.co in Seattle, Wash., cites its Q2 2025 Job Search Trends Report, which analyzed 285,000 job postings. The report found that mechanical engineering is a lucrative field with increasing demand for graduates.

“Interestingly, mechanical engineering has seen a significant surge in demand from employers, ranking as the number one fastest-growing field of study in terms of job requirements in the first half of 2025, with a market share growth of nearly 38 percent,” Wright said.