Engaging the Next Generation in Preserving Key Oral Histories of Pioneering Engineers

Abstract

Initiatives to designate and recognize important events in engineering and technology history, such as the IEEE Milestones program, are just part of one set of ways to help preserve and promote that history. Another approach is to collect oral history interviews with those involved in such events. At the same time, there is a growing global recognition that women-over one-half of Earth's population-have been underrepresented in engineering. Both Milestones and oral histories offer an opportunity to preserve and promote the accomplishments of women as part of the efforts to recruit more women into engineering This paper chronicles an ongoing project, begun five years ago by Prof. Mary Lanzerotti when she was at the Air Force Institute of Technology, to have women in the earliest stages of technical careers conduct and process oral history interviews of living female leaders in science, technology, and mathematics. The IEEE History Center has been a partner of the project since the beginning, and hosts the finished oral history transcripts; the Center for the History of Physics at the American Institute of Physics has since joined as a partner as well. To date, interviewees have been based in the U.S. and in Taiwan, but further international expansion is envisioned. This program is unique because it simultaneously fills a number of important functions. It preserves the memories of these important leaders, and enhances the IEEE's oral history collection. It creates a record for students of role models in the careers they are considering. It enables the participating students to have one-on-one conversations with this role model, and opens up the possibility for mentorship. Finally, the oral histories are structured so that the responses of the interviewees contribute to research on how women choose STEM careers and what barriers they face in pursuing those careers. This paper will present the background of the project and the results to date, and will discuss the impact at the present and the potential for future impact and scaling up the project.