The Wichita-based aviation company Textron has made headlines with their generous donation to Kansas State University’s College of Engineering. The manufacturer of Cessna airplanes is giving the school a whopping $100,000, which is specifically earmarked for supporting women in engineering. On top of the cash amount, the company is also building the Textron Aviation Women in Engineering Conference Room. All of this adds up to one giant boost for Kansas engineering.
The goal of this gracious gift is to help empower the next generation of STEM professionals (STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics). It is worth noting that while some engineering professionals may go into the aviation industry, Textron’s donation is not limited to developing that specialty. Their decision to focus on supporting female engineering students in particular is a direct response to the current deficit of women in the field.
According to research conducted by the Rochester Institute of Technology, only 20% of industrial engineers are women. Other fields have even fewer female professionals: less than 15% of chemical engineers, civil engineers, and electrical and electronics engineers are women. Even taking into account the greater STEM umbrella, only 24% of the current workforce is female.
Textron should be commended for their commitment to helping turn these numbers around, and their decision to focus their efforts in the greater Kansas City is a wise one. There is a huge array of companies in need of mechanical engineers, controls engineers, mechanical project engineers, mechanical design engineers, electrical engineers, and engineering department leads. As a result, the students who benefit from Textron’s donation will find an abundance of local opportunities awaiting them upon graduation, and the current crop of engineers can afford to be picky about what positions they accept.
As is always the case, it is in the best interest of both this new generation of engineers and the companies who will employ them to work with a mechanical engineering recruiting firm. This takes all of the guesswork and hassle out of trying to find the best employee for the position, and the best position for the engineer. Across the region there is an incredible number of talented, educated, and experienced individuals who are waiting to step into a challenging position, and they rely on the best recruiting firm in Kansas City—Austin Nichols Technical Search—to place them.
That’s why virtually all of the job types mentioned in this article (and many more) can be found on the Austin Nichols Technical Search website. We have been offering direct hire and contract recruiting for engineering, manufacturing, and technical positions since 1988. Our team of experts applauds Textron’s decision to help empower the engineers of tomorrow, and we look forward to connecting you with the best engineers of today.
