From record-breaking membership and event participation to increasing global outreach and partnerships, 2024 was an exciting year for the Society of Women Engineers (SWE).
Here are some of SWE’s most memorable highlights and achievements of 2024, in our ongoing journey of championing women in engineering and technology across the globe.
Membership
SWE reached record breaking numbers, ending the year at more than 47,000 members. During 2024, SWE grew by 35 new affiliates and sections, including 22 global affiliates across 14 countries.
Scholarships
SWE celebrated 65 years of the scholarship program in 2024 and distributed 328 scholarships valued at nearly $1.5 million.
Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging (DEI&B)
SWE released its third DEI&B report, Embedding DEI&B In All We Do, which highlighted key initiatives at the Society to nurture a diverse and supportive environment for all members. Core themes covered include global engagement, leadership development, community engagement and member support, and The Advocated for Empowerment Program.
Awards
The SWE Awards Program honored 32 APEX and 153 ASCENT awardees for a total of 185 awards. The SWE Recognition Program named 424 total recipients, of which 264 are Patent Recognition recipients.
Global Programs
SWE’s Global Programs welcomed the largest cohort of Global Ambassadors to date — 296 SWE leaders representing 30 countries. SWE will end 2024 with a total of 135 Global Affiliates in 38 countries. SWE also hosted 10 virtual networking sessions in four different languages.
Strategic Partnerships
In 2024, more than 180 organizations partnered with SWE to provide individual memberships for their employees, expanding global access to SWE’s diverse programs and services, fostering a culture of support, continuous learning, and leadership development.
SWE obtained $2.6 million in grants to support the Society’s programs and initiatives.
The 2024 Virtual Career Fair for Professionals set a new registration record, connecting over 1,900 experienced professionals with 60 hiring organizations — a 63% increase in candidate participation compared to the previous year.
Content and Programs
A new Leadership Competency Model and Competency Manager System was launched for SWE members in March 2024. Since the launch, 3,700 users have signed into the Competency Manager System.
SWE Learning piloted two new programs in 2024. Ignite is a program designed around the Leadership Competency Model to support emerging SWE leaders in the initial stages of their careers. Reentry Hero is a program targeted at individuals preparing to reenter the workforce after a career break.
The Society also achieved successful implementation of Cadmium, a new cloud-based solution to manage the WE24 call for participation process, which assisted in managing nearly 1,000 proposal submissions, translating to a 15% year-over-year increase.
SWENext
SWENext finished the year with more than 5,084 SWENexters in 50 countries and launched a new SWENext Club directory and map with 176 active SWENext Clubs, adding more than 50 new clubs since the start of the fiscal year.
SWENext hosted eight sessions of the SWENext High School Leadership Academy (SHLA) and launched the full SWENext Connect virtual mentoring program for all students, ages 10-18, with a total of six sessions completed by the close of the fiscal year.
In partnership with Chicago Public Schools, SWE invited students from historically under-resourced areas to Invent It. Build It., a hands-on event that aims to change the image of “What an Engineer Looks Like” and inspire the next generation of STEM stars.
SWE Magazine and Diverse: a SWE podcast
In 2024, SWE Magazine received seven prestigious media awards: one Grand Award and five Awards of Excellence from the annual Awards for Publishing Excellence (APEX) and a FOLIO: Ozzy award. In addition, SWE Magazine also received two national and five regional awards from the American Society of Business Publication Editors. This year also saw the launch of the newly redesigned SWE Magazine website at magazine.swe.org
In 2024, Diverse: a SWE podcast received three prestigious media awards: an APEX Grand Award and two FOLIO: Eddie awards. Folio: awards are considered the most prestigious in the publishing industry.
The SWE community can enjoy some of the top stories of the year with this roundup of the Society’s most popular blog posts, podcast episodes and magazine articles of 2024.
Events
SWE won the 2024 ASAE Gold Circle Award for Marketing and Communications of a Conference or Event and the Overall Gold Circle award for the year with its WE23 conference marketing campaign. A record-setting 19,100+ attendees were present in-person at WE24 in Chicago and 472 exhibiting organizations participated in the WE24 Career Fair. SWE also saw record attendance in Europe for 2024 WE Local Munich.
SWE is looking forward to continuing our efforts to advance women in engineering and technology in 2025 as SWE celebrates its 75th anniversary!
