Women in Aerospace Education Act Passes in the House

Press Release

On December 18, 2017 the House of Representatives unanimously passed H.R. 4254, the Women in Aerospace Education Act. Introduced by Representative Steve Knight (R-CA), this bill would encourage universities applying for Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship grants to incorporate aerospace engineering experiences at the National Laboratories and NASA Centers into their teacher training curriculum. This bill would also direct NASA to strengthen the promotion of NASA internship and fellowship programs towards women. This would not affect the selection process for these programs, but would instead focus the marketing and recruiting strategies to encourage more women to apply.

"For many years, the aerospace industry has been predominantly male, despite the fact that women have equally excelled in the STEM fields of study." said Rep. Knight "By actively engaging this half of the workforce to enter the industry, this bill will help ensure the lasting dominance of American air and space innovation."

"I am very happy the House passed this bipartisan piece of legislation. I look forward to helping move this bill forward into law and am especially excited to set free the potential of our nation's brightest youth."

The Women in Aerospace Education Act was passed in conjunction with several other science related bills during what has been called "Science Day" in the House of Representatives.

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