I'm also a female engineer and find it hard to believe that the percentage of women studying engineering has not increased since the early 2000's (I graduated in '84). The federal government agency that I work for and has been very good about hiring women engineers, promoting them, and addressing work/life balance issues but has a hard time attracting women. And I think to some degree that treatment of women in my agency can vary depending on the part of the country - I'm in a great location in the field but out west. Also, most federal jobs don't pay as much as industry although I am fortunate to work in one of the higher salary agencies (similar to NASA). And our work is more about oversight of our government contractors and is not hands on, cutting edge technology so does not appeal to all.