WIE Pledge

What Is The WIE Pledge?

“{{Insert OU}} pledges to work towards gender-diversified panels at all IEEE meetings, conferences, and events, including our own.”

History of the WIE Pledge

The development of the WIE Pledge resulted from comprehensive discussions within the WIE Committee, comprising representatives from a range of IEEE Organizational Units that include Regions, Societies, and Councils. The committee welcomed input from members at local and international events and inferred valuable insights from responses to membership feedback surveys.

Why Take the WIE Pledge

In 2017, an IEEE survey gleaned responses from 4,579 females regarding their experiences within the tech industry, prominently soliciting opinions of more senior members on how IEEE could assist in addressing the challenges women in technology encounter at work. Among the chief insights was a call for more inclusivity at conferences by including more women on the organizing committees and featuring them as speakers.

Women’s Experiences In Tech Survey (PDF)

IEEE Women in Engineering Leads a Pledge to Make Speaker Panels More Gender Balanced (IEEE Spectrum)

How Can You Take The WIE Pledge?

The process to take the WIE Pledge is not one size fits all. For example, each OU may have its own required specifications, which can be inquired about and discussed with the OU’s leadership. Furthermore, certain Organizational Units are expanding the parameters of the Pledge to include factors such as ethnicity, age, and others. This is allowable on the condition that the pledge at its core maintains an obligation to strive for gender diversity and inclusivity. For a guideline to proceed forward, please refer to the four steps outlined below.

1. Assessing Interest: First, speak with your organization’s leadership – including your WIE Committee representative, Diversity & Inclusion (D&I) representative, Vice President (VP), President, Director, or Steering Committee. Coordinate a meeting and share this prepared PowerPoint presentation including the attached FAQ document that offers detailed insights about the pledge, its ethos, impact, and the roles that the members may play.
2. Motion Presentation: Once you receive positive feedback and a sufficient show of interest and commitment, a motion must be presented to your governing body for approval to take part in the WIE pledge. A motion template is available for your optional use. Please adjust the template as necessary, in alignment with your section, society, or region’s guidelines.
3. Notification of Approval: Upon the appropriate approval, kindly notify us via email at wie-pledge@ieee.org, containing the specifics of the agreed commitment and acceptance of the section, society, or region to use the WIE logo as part of the pledge.
4. Logo Exchange: As part of completing the pledge, we will exchange logos for our respective websites, which will foster a sense of unity and encourage others to join in this initiative.

The WIE Pledge Logo

The WIE Pledge logo was created for those who adopt the WIE Pledge to show representation via their communications channels. The WIE Pledge logo can be displayed via the following communication channels, i.e website, email, presentations, social media channel, print collateral, etc.

Upon the appropriate approval, kindly notify us via email at wie-pledge@ieee.org, containing the specifics of the agreed commitment and acceptance of the section, society, or region to use the WIE logo as part of the pledge. The WIE Pledge logo will then be provided to the requester.

What IEEE Organizational Units (OUs) Are Saying

“Women in Sensors has partnered with IEEE WIE to adopt their WIE Pledge! Women in Sensors (WiSe) promotes the presence and advancement of women in the technical area and professions related to sensors, from industry to academia. Through the WiSe mission, the Sensors Council is committed to fostering female leadership along with inclusive and gender-diversified panels and organizing committees at our conferences. We pledge to continue working with WIE on novel strategies to conjugate excellence with inclusion and recognition.”

Paola Saccomandi, IEEE Women in Sensors Chair, Sensors Council

“The IEEE Computer Society is committed to fostering a diverse and inclusive environment at its conferences, and we are proud to support the WIE pledge,” says the 2020 society president, Leila De Floriani. “We’re looking forward to working with the WIE on strategies for implementation and further diversification efforts for our activities.”

Leila De Floriani, IEEE Computer Society

“The IEEE Professional Communication Society supports the IEEE WIE pledge. In doing so, we pledge to work towards gender-diversified panels and speakers at our conferences, leadership of our events, and in authorship of our journal publications.”

IEEE Professional Commmuication Society

“EMBS recognizes and values the role women scientists and engineers have played in our overall societal success,” says Metin Akay, 2021 EMBS President. “We pledge to continue to promote female scientists and engineers by encouraging involvement in our conferences, publications, technical, and membership activities and committees. We will continue to actively invite them to fulfill leadership roles in our society.”

Metin Akay, IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society

“Bernadette Bouchon-Meunier, the IEEE Computational Intelligence Society 2020 and 2021 president, says the society has a long tradition of supporting women in its field, and “is happy to take up the IEEE WIE pledge,” which the society “has already put into practice in its own events and activities.”