Great piece from Mashable highlighting four women who are making waves in the STEM community.

Within the tech world, it’s a known fact that women are outrageously underrepresented. Silicon Valley is notoriously full of white men, and even many of the giants of the tech corporate world reveal disappointing numbers regarding diversity in annual reports. In 2013, only 26% of computing professionals were female.

But there’s a shift occurring. As pushes for increased diversity — and more women — in STEM fields become stronger, more and more female students are enrolling in engineering programs and graduate studies.

George Washington University’s School of Engineering & Applied Science is one such institution making an impact. Its engineering graduate programs are consistently ranked as including some of the highest percentages of women in the nation. And the school’s efforts extend beyond the student body; in 2013, half of all faculty hires were women.

Below are profiles of several graduate students and faculty members on their efforts, STEM-focused projects and thoughts on the future of women in scientific fields.

Read more.