A bill aimed at increasing the number of women in the aerospace industry is one step closer to becoming law, after unanimously passing the House of Representatives Monday.

The “Women in Aerospace Education Act,” introduced by Rep. Steve Knight, R- Santa Clarita, encourages women and girls to enter the aerospace field by increasing grants, said officials.

The 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,” Knight said. “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,” he said. “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 on what has been called “Science Day” in the House of Representatives.

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