The Engineering, Science, and Management War Training Program: Higher Education and the Second World War

In 1940 the United States faced the looming threat of another global conflict while still recovering from a debilitating economic depression. The American government acted quickly and established numerous federal programs designed to meet foreseeable needs of the nation across a wide spectrum of categories. One such program established in 1940 was the Engineering, Science, and Management War Training Program designed to rapidly produce scientific and technical specialists for crucial defense industries. A distinct attribute of the program was the diversity of its participants due to the prohibition of discrimination on the basis of race, sex, or age. This allowed for traditionally excluded groups such as women and people of color to participate in industries and educational fields in which they were historically not prevalent. This thesis explains both the impact of the program on its participants and the general war effort as well as federal involvement in education and training during the wartime years. This analysis is achieved through evaluation of official government publications, historical newspaper articles, past dissertations written on related subjects, and more recently published books providing supplemental information. Ultimately, this work aims to contribute to a more comprehensive account of the ESMWT program's impact on its participants, the general war effort across the home front, and federal involvement within higher education.