RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The North Carolina Department of Transportation is hosting a series of workshops around the state to encourage girls in school to think about careers as engineers.

The department cites a National Science Foundation study showing that just 11 percent of engineers are women as motivation to get more young women thinking about the field.

Nazia Sarder, a transportation engineer with the agency, says one of the goals of the workshops is to show girls the wide variety of things engineers do, from reducing air pollution to designing bridges.

The first workshop will be held Monday in Greenville, followed by Charlotte, Raleigh and Winston-Salem later in the week.