Panel Discussion: Off the Record - Untold Stories of Women, Science, and Engineering

Cheryl B. Schrader; Janelle Brown; Lynn Lubamersky; Leslie Madsen-Brooks; Patricia Pyke; Heidi Reeder

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Conference: 2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: San Antonio, Texas
Publication Date: June 10, 2012
Start Date: June 10, 2012
End Date: June 13, 2012
ISSN: 2153-5965
Conference Session: Panel Discussion: Off the Record
Tagged Division: Women in Engineering
Page Count: 9
Page Numbers: 25.1022.1 - 25.1022.9
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--21779
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/21779
Download Count: 366

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Paper Authors

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Cheryl B. Schrader Missouri University of Science and Technology

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Cheryl B. Schrader became Chancellor of Missouri University of Science and Technology, formerly the University of Missouri - Rolla, in 2012. She most recently served as Associate Vice President for Strategic Research Initiatives and as Dean of the College of Engineering at Boise State University. Dr. Schrader has an extensive record of publications and sponsored research in the systems, control and STEM education fields. She received the 2005 Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Engineering and Mathematics Mentoring from the White House for an enduring, strong, and personal commitment to underrepresented engineering students and faculty; and the 2008 Hewlett-Packard/Harriett B. Rigas Award from the IEEE Education Society in recognition of her contribution to the profession. Dr. Schrader earned her B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Valparaiso University, and her M.S. in Electrical Engineering and Ph.D. in Systems and Control from the University of Notre Dame.

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Leslie Madsen-Brooks's work investigates the intersection of professional disciplinary knowledge with the public understanding of history and science. More specifically, she researches how women scientists working in museums, botanical gardens, zoos, and other natural history institutions democratized the public understanding of science in the United States in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. She also studies how the lay public interprets the past and constructs historical narratives about the U.S., particularly on the Internet. Madsen-Brooks holds a Ph.D. in cultural studies from the University of California, Davis. She teaches U.S., women’s, and public history at Boise State University, where she has served as a Mobile Learning Scholar, studying how students use technology to create digital public history projects. She has served as an informal science educator, exhibit developer, and program evaluator. She blogs about museums, public history, and digital humanities at MuseumBlogging.com.

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Patricia Pyke Boise State University

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Patricia A. Pyke is Director of the STEM Station, a university-level science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) research and education initiative at Boise State University. She earned a B.S.E. degree in mechanical engineering from Duke University and a master’s degree in journalism from the University of California, Berkeley.

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Heidi Reeder Boise State University

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Heidi Reeder is a social scientist whose research interests include gender, communication, and pedagogy. Her articles have been published in top communication and social psychology journals including Sex Roles, Communication Monographs, and the Journal of Social and Personal Relationships. She is also an online contributor to Psychology Today. She earned a B.S. in communication from the University of Oregon, an M.A. in communication from Stanford University, and a Ph.D. in communication from Arizona State University. In 2007, she was selected as the Carnegie Foundation’s Idaho Professor of the Year. Over the years, she has studied theatre and performance, including courses in London and Los Angeles, and has played a leading role in more than 20 theatrical productions.

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Abstract

A Panel Discussion Off the Record: Untold Stories of Women, Science and EngineeringThis moderated panel will explore research on using narrative and story to convey historical andscientific information about women whose contributions to engineering and science changedfundamental paradigms of human experience, yet are little known to lay communities and evento many in academia. School children know the story of Alexander Graham Bell calling, “Mr.Watson, come here,” when his prototype telephone succeeded. Women whose epiphanies inscience and technology likewise changed our understanding of the world are missing frompopular consciousness. Few outside of academics in fields of historical research know thatrecent scholarship has clearly positioned women as creators, not merely assistants, infundamental scientific and technological work on nuclear fission, environmentalism, DNA,computer architecture and other concepts that have transformed humanity. Making these storiesmore visible will enable students, faculty and the general public to see more clearly theopportunities open to, and obstacles faced by, women in STEM (science, technology,engineering and mathematics) today.The panel will be moderated by a distinguished engineering educator, who will briefly introducethe team's research on public perceptions of women in the history of science and engineering.Their project is unique in that it employs the latest research in the history of science andtechnology. Each of five panelists (who are history, social science and engineering researchers)will speak for four to five minutes in the persona of a woman scientist, engineer or inventor fromthe historical record. The panelists will present in monologue style, similar to the format in EveEnsler's play, The Vagina Monologues.The five historical women engineers and scientists who are currently planned as “panelists” are:  Lillian Moller Gilbreth, who was the first person to integrate psychology with engineering to improve human efficiency and was the first woman inducted into the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, the Society of Industrial Engineers and the Society of Women Engineers;  Emily Warren Roebling, who played an essential role in building the world famous Brooklyn Bridge after her husband and chief engineer, Washington Roebling, became gravely ill.  Lady Mary Wortley Montague, who took on the medical establishment of her day (1700s England) to bring smallpox inoculation to Britain.  Alice Eastwood, curator of botany at the California Academy of Sciences who saved botanical type specimens during the San Francisco earthquake in 1906 and popularized conservation in California.  Rosalind Franklin, a renowned X-ray diffraction specialist who conducted research that played a critical, but largely unrecognized, role in the discovery of the structure of DNA.Following the monologues, the panel moderator will lead a discussion and invite audienceparticipation to enable attendees to reflect on their experiences and on how and why we asfaculty can incorporate historical narratives into our courses. This project is timely, as ournational leaders have prioritized scientific and technical literacy for our nation, with emphasis onwomen and others underrepresented in science and technology. The play will immerse theASEE audience in the lives of women who made transformational technological contributions.

Citation
Format

Schrader, C. B., & Brown, J., & Lubamersky, L., & Madsen-Brooks, L., & Pyke, P., & Reeder, H. (2012, June), Panel Discussion: Off the Record - Untold Stories of Women, Science, and Engineering Paper presented at 2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, San Antonio, Texas. 10.18260/1-2--21779

TY  - CPAPER
AB  -                                A Panel Discussion              Off the Record: Untold Stories of Women, Science and                                  EngineeringThis moderated panel will explore research on using narrative and story to convey historical andscientific information about women whose contributions to engineering and science changedfundamental paradigms of human experience, yet are little known to lay communities and evento many in academia. School children know the story of Alexander Graham Bell calling, “Mr.Watson, come here,” when his prototype telephone succeeded. Women whose epiphanies inscience and technology likewise changed our understanding of the world are missing frompopular consciousness. Few outside of academics in fields of historical research know thatrecent scholarship has clearly positioned women as creators, not merely assistants, infundamental scientific and technological work on nuclear fission, environmentalism, DNA,computer architecture and other concepts that have transformed humanity. Making these storiesmore visible will enable students, faculty and the general public to see more clearly theopportunities open to, and obstacles faced by, women in STEM (science, technology,engineering and mathematics) today.The panel will be moderated by a distinguished engineering educator, who will briefly introducethe team&#39;s research on public perceptions of women in the history of science and engineering.Their project is unique in that it employs the latest research in the history of science andtechnology. Each of five panelists (who are history, social science and engineering researchers)will speak for four to five minutes in the persona of a woman scientist, engineer or inventor fromthe historical record. The panelists will present in monologue style, similar to the format in EveEnsler&#39;s play, The Vagina Monologues.The five historical women engineers and scientists who are currently planned as “panelists” are:      Lillian Moller Gilbreth, who was the first person to integrate psychology with       engineering to improve human efficiency and was the first woman inducted into the       American Society of Mechanical Engineers, the Society of Industrial Engineers and the       Society of Women Engineers;      Emily Warren Roebling, who played an essential role in building the world famous       Brooklyn Bridge after her husband and chief engineer, Washington Roebling, became       gravely ill.      Lady Mary Wortley Montague, who took on the medical establishment of her day (1700s       England) to bring smallpox inoculation to Britain.      Alice Eastwood, curator of botany at the California Academy of Sciences who saved       botanical type specimens during the San Francisco earthquake in 1906 and popularized       conservation in California.      Rosalind Franklin, a renowned X-ray diffraction specialist who conducted research that       played a critical, but largely unrecognized, role in the discovery of the structure of DNA.Following the monologues, the panel moderator will lead a discussion and invite audienceparticipation to enable attendees to reflect on their experiences and on how and why we asfaculty can incorporate historical narratives into our courses. This project is timely, as ournational leaders have prioritized scientific and technical literacy for our nation, with emphasis onwomen and others underrepresented in science and technology. The play will immerse theASEE audience in the lives of women who made transformational technological contributions.  
AU  - Cheryl B. Schrader
AU  - Janelle Brown
AU  - Lynn Lubamersky
AU  - Leslie Madsen-Brooks
AU  - Patricia Pyke
AU  - Heidi Reeder
CY  - San Antonio, Texas
DA  - 2012/06/10
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - Panel Discussion: Off the Record - Untold Stories of Women, Science, and Engineering
UR  - https://peer.asee.org/21779
DO  - 10.18260/1-2--21779
ER  -