Help-Seeking Among Undergraduate Men and Women in Engineering

Joanna Wolfe; Jaime Allen Fawcett; Elizabeth A. Powell

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Conference: 2015 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Seattle, Washington
Publication Date: June 14, 2015
Start Date: June 14, 2015
End Date: June 17, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-692-50180-1
ISSN: 2153-5965
Conference Session: Women in Engineering Division Poster Session
Tagged Division: Women in Engineering
Tagged Topic: Diversity
Page Count: 12
Page Numbers: 26.841.1 - 26.841.12
DOI: 10.18260/p.24178
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/24178
Download Count: 516

Jaime Allen Fawcett completed her undergraduate studies at Carnegie Mellon University in December 2014, where she received a degree in Professional Writing and an additional degree in Creative Writing. Her research interests include pedagogical practices, educational policy, and cultural attitudes that influence learning and development for students with specific learning disabilities.

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Elizabeth A. Powell Tennessee Technological University

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Abstract

Help Seeking Strategies for Undergraduate Men and Women in EngineeringAmong the many factors that can inhibit women’s success in STEM is a fear that asking for helpwill reflect negatively on one’s gender. However, asking for help is a behavior that needs to beencouraged, both in school and the workplace. Not only does asking for help increase learningopportunities, but it can be the most efficient means to address problems. Some research hasfound that recent graduates wait too long to ask for help in the workplace, resulting in lowquality work and inefficient processes. More research is needed to understand the factors thatmotivate or hinder both male and female students from seeking help.To learn more about students’ help-seeking behaviors, we interviewed and surveyed 66undergraduate engineering students. The interviews gauged the extent to which students reachedout to resources such as their professors and peers and their comfort level seeking help fromthese resources.Preliminary results suggest the following:(1) Women (more than men) voiced fears that professors would see them as unintelligent for requesting help: 55% of the women mentioned a fear of appearing stupid or unintelligent to their professors while only 20% of men expressed this concern.(2) Academically confident women were generally able to overcome these perception fears. Female students who indicated a high degree of academic confidence sought help from professors at the same rate as their male peers. Female students with low academic confidence were the least likely group to ask professors for help. Academic confidence had no effect on whether men sought help from professors.(3) Men were less likely than women to routinely seek help from peers. Men were more likely to express pride in their abilities to figure out problems independently, seeking help only as a last resort. Women, especially those with confidence in their social skills, were more likely to form strong academic support bonds with peers.(4) Students who routinely sought help from peers were less likely to report thoughts of leaving engineering.(5) Women generally sought help from a greater number of resources than men. Women reported utilizing a greater number of resources for seeking help than men, including professors, peers, other faculty members, teaching assistants and tutors.(6) Most students, including those comfortable asking professors for help with academic work, were reluctant to ask professors for help in troubleshooting team problems. Many students stated providing advice or assistance on teamwork was not the professor’s responsibility.These results suggest several potential interventions. First, women do possess some positivehelp-seeking strategies, but the engineering culture may need to change to recognize thesestrategies as positive and professional behaviors—behaviors that male students might benefitfrom emulating. Second, female students may need some additional coaching to make themmore comfortable in seeking help from professors. Finally, if one of the goals of an engineeringcurriculum is to teach teamwork skills, we should encourage students (and faculty) to seetroubleshooting team problems as a faculty responsibility.

Citation
Format

Wolfe, J., & Fawcett, J. A., & Powell, E. A. (2015, June), Help-Seeking Among Undergraduate Men and Women in Engineering Paper presented at 2015 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Seattle, Washington. 10.18260/p.24178

TY  - CPAPER
AB  -     Help Seeking Strategies for Undergraduate Men and Women in EngineeringAmong the many factors that can inhibit women’s success in STEM is a fear that asking for helpwill reflect negatively on one’s gender. However, asking for help is a behavior that needs to beencouraged, both in school and the workplace. Not only does asking for help increase learningopportunities, but it can be the most efficient means to address problems. Some research hasfound that recent graduates wait too long to ask for help in the workplace, resulting in lowquality work and inefficient processes. More research is needed to understand the factors thatmotivate or hinder both male and female students from seeking help.To learn more about students’ help-seeking behaviors, we interviewed and surveyed 66undergraduate engineering students. The interviews gauged the extent to which students reachedout to resources such as their professors and peers and their comfort level seeking help fromthese resources.Preliminary results suggest the following:(1) Women (more than men) voiced fears that professors would see them as unintelligent    for requesting help: 55% of the women mentioned a fear of appearing stupid or    unintelligent to their professors while only 20% of men expressed this concern.(2) Academically confident women were generally able to overcome these perception fears.    Female students who indicated a high degree of academic confidence sought help from    professors at the same rate as their male peers. Female students with low academic    confidence were the least likely group to ask professors for help. Academic confidence had    no effect on whether men sought help from professors.(3) Men were less likely than women to routinely seek help from peers. Men were more    likely to express pride in their abilities to figure out problems independently, seeking help    only as a last resort. Women, especially those with confidence in their social skills, were    more likely to form strong academic support bonds with peers.(4) Students who routinely sought help from peers were less likely to report thoughts of    leaving engineering.(5) Women generally sought help from a greater number of resources than men. Women    reported utilizing a greater number of resources for seeking help than men, including    professors, peers, other faculty members, teaching assistants and tutors.(6) Most students, including those comfortable asking professors for help with academic    work, were reluctant to ask professors for help in troubleshooting team problems.    Many students stated providing advice or assistance on teamwork was not the professor’s    responsibility.These results suggest several potential interventions. First, women do possess some positivehelp-seeking strategies, but the engineering culture may need to change to recognize thesestrategies as positive and professional behaviors—behaviors that male students might benefitfrom emulating. Second, female students may need some additional coaching to make themmore comfortable in seeking help from professors. Finally, if one of the goals of an engineeringcurriculum is to teach teamwork skills, we should encourage students (and faculty) to seetroubleshooting team problems as a faculty responsibility.
AU  - Joanna Wolfe
AU  - Jaime Allen Fawcett
AU  - Elizabeth A. Powell
CY  - Seattle, Washington
DA  - 2015/06/14
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - Help-Seeking Among Undergraduate Men and Women in Engineering
UR  - https://peer.asee.org/24178
DO  - 10.18260/p.24178
ER  -