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Session 1392

The TEAMS Leadership Institute: Encouraging Women to Take the Road Less Traveled Susan Scachitti, Barbara Mania-Farnell, Leslie Dorworth Purdue University Calumet

Abstract

The TEAMS Leadership Institute is a program at Purdue University Calumet (PUC) that was designed to promote women into leadership roles in fields that are generally known to have an underrepresented female population. The mission of the institute is to aid current and future leaders in the fields of Technology, Engineering, Architecture/Construction, Mathematics and Sciences in overcoming gender-related issues common in business environments. The institute aims to do this by providing pertinent education and information, appropriate networking opportunities and experiences, and general support in aiding leaders as they develop essential skills that will support lifelong success.

The institute resulted from the efforts of various faculty members and administrative staff at PUC who hold a stake in the TEAMS fields. Their interest in gender equity prompted an official committee to be formed under the PUC Women’s Studies program in 1996. The committee has evolved over several years conducting focus groups and coordinating various projects within the community. Eventually, their focus turned to the important subject of leadership, specifically of women in the TEAMS fields. The leadership institute was formed to provide a mechanism for undergraduate and graduate students to network with leaders in their fields. Components of the institute that currently support this effort include a web site for coordination and information dissemination, mentoring opportunities, and informal networking brunches.

It is the intention of this institute to not only encourage students from the TEAMS fields to become leaders, but also to encourage retention and recruitment of female students into these fields at PUC. As has been shown time and again, women are underrepresented in the TEAMS fields and Purdue University Calumet is no exception. A 1999 analysis revealed that only 29 percent of the PUC student body in the TEAMS fields were female.

This paper will begin with an overview of the TEAMS Leadership Institute including a discussion of its origin and support structures that were used at PUC to sustain and grow the program. A few of the challenges that arose due to the diversity of disciplines that are involved in the program will be discussed. In addition, future follow-on components and plans for the institute will be presented.

Proceedings of the 2001 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright  2001, American Society for Engineering Education

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Dorworth, L., & Mania-Farnell, B., & Scachitti, S. (2001, June), The Teams Leadership Institute: Encouraging Women To Take The Road Less Traveled Paper presented at 2001 Annual Conference, Albuquerque, New Mexico. 10.18260/1-2--9888