Conference Session

Using Teams, Seminars & Research Opportunities for Retention

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Christine Hailey, Utah State University

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

, including external guest speakers,introductions to the female faculty members, and presentations by Career Services.In addition to borrowing many of the ideas from a number of existing seminars, the USUseminar was shaped by data from the Cooperative Institutional Research Program (CIRP) Page 11.994.2freshman survey.6 The 2004 CIRP survey was completed by 79% of the main campus freshmanclass. USU freshman students differ from those of their peers at comparable institutions in anumber of areas. ‚ 86% of the USU freshman class viewed raising a family as essential or very important compared with 78% of the freshman at peer schools. ‚ 35% of

Conference Session

Women Faculty Issues and NSF's ADVANCE program

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jana Renner Martinez, University of Texas-El Paso; Evelyn Posey, University of Texas-El Paso

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

attend monthlyluncheons with their mentors to talk about issues that concern them. In addition, all tenure trackwomen are invited to attend brown bags lunches in which topics such as how to negotiate the Page 11.647.4challenges of maternity leave, grant writing, and progress towards tenure are discussed. Thebrown bags provide a venue for peer mentoring among women faculty.Participants report that they find support from the program in ways that departments cannot orare not providing. Participants mention that being able to meet other pre-tenure women outsidetheir department helps them to discuss and solve problems and to feel less isolated. In

Conference Session

Using Teams, Seminars & Research Opportunities for Retention

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Carolyn Vallas, University of Virginia; Anaïs Miodek, University of Virginia; Larry Richards, University of Virginia

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

frequently madeavailable to undergraduates. While completing whatever technical training they require to workin the lab, participants create a plan of research with their mentors taking into account therelatively short, ten-week, time frame of the research experience. In this period the student musthave time to complete the planned research, analyze findings and write up their results. One ofthe stipulations is that the research be relevant to the faculty-mentor’s overall research goals sothat the student is involved in a meaningful way. During the course of their research, theparticipant meets regularly with their mentors which include the faculty member as well as withthe graduate students, post-doctoral researchers and even undergraduate

Conference Session

Using Teams, Seminars & Research Opportunities for Retention

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Harriet Hartman, Rowan University; Moshe Hartman, Retired

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

seems to be a match between the needs of engineering education for the21st century and female preferences for learning when it comes to the importance of teamwork.Team or group work (the two are used interchangeably in this paper) is supposed to be apedagogy that women prefer, since it involves collaborative rather than competitive learning,interactional negotiations, a peer setting for confidence building and a safer environment forerror correction for those unsure of their skills. It also provides the opportunity to learn fromeach other’s strengths. Presumably, the emphasis on teamwork will thus make engineeringeducation more palatable for female students, and has been recommended as a strategy to makeengineering (and other math and science

Conference Session

Women Faculty Issues and NSF's ADVANCE program

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Barb Silver, University of Rhode Island; G. Boudreaux-Bartels, University of Rhode Island; Helen Mederer, University of Rhode Island; Lynn Pasquerella, University of Rhode Island; Joan Peckham, University of Rhode Island; Mercedes River-Hudec, University of Rhode Island; Karen Wishner, University of Rhode Island

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

describing mentoring relationships. Participants discussed their experiencesand expectations, which were compared to research findings on mentoring, and generated manysuggestions.Several grant-related workshops have also been held. ADVANCE collaborated with the URIResearch Office in sponsoring a series of Grant Development Workshops geared toward juniorfaculty; these included sessions on Securing Funding, Collaborative Proposals, and GrantFunding. A Post-Award Grant Management Workshop is planned in the near future to provideconcrete advice for navigating the university bureaucracy once a grant is received.Monthly Writing Workshops, facilitated by a member of the ADVANCE leadership team, arealso being held. These provide a defined time set aside for

Conference Session

Using Teams, Seminars & Research Opportunities for Retention

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

De'Jeune Antoine, Xavier University of Louisiana; Mica Hutchison, Purdue University; Deborah Follman, Purdue University

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

because it includes factors such as fear of evaluation (i.e., ”I avoidevaluations if possible and have a dread of others evaluating me.”), feelings that success cannotbe repeated (i.e., “When I have succeeded at something and received recognition for myaccomplishments, I have doubts that I can keep repeating that success.”) and feelings of beingless capable than one’s peers (i.e., “I often compare my ability to those around me and think theymay be more intelligent than I am.”)8. The Clance IP Scale is a series of Likert-scale questionsthat yields a score from 0 to 100. Scores closer to 100 indicate more intense imposter feelingsand greater success anxiety. Scores falling in the range of 0 to 40 correlate to “few” imposterfeelings, 41 to 60 to

Conference Session

K-12 Programs for Recruiting Women

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jan DeWaters, Clarkson University; Susan Powers, Clarkson University; Mary Graham, Clarkson University

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

career aspirations are great.Thus, young women – particularly non-minority women – are qualified to pursue SET studies,but are choosing not to. The reasons for this are varied and complex, and likely stem from anumber of complex issues that permeate throughout family, school, and society, including forexample the lack of exposure to technology-based toys and experiences as children, teacherexpectations and classroom climate, lack of encouragement, gender-biased literature, subtleparental and societal influences, lack of female professional role models, peer pressure to avoidacademic subjects deemed decidedly “unfeminine,” feelings of isolation, lack of confidence inmath and science, and a perception that SET subjects are the domain of “white

Conference Session

1st Year Retention Programs for Women Students

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Joseph Urban, Arizona State University; Mary Anderson-Rowland, Arizona State University; Faye Navabi, Arizona State University; Debra Banks, Consultant

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

with a review ofcourse material for the exam. The sample exam helped students identify the topics that they werefinding hard to understand so as to put extra effort to study those topics for the exam.The following two student comments on the workshop were indicative of the success: “Sampleexams are awesome, I recommend future students utilize the workshop” and “Tell other studentsto go to workshop as much as possible as it is helpful”. Students found sample exams to beextremely helpful and wanted to have extended workshop hours during review for exams.Students felt that the group discussions held in workshop, as well as interaction with peers wasvery helpful.The next section of this paper discusses the role of the placement examination as the

Conference Session

International and Sustainability Perspectives and Women in Engineering

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Alicia Abadie, Louisiana State University; Ann Christy, Ohio State University; Marybeth Lima, Louisiana State University-Baton Rouge

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

were 5-6 hrs drive from home, and grant writing threw me off balance many a times. I was on the verge of giving up so many times. I used to think of (and still do) giving up my job and concentrating on my family. But the thought that I probably will fail myself and so many other women who look up to successful women professionals kept me going. Also, I knew that I would disappoint my mother and sisters who did so much for my education.Advising and mentoring. Respondents were asked a number of questions about mentoring andadvising. Forty-seven percent of respondents were mentored as graduate students, usually bytheir major advisors or other departmental faculty, though most stated that the mentoring wasinformal