Conference Session

The Impact of Curriculum on the Retention of Women Students

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

David Keathly, University of North Texas; Robert Akl, University of North Texas; Ryan Garlick, University of North Texas

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

. This paper briefly describes the efforts andresults of a plan for actively recruiting young women into undergraduate computer engineeringand computer science programs hosted by the University of North Texas (UNT). It also describesa series of activities aimed at improving the retention rate of students already in our programs,particularly during the freshman year. Such recruitment and retention efforts are critical to thecountry’s efforts to increase the number of engineering professionals, and are a priority for theComputer Science and Engineering (CSE) Department at UNT.We initially designed a three-part plan to achieve our recruitment and retention goals: • Sponsorship of portable and mobile summer computer engineering robotics camps

Conference Session

Poster Session

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

C. Diane Matt, WEPAN

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

HISTORY AND CURRENT UPDATEINTRODUCTIONWomen in Engineering Programs & Advocates Network (WEPAN), the Women in EngineeringDivision of the American Society of Engineering Educators (WIED ASEE), the Society ofWomen Engineers (SWE) and all focus their work on women in engineering, and each offersdifferent programs and activities to specific constituent groups. In addition, there is tangency,some overlap and resulting opportunities for collaboration, and cooperation between themembers of the three organizations, and the larger engineering and engineering diversitycommunity. This paper provides a brief history of WEPAN accomplishments and a summary ofits plans for the coming three-to-five year period. It is intended to provide information

Conference Session

Retention Programs for Women Students

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Helene Finger, California Polytechnic State University; Tracy Van Houten, University of Southern California; Barbara Curry, California Polytechnic State University; Jennifer Harris, United Parcel Service; Malia Francisco, United Parcel Service; Betsy Sale, United Parcel Service

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

AC 2007-1714: ADVANCING WOMEN IN ENGINEERING BY EMPOWERINGSTUDENT LEADERS TO PROMOTE THE RECRUITMENT AND RETENTIONOF FEMALES IN ENGINEERINGHelene Finger, California Polytechnic State University Helene Finger is the Director of the Women’s Engineering Program in the College of Engineering at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo. Her responsibilities include supervising staff and advising the student SWE section in the planning and implementation of programs for the recruitment and retention of women. She has also taught in the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department at Cal Poly since 1997 and is a registered professional engineer. In 2001 she was named a recipient of National Organization for

Conference Session

Retention Programs for Women Students

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Gretchen Hein, Michigan Technological University; Amy Monte, Michigan Technological University; Kerri Sleeman, Michigan Technological University

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

students with hands-on experiences, with a focus on career planning, to prepare themto attain a co-op or internship position. Representatives from the Career Center talk with GUIDEstudents about creating a good résumé. Students write and submit a viable résumé to the CareerCenter and participate in a résumé review as well as a mock interview. After the résumés andinterviews are completed, the students receive feedback and are provided with information aboutco-op and internship positions. Students attend the fall and spring on-campus career fairs wherethey meet with prospective employers, submit their résumés, and potentially set-up interviewsfor summer positions.The GUIDE program has evolved from being a scholarship/mentoring program to one that

Conference Session

Poster Session

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

David Cottrell, University of North Carolina-Charlotte

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

economy, and construction planning, scheduling, estimating, and management. Page 12.1136.1© American Society for Engineering Education, 2007 Outreach Initiative for Recruiting Women to Engineering: Doing a Good Deed for Girl ScoutingIntroduction The youth of today are the leaders of tomorrow. This truth is frequently brought to lightby many who would raise an alarm about a perceived trend or character trait contrary to theirvision of a secure and robust future; others would sow confidence in a generation from whichgreat things were expected. Current studies indicate that the United States is facing an

Conference Session

Retention Programs for Women Students

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Kimberly Douglas, Kansas State University

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

,plan and schedule events, handle communication participants, monitor group functioning,and host WMW events. The project managers receive logistical support from staff in theWomen in Engineering and Science Program including managing the application process,creating and distributing invitations for events, handling event RSVP processes, handlingroom reservations and managing caterers.Utilization of Resources After initial funding from the Society of Women Engineers, WMW was fortunate to be funded by a corporate sponsor, Cargill, which has contributed approximately $15,000 annually over the past six years. These resources fund monthly events, t- shirts for participants, scholarships for WMW project managers, and a small stipend for

Conference Session

K-12 Programs (Co-sponsored by K-12 Division)

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Mary Virnoche, Humboldt State University; Elizabeth Eschenbach, Humboldt State University

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

Engineering. She completed a postdoc at the Center for Advanced Decision Support in Water and Environmental Systems (CADSWES) at UC Boulder. Beth’s career goals include increasing the diversity of engineering students and improving education for all engineering students. Three of Beth’s current projects are: 1) an NSF planning project for the Collaborative Large-scale Engineering Analysis Network for Environmental Research, 2) an NSF Scientific Leadership Scholars project providing 4-year scholarships to 30 students in computer science, environmental recourses engineering and mathematics and 3) a water resources curriculum project using CADSWES software

Conference Session

Potpourri Session

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Katherine Titus-Becker, North Carolina State University; Sarah Rajala, Mississippi State University; Laura Bottomley, North Carolina State University; Dianne Raubenheimer, North Carolina State University; Jo-Ann Cohen, North Carolina State University; Kala Bullett, North Carolina State University; Susan Grant, North Carolina State University; Fay Cobb Payton, North Carolina State University; Adrianna Kirkman, North Carolina State University; Barbara Kirby, North Carolina State University; Wendy Krause, North Carolina State University; Carrie Thomas, North Carolina State University

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

paper will present an update on the WISE Village, a review of the program’s goals, in termsof assessment results from the first three years, and a discussion of the evolving plans of theVillage, including the implementation of a sophomore track within the program.IntroductionWomen only account for 24% of all science and engineering workers, although they comprise46% of all workers (Graham & Smith, 2005).1 Moreover, women and minorities continue to beunderrepresented in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) at both theundergraduate and graduate levels. For example only 20% of engineering baccalaureate degreesare awarded to women (NSF, 2004).2Interest in science and engineering majors by female freshmen has not changed

Conference Session

Potpourri Session

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Danny Bee, University of Wisconsin-Stout; Brenda Puck, University of Wisconsin, Stout; Peter Heimdahl, University of Wisconsin-Stout

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

for the Advanced STEPS participants.The design activity of “Rube’s Smart House” was deliberately designed to be messy, as alldesign experiences are, with multiple solutions possible. Based on the success of AdvancedSTEPS in 2006, the camp will be continued in 2007. The new LEGO Mindstorms NXT kit willbe utilized which will include new enhancements of a 32 bit processor, servo motors (with 1degree sensitivity), ultrasonic sensors, sound sensors, improved color recognition sensors, and Page 12.1384.6improved touch/release sensors. Plans for 2007 will also improve the training for the LEGOTeam Mentors to ensure they function as true facilitators

Conference Session

Issues of Diversity

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Julie Mariga, Purdue University; Alka Harriger, Purdue University

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

Academic Advisory Committee, the Panels, Presentations, andWorkshops Committee and act as the liaison between these committees for the 2007 GraceHopper Women in Computing Conference.The mission of the National Center for Women & Information Technology is to ensure thatwomen are fully represented in the influential world of information technology and computing.NCWIT's overarching goal is parity in the professional information technology (IT) workforce,and the fundamental strategy is to educate, disseminate, and advocate a national, multi-yearimplementation plan that generates tangible progress within 20 years.18 One way to reach manypeople is through effective media advertisements. NCWIT is working with Cisco and other ITcompanies to create

Conference Session

The Impact of Curriculum on the Retention of Women Students

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Rose Marra, University of Missouri; Barbara Bogue, Pennsylvania State University; Kelly Rodgers, University of Missouri; Demei Shen, University of Missouri

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

. Page 12.1262.1© American Society for Engineering Education, 2007 Self Efficacy of Women Engineering Students: Three Years of Data at U.S. InstitutionsAbstract This paper describes the results of three years of engineering self-efficacy datacollected from engineering students at five institutions across the U.S. Results indicate that whilestudents show positive progress on some self–efficacy and related subscales, they show adecrease on isolation subscale from the first to second measurement period. It is also notable thatthere are almost no gender differences and that self efficacy seems to be related to participationin extracurricular activities and student plans to persist in the

Conference Session

Retention Programs for Women Students

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Kieran Sullivan, Santa Clara University; Ruth Davis, Santa Clara University

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

their meetings. We set up regular meetings for the students to interact on atechnical issue of importance to all of them – how best to make use of a device they had all beengiven.[2]Purpose and HypothesesThe purpose of the current study was twofold. First, we planned to develop and evaluate aninstrument to measure the factors related to retention of women entering their first year ofengineering. Utilizing this new instrument, we then planned to determine whether interveningwith first-year women engineering students would positively influence their attitudes andincrease their retention rates in engineering.The following hypotheses were posed: 1. Psychosocial factors will be related to success in engineering programs (i.e., whether

Conference Session

Perceptions of Women's Success in STEM

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Maria Brunette, University of Massachusetts-Lowell; paula rayman, University of Massachusetts-Lowell; meg bond, University of Massachusetts-Lowell; Lu Yuan, University of Massachusetts-Lowell

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

responses from Q2) Planning Workshop (August 30th, 2006 - Lowell, MA) Final structure of discussed research themes and list of Spring 07 participants Scholars review and discuss Is consensus No

Conference Session

Climate Issues for Women Students

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Stephen Krause, Arizona State University; Dale Baker, Arizona State University; Chell Roberts, Arizona State University

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

support her self-efficacy.The second design project involved the design and construction of a robot and was completedwith a new group of team members. During the robot project Sherry received negative verbalpersuasion when her team members rejected her ideas without much discussion.“Before we started the construction of our robot, I suggested that we build a physical model.Mark (pseudonym) rejected this idea immediately saying that we had the CAD model and didnot need a second one. Ben (pseudonym) on the other hand was worried about time. Later onMark made a calculation error in his CAD design of the robot. When we put it together, it wasmuch bigger than planned. A physical model could have prevented this problem and saved ustime in the long run

Conference Session

Issues of Diversity

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Fonda Swimmer, Northern Arizona University; Karen Jarratt-Ziemski, Ft. Lewis College

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

Camp – 2005In partnership with the NAU Educational Support program, the NAU Multicultural EngineeringProgram (MEP) took the lead in the development of the first NAU engineering camp. Due tosignificant interest from the Siemens Corporation and support from the NAU HewlettEngineering Talent Pipeline, the pilot camp was developed for implementation in summer 2005.The planning team comprised of MEP staff (1 full time employee, 1 graduate assistant, 2 studentworkers) and Educational Support staff (2 full time employees) and engineering faculty (1) whomet over the course of seven months developed the week long residential camp based uponhands-on activities, week long design challenge, industry panel and workshop sessions, andextra-curricular

Conference Session

An International Perspective

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Mary Anderson-Rowland, Arizona State University; Bianca Bernstein, Arizona State University; Nancy Felipe Russo, Arizona State University

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

proportion of engineers who are women is estimated at 10%. In 1971 only9.5% of lawyers were women. In 1974 the percentage was 20.1. A plan to have at least20% women lawyers by 1980 was easily met with 35.8% women lawyers in 1981. Therewere over 44% women lawyers by 1996 and experts say that soon there will be as manywomen lawyers as men lawyers.2In contrast, the percentage of women engineers in the U.S. workforce went from 5.8% in1983 to just 10.9% in 2000. Because the percentage of women receiving bachelor’s andmaster’s degrees in engineering has been about 20% for several years with the percentageof women receiving engineering doctoral degrees even lower, the rate of growth in thepercentage of women engineers in the workforce has been extremely

Conference Session

The Impact of Curriculum on the Retention of Women Students

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Lisa Davids, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University-Prescott; Heidi Steinhauer, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University-Prescott; Darris White, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

for women and 100% of the non-graduating students plan towork on the project and remain in the engineering program next year.The all-female Baja SAE project is a unique experience that enhances the education andperceived retention rate of participating women. The project results in a group ofempowered role models that appeal to potential engineering students. As part of abroader effort to improve female representation in engineering, all-female projects havethe potential to create a lasting impact.References1 US Department of Labor website, http://www.dol.gov/wb/factsheets/nontra2003.pdf, last updated: March2003.2 Ginoria, Angela. Warming the Climate for Women in Academic Science. American Association forColleges and Universities, 1995

Conference Session

An International Perspective

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Hasmik Gharibyan, California Polytechnic State University

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

this paper we present some of the data,observations, and findings of the study; additional results of the first (Armenian) phase of thestudy can be found in a separate paper6.The investigation is ongoing (we plan to research more than one former soviet republic), andtherefore it is early to make final conclusions; however, the results obtained so far are significantenough to be presented at this time.Armenia, the Target CountryNote: All facts and statements in this section are taken from reliable official web sites7-10.Armenia (short for Republic of Armenia) is one of the 15 republics of the former Soviet Union(USSR). It covers an area of 29,800 square kilometers (slightly smaller than Maryland) and islocated in the Southern Caucasus between

Conference Session

Perspectives for Women Faculty

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Nicole Hawkes, WiSE / University of Southern California; Jean Morrison, University of Southern California; Cauligi Raghavendra, University of Southern California

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

the equivalent of 8weeks of full-time work ($4,500). Students must confer regularly with their faculty sponsorsand, upon the sponsor’s recommendation, participate in safety training, meetings, seminars,journal clubs, discussion groups, and other scholarly activities of the host laboratory,department or research group.3. Support for Activities (informal growth over five years)WiSE maintains discretionary funds for the support of activities that serve to increase theinvolvement of women in S&E at USC. Applicants send a brief proposal outlining the scopeand participants of the activity and an estimated budget. Activities may include: sponsoringa lecture, hosting a conference, attending a conference or event, or planning a field visit

Conference Session

MentorNet

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Mary Jo Wellenstein, Milwaukee School of Engineering; Sandra Courter, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Susannah Sandrin, University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh; Karen Showers, Wisconsin Technical College System; Leslie Wilkins, Maui Economic Development Board; Jennifer Chou-Green, MentorNet; Carol Muller, MentorNet; Laurie Mayberry, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Ann Bloor, Milwaukee School of Engineering; Isla Yap, Maui Economic Development Board

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

of the members in advancing it’s mission toadvance women especially and people of color into the opportunities that STEM careers offer;thereby, making a difference in their own lives and that of others. This partnership broughttogether a diverse group of institutions, positions and geographic regions. Public and privateuniversities, technical and community colleges, and nonprofit organizations worked toward a Page 12.1060.4common goal. This included one CEO, one vice-president, three STEM faculty members, andfour program directors that planned and organized the structure of the initiative via phoneconferences and e-mail over the summer of

Conference Session

The Impact of Curriculum on the Retention of Women Students

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Patricia Backer, San Jose State University

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

the same issues and they wrote a 1000-word paperanalyzing their sources. In order to meet this learning objective, a student had to get a Cor better on his/her research exercise. The students also completed a multimedia classactivity related to this learning objective related to technology-related stereotypes of menand women.Since the assessment data for Fall 2006 still indicates that this course did not fully meet thisstudent learning objective, the course will be revised in Fall 2007 to increase its coverage of this Page 12.1377.7student learning objective. I plan on redesigning my course materials related to learningobjective 3 to give the

Conference Session

Climate Issues for Women Students

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Xiang-Yun Du, Aalborg University; Anette Kolmos, Aalborg University

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

engineering study. In comparison, female students referred to drawing,calculation and language edition in writing as their main technical contribution. In addition, femalestudents all spoke of their special contribution in terms of planning, coordination, communication andmanagement. As one said, ‘I am good at structure. I am the one who is arranging things, making programs and agendas for everyday, structuring what we are doing, and so on. Guys are messy, sometimes they get too involved and tend to forget deadlines.’However, these features can not replace their lack of technical skills. Female students need to makespecial efforts to catch up.At A&D, gendered features in doing the project work can also be identified, for example, male

Conference Session

An International Perspective

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Carmen Maldonado, University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez; Tatiana Ramirez, University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez; Idalis Vazques, University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez; Alexandra Medina-Borja, University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

? Page 12.1080.8III. Literature ReviewDuring years the percentage of women that expressed interest in sciences and engineering studieswas half of the number of males maintaining this interest. In the United States however, thispercentage has been declining. According to these statistics, by the end of high school only 29%of girls think they would enjoy being a scientist while 52% of boys think this way13. At the endof their first year of college less than 33.33% of the girls interested in those careers stayed thisway12. In 2001 Melymuka15 reported that even though teenage girls are using computers and theInternet at rates similar to their male peers, they are five times less likely to consider atechnology-related career or plan on taking post

Conference Session

Poster Session

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Lari Garrison, University of Washington; Reed Stevens, University of Washington; Portia Sabin, University of Washington; Andrew Jocuns, University of Washington

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

assembling a number of resources (e.g., advisors,department websites, classmates, sorority sisters) in order to aid them in thisnavigation.We analyzed the field notes from observations and transcripts from interviewswith sixteen students, who when they enrolled at UWest, planned to major inengineering. The interviews and observations took place over the course of thestudents’ first three years at UWest, focusing on the period of time when theywere readying their applications for admission to the college, the spring of theirsophomore year, to examine the implications of the uncertainty that students feelabout the admissions process. We describe: • the uncertainty that students have about their futures in the engineering college

Conference Session

Perspectives for Women Faculty

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Stacy Birmingham, Grove City College

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

accomplished in the past year and what I wanted to accomplish in thenext three years. Only occasionally did I meet with my department chairs over the years todiscuss my career, however. I also started my faculty career before the implementation of aformal faculty mentoring system, and did not have the friendly advice of a trusted colleague toguide me, nor did I actively seek out such advice.I was in a quandary: according to the plan—never articulated in the academy, but generallyunderstood by all—everything was fine. Like Balboa upon finding the Pacific Ocean, rather thanjoy, I was professionally void. While large-scale research was fun and rewarding, I found that itlacked a certain satisfaction. Perhaps it was that as projects get bigger, one moves

Conference Session

Potpourri Session

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Lisa Davids, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University-Prescott; Heidi Steinhauer, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University-Prescott

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

Figure 2. Page 12.1211.8 Table 2: Survey Questions Questions:Q1. The coach helped a mentee / the mentee was helped by a coachQ2. Consider their coaching teammates their friendsQ3. Liked having two or more coaches (instead of just one) per teamQ4. Liked having two or more mentees (instead of just one) per teamQ5. Plan on participating next semesterQ6. Spoke often with their coaching teammatesQ7. Mentoring Madness was a fun and constructive event 80 70 60 Q1 50

Conference Session

K-12 Programs (Co-sponsored by K-12 Division)

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Lynn Fujioka, isisHawaii and Women in Technology; Sheryl Hom, isisHawaii and Women in Technology; Leslie Wilkins, Maui Economic Development Board

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

comments from students: “I learned from my mentor that anyone, including women, can succeed to a high level position in any profession that is dominated by males. She use herself as an example and she inspired me.” "I once went to my mentor’s laboratory where she set aside most of her day to show me how to run one of her college labs. It was so amazing to actually perform experiments I read about in my biology class. My mentor also answered a ton of questions that aren’t related to biology; I can tell her about anything.” “…It really helps to have someone older than me to assist with future planning. This program (gave) me opportunities that many students will not be able to receive. I (felt

Conference Session

Climate Issues for Women Students

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Sheryl Duggins, Southern Polytechnic State University

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

. &Margolis, J. (June 2002) “Unlocking The Clubhouse: The Carnegie Mellon Experience” InroadsSIGCSE Bulletin, Women In Computing 34(2) pg 79-8323. Ibid pg8124. Frieze, C. & Blum, L. “Building an Effective Computer Science Student Organization: The Carnegie MellonWomen@SCS Action Plan, Inroads SIGCSE Bulletin, Women In Computing 34(2) pg 74-7825. Cuny, J. & Aspray, W. (2000) “ Recruitment and Retention of Women Graduate Students in Computer Scienceand Engineering” Reports of a Workshop, Organized by the Computing Research Association’s Committee on thestatus of Women in Computing Research26. Duggins, S. (2002) “Issues Surrounding Recruitment and Retention of Women in Computer Science” PanelPresentation, 2002 American Society for

Conference Session

K-12 Programs (Co-sponsored by K-12 Division)

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Carol Stwalley, Purdue University

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

major challenge of thismethod is providing consent from the parent and child.A significant difference of the presented results between now and what would have been seen adecade ago, is that boys and girls are both most interested in the major category of electronicsand are consistently not interested in household items. This should help individuals plan for whattechnical information can be highlighted in the elementary arena which will excite girls and stillhold interest to the boys within the classroom.AcknowledgmentsThe author would like to acknowledge the Flour Corporation for funding this research. Manythanks also go to Samia Twainy, an undergraduate in the School of Mechanical Engineering, fortransferring all the data from the surveys into

Conference Session

Recruitment and Retention Topics

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Susan Lord, University of San Diego; Michelle Camacho, University of San Diego

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

know?’ Even though we have accreditation and we have … some discussions about what constitutes a good engineer, 12 it’s very skill-focused. And we haven’t really asked some of the questions that we should be asking. What do engineers need to know now? What do we need to know in order to plan the future? And to recognize that the choices that we are making have an impact on what kinds of technology are going to be available in twenty years.These are radical ideas in engineering education. While it is not typical to challenge the canon,perhaps by injecting new ways of thinking about modes of teaching/learning, creative responseswill arise to meet contemporary