Conference Session

Mid Atlantic Papers

Collection

2017 Mid-Atlantic Section Fall Conference

Authors

Laura Bayerle; Marietta R. Scanlon, Pennsylvania State University, Berks Campus

Tagged Topics

Diversity, Mid-Atlantic Section Fall Conference

AmericanAssociation of University Women (AAUW) study concludes that social and environmentalfactors contribute to the underrepresentation of women in engineering, and that girls’achievements and interest are shaped by the environment around them.4,5 Supporting researchidentifies social pressures such as sexism, discrimination, isolation and lack of role models aspressures that leave female students rejecting the field of engineering.6,7 Another major factorthat plays a prominent role in retention of women in engineering is self-efficacy. Femalestudents typically start college with a lack of confidence in their abilities as compared to theirmale counterparts despite comparable academic skills, and women typically transfer out ofengineering earlier and with a