or 12th)in high school (53%) and underclassmen (Freshmen, Sophomore) in a 4-year college (32%), withten (10) alumnae post-college (6 in medical school, 3 in the workforce, and 1 in college). Thecontrol respondents were skewed towards younger students who were recently waitlisted orrejected due to program capacity. 30% of the controls were underclassmen in high school; 58%were high school upperclassmen; and 12% were in college. Alumnae reported that the program had a positive effect on their interest in medicine,self-confidence in hands-on tasks, and perception of women in engineering and medicine (Figure1). There was no difference in these outcomes between alumnae who have matriculated tocollege and those still in high school (p>
focuses on the topic ofnegotiation, with an emphasis on providing practical ideas and strategies relevant to academicprofessionals at both entry-level and mid-career who find that they need to negotiate a careeropportunity. The paper will review negotiation basics, as well as discuss what can be negotiated,how one might proceed to discuss these, and how listening is critical to negotiation. By viewingnegotiation as a “wise agreement”1 that seeks to meet the needs of both parties to the extentpossible, this paper presents several common cases or scenarios that illustrate the importance ofunderstanding the elements involved both from the faculty member’s perspective as well as fromthe perspective of their department head, dean or
theuniversity and visited the local STEM high school for girls. The Women in TechnologySymposium also featured female student researchers who gave oral poster presentations. Inaddition, to keep students involved and motived in the technology field, a series of workshops,mentoring, and professional development seminars were incorporated for ongoing studentengagement. Background: The need to improve diversity in STEMDuring the last several decades, there has been a growing public consensus that it is vital toprepare a qualified STEM workforce that will generate a profound impact on the nation’seconomy and prosperity 1. Even though the total percentage of undergraduate studentspursuing STEM degrees in the U.S. has moderately increased
Training)Introduction A casual scan of department websites in the college of engineering at most universitiesreveals an obvious imbalance in the ratio of male to female professors. According to datacollected by the National Science Foundation, women were conferred roughly 40% of doctoraldegrees in STEM fields from 2002-2012, yet in 2010, women accounted for only 27% of tenure-track assistant professorships in engineering.1 While the gender gap in STEM fields remains anongoing discussion,2-4 programs that provide resources and support for female engineeringdoctoral students interested in pursuing academic careers may help to address this gap. The causeof this ‘leaky pipeline’ is likely the culmination of several factors including
development.Introduction Times have changed. There is a new message emerging. The future of engineering, and some would say of society, depends on its delivery. The new message starts with the recognition that engineering design is a social and humanistic field, as well as a technical and scientific one; and that, like other professions, human impact is placed at the center of the process [1].This excerpt is taken from Diane Rover’s Journal of Engineering Education AcademicBookshelf review of the National Academy of Engineering’s (NAE) Changing the Conversationreport. The conclusion of Rover’s article, much like the report she reviews, is clear – “in an ageof ‘messaging’”, messages have the power to transform engineering education.A
satisfaction that extends their scholarship on SocialCognitive Career Theory11. In this process model, the authors posit that worksatisfaction is influenced by 1) one’s affective traits, 2) participation in goal-directedactivities, 3) environmental supports and resources, 4) work self-efficacy and 5) bothexpected and received works conditions and outcomes. The relationship betweenenvironmental supports and resources and work satisfaction is both direct and indirect.Indirect factors include one’s participation in and progress toward goal-directedactivities as mediated by work self-efficacy and work conditions and outcomes. Theadvantage of this work satisfaction model is that it acknowledges both subjective andpsychological forms of well-being along
). We do note, however, that thissituation did not emerge as a theme in our interviews, probably because—as Meadows andSekaquaptewa argue—students saw their assignment to non-technical work as self-determined,and therefore not an issue they thought to complain about.Part I ResultsStudents routinely encounter problems in their teamsConsistent with the EC2000 criteria, 98% of students (n=664) reported participating on at leastone team, with the average student participating in three teams in the most recent year.Table 1 shows that team problems are very common: 85% of engineering students reported atleast one team problem in their STEM classes in the most recent year. Moreover, many of theseissues appear to have limited students’ opportunities to
responsibility for establishing andmaintaining departmental cultures4. They should ‘develop trusting, close, and supportiverelationships with their faculty members’ (2, p. 55), and they should have ‘a genuine concernfor the department and its members…loyalty toward academic colleagues…personal integrityfor maintaining trust and credibility’ (11, p. 42). Effective heads are able to reduce, resolveand prevent conflict, ‘foster the development of individual faculty members’ talents andinterests’, and ‘maintain faculty morale’ (1,p. 581). Successful heads serve as role models andmentors, and encourage and support their faculty (6, p. 496).Despite these normative assertions of how things should be, however, the body of literatureon department heads and their
, computer science, and physicsJennifer I. Clark1, Sarah L. Codd2, Angela C. Des Jardins3, Christine M. Foreman2, Brett W. Gunnink2,Carolyn Plumb2, Katherine Stocker3Affiliations:1 Department of Education, Montana State University2 College of Engineering, Montana State University3 Department of Physics, Montana State UniversityThe College of Engineering (COE) and Montana Space Grant Consortium (MSGC) PeerMentoring Program at Montana State University began as a pilot program in 2013 with twoupper-division female peer mentors. Each of these women was assigned about 35 freshmanfemale engineering, computer science or physics students. The program was an overwhelmingsuccess, and a survey at the end of the year indicated that 90% of the freshmen
this study represent our participants’ shared experiences thatinfluenced their choice to pursue and remain in engineering.Introduction Policy makers and media have put a spotlight on STEM’s gender inequalities,1 yet,engineering’s public image suggests that the field has become more inclusive. The fact thatFacebook hired Sheryl Sandberg, and support her efforts towards women leadership intechnology is one example of the perceived change. Such high-profile female role-models shouldbe celebrated. However, the expected motivational effects of high-profile female role-models arenot yet translating to grass-roots female participation. In fact, the graduation rate of women fromengineering programs is declining,2 and women only make up 18% of
Engaging Freshmen Women in Research – Feedback from Students and Best Practices for FacultyIntroductionIncreasing the participation of diverse populations in engineering and technology fields is achallenge for many universities. A significant means to address this issue is to increase theparticipation of women students. However, this can prove to be challenging. In a studyconducted by Marra and Bogue,1 it was found that although women engineering students enterthe university with high levels of self-confidence and self-esteem, those levels decline quicklyduring the first year. They also found through their research, that the initial levels were neverregained. One method to help retain diversity in engineering and technology
only what motivates women (and subsequently what is likely to Page 26.543.4prompt them to leave the profession), but also what is unique about these motivations whencompared to male engineers at similar times in their careers.MethodsFor this analysis, 11 men and 11 women were interviewed during 2010. All interviewees earnedtheir first engineering degrees between 2000 and 2006. This analysis is part of a larger study(described in Figure 1) that began with a screening survey designed to elicit basic demographicinformation and completed by 630 participants from three different higher education institutions.From this screening survey, target
females [1]. The Women’sEngineering Institute will provide academic, career, social and extracurricular activities, plusresearch and professional development opportunities for women in engineering. The center willnot only focus on recruitment and retention, but also on providing excellent financial andprofessional development opportunities to all female engineering students at Embry-Riddle. Anumber of other universities have already established similar centers of excellence that havegreatly benefitted their female students and faculties, e.g., the WiSE program at the University ofWashington [2] and University of Iowa [3], the Advance initiative at Lehigh University [4].Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University has already made considerable strides in
education. She can be contacted at cynthia.e.foor-1@ou.edu.Dr. Susan E. Walden, University of Oklahoma Dr. Susan E. Walden is the founding Director of the Research Institute for STEM Education (RISE) and an associate research professor in the Dean’s office of the College of Engineering (CoE). She is also a founding member of the Sooner Engineering Education (SEED) Center. c American Society for Engineering Education, 2016 Barriers to Broadening Participation in Engineering Competition TeamsIntroductionDespite years of efforts to increase diversity in STEM, engineering continues to be a white maledominated discipline. The low representation of female and minority
workflow process has its origins in manufacturing,when flow charting enabled engineers to follow the measured or monitored variables. It now isalso applied to business processes when complex activities or plans involve decision-making, Page 26.203.4infrastructure and human tasks36.Using flow chart software, a detailed profile can illuminate the scale, scope and decisions of anorganization’s diversity actions37. A simple workflow process is typically linear, without muchbranching into other process avenues. As shown in Figure 1, a basic, general workflow processdiagram shows an action or intervention designed to meet stated goals and which follows
initialparticipants, a size optimal for large group training as well as small group work with the fourmentors. Professors, academic advisors, and academic support staff were solicited for studentnominations. Due to the timing of the program funding, the request for nominations was not sentuntil the last week of the semester, resulting in 15 nominations received. Nominees were askedto complete an application and were subsequently interviewed by at least two of the mentors. Ofthe 15 nominees, 13 were invited to join the program (one student didn’t respond for aninterview and one student was graduating). Table 1 shows the demographics of the male studentcohort. Once selected, these students were asked to come to campus prior to the start of theautumn semester
. Page 26.333.1 c American Society for Engineering Education, 2015 Catching Up to the 51%: Promoting Female Student Engagement in Computing EducationAbstractBetween 1966 and 2006, the number of women who earned a computer science degreefluctuated, rising from 14.6% (1966) to 34% (1986) but thereafter falling to 20.5% (2006).1 Incontrast to this unpredictability, the demand for computing and information technologyprofessionals has been steady, projected to grow about 20% in the next ten years. However,United States Census data show that, although women make up nearly half of the workforce,they hold only one quarter of all technology and computing jobs and have earned only 18% ofthe
Transformation Guided by a Multi-Frame Organizational Analysis ApproachAbstractThe goal of an ongoing institutional transformation project (NSF ADVANCE #1209115) at alarge private university (hereafter referred to as LPU) is to increase the representation andadvancement of women STEM faculty widely by removing barriers to resources that supportcareer success and by creating new interventions and resources. An additional goal is to adaptinterventions to address the needs of key subpopulations classified by ethnicity or hearing status.The work of the project, which began in 2012, is to: 1) refine and strengthen targetedinstitutional structures; 2) improve the quality of women faculty’s work lives; 3) aligninstitutional
successful interactions and learning outcomes.1-3 One important challenge centers onthe interactions between students from groups negatively stereotyped as poor performers inengineering (e.g., women and under-represented racial minorities) and others. A body of researchin psychology indicates that students from these marginalized groups may have qualitativelydifferent group work experiences compared to others, which may contribute to their self-selection from engineering and thus their group’s under-representation in engineering fields.Recent research suggests that the negative experiences of people from marginalized groups onengineering student design teams can influence many factors that contribute to persistence andsuccess, such as development of
Sciences havemade strides to assess gender differences in science and engineering by examining thedistribution of federal research funds32. PCAST (President's Council of Advisors on Science andTechnology) called for more spending at every point of the Science and Engineering pipeline.Universities have been called to 1) increase retention rates among undergraduates who declare aninterest in science and engineering degrees and 2) improve the climate for women. Without theimplementation and enforcement of Title IX, institutions will continue to miss the mark forattracting and retaining women and underrepresented populations.Sevo’s 2009 Literature Overview provides much of the history and development of theapplication of Title IX to Science and
“and that's why we’re emphasizing math and science. That's why we’re emphasizingteaching girls math and science.” This was followed by the White House creation of theSTEM Master Teacher Corp as a new initiative in July 2012. However, it is still not wellunderstood exactly what factors affect persistence in undergraduate STEM majors andwhere the focus should be placed in order to improve persistence. There is a need forfurther research to help shape policies directed at improving the participation of womenin STEM undergraduate studies.NSF-20122 data for the 2009 high school graduating class showed that women are nowwell represented in advanced math and science high school courses. Table 1 presents thepercentage of male and female students that
kinds, the fraction of respondents who are female isabout 10% and quite stable across the range from 18 to 45. Among high-school students Page 26.1738.3the fraction of girls with an explicit interest in IT is over 30%, see Figure 1. This findingimplies that women, who chose IT as a specialty at the University stay in the profession.However, although many girls demonstrate an interest in IT area they do not choose acareer in IT. Why and where have all the girls gone? Percent of women in IT by agegroup 35 30 % Women
credibility or respect 13, 19; andlack of mentoring and/or sponsorship by a senior colleague. 11, 13, 18, 20These findings from the faculty climate survey, objective data review, and benchmarking laid theground work for the successful submission and subsequent funding of the National ScienceFoundation Institutional Transformation (IT) grant. The AdvanceRIT (NSF Award #1209115project was implemented in 2012. The objectives of this project are to: 1. Refine and strengthen targeted institutional structures, and install practices that promoting representation and advancement of women faculty. 2. Improve the quality of women faculty work life, professional development, and incentive/reward structures. 3. Align institutional
doctor, for atleast 30 to 40 years, is usually “When was the date of your last period?”.While the picture is bleak for women, whose representation in U.S. engineering programs hasbeen around 18% for at least the past decade, it is even bleaker for African-American students,whose representation is in the single digits: around 6.5% at our institution, and an average of 4%nationally.Research on URMs has generally focused on students who leave engineering and what causedtheir departure. For example, Marra et al.2 shows students of both genders tend to drop out ofengineering primarily for two reasons: 1) the curriculum is too challenging and the quality ofteaching too poor, and 2) students don’t believe they belong. Ohland et al.3, 4 present an
feedback about specific elements of the LLC program. Wehave found that our first two cohorts of female engineering students, currently in their secondand third years, express significantly higher levels of career expectations, self-efficacy, feelingsof inclusion and coping towards engineering than when they first entered. !IntroductionEngineering remains an academic area where women obtain a small fraction of bachelor degrees,and this trend does not seem to be changing in the near future. A recent report by the NationalStudent Clearinghouse found that although more students are pursuing S&E degrees, women’sshare of these majors has failed to increase over the last ten years.1 Researchers’ assumptions thatas women claimed more of the
diversity, particularly the recruitment of womento that particular program. Aligning with the goal, the following objectives were developed.Objective 1: Increase the enrollment and retention of the female engineering students.Objective 2: Improve female students’ attitudes and perceptions toward careers in engineeringfields.Objective 3: Enhance female students’ self-efficacy in the learning of engineering.Objective 4: Increase the six-year graduation rate of female students (currently at 53% for theuniversity). The department placed an emphasis on increasing the general graduation rate of allwomen students as opposed to just women engineering students to be aligned with theuniversity's strategic goals.In alignment with these objectives, from 2011
with advisors and mentors, and provided brainstorming and support to help negotiatethese relationships. The assessment data were hand-coded to identify common themes2 and theresults include some striking perspectives of graduate women in STEM (Science, Technology,Engineering, Math) and suggestions of ways to better support members of this group throughco-curricular programs.IntroductionIn 2013, the College of Engineering at Michigan State University (MSU) was awarded a mini-grant to support a co-curricular program for graduate students that used the best-selling book,Lean In: Women, Work and the Will to Lead 1 as a framework for promoting professionaldevelopment and community building. “Lean In” encourages both men and women to examinethe
(STEM) disciplines. Across all groups, womenparticipate at lower levels than their co-ethnic male counterparts.1-3 Most activities to rectifysuch a deficiency in STEM disciplines have focused on K-16 initiatives to address lack ofpreparation, inability to balance coursework and external commitments, self-efficacy, andfinancial limitations.4-6 However, there has been minimal focus on issues faced by graduatestudents or the need for effective mentoring of post-docs and new faculty in engineering toattract and retain them in academic careers. This is alarming as one approach to increase thenumber of underrepresented minorities who graduate with a STEM degree is to use hierarchicalmentoring, i.e., undergraduate mentor to faculty mentor.7 This is a
programs, etc.) haveimpacted the success of these women, it was important to have distinct research sites so that Icould examine the effects of various policies and procedures on the careers of the researchparticipants within the context of each institution’s programs and policies.Population and Sample I interviewed women faculty who have their primary appointment in the engineeringschool each campus (since some faculty have dual appointments). The objective for each site was to interview at least fifty percent of the faculty so that my sample would reflect the variedexperience of tenured women faculty at each site. Table 1-1 describes the population and sampleat each research site and Table 1-2 provides employment and demographic
"biological clock" that imposes genuine constraints when women bear children. As anexample, Assimaki et al.’s 1 study of issues that affect the retention and professionaldevelopment of female faculty in Electrical and Computer Engineering in universities in Greecenoted that there are difficulties related to “the demands of an academic career due to the paralleldemands of the role of the woman as wife and mother.” Similarly, women’s perceptions andprofessional issues in Civil Engineering include concerns with the level of commitment that anacademic career requires in comparison to their family obligations.10 Females also take careerbreaks due to their partner’s relocation or to take care of an elder family member.11 Researchsuggests that some females