undergraduate declared female majors in the Department of Mechanical Engineering (2, 2A, and 2OE) by class year and class standing. All data taken from the annual October census (“Number of Women Students”).2It is very important to note that this jump at MIT does not reflect a national trend. In the Spring2017 Term at the Georgia Institute of Technology, women compose only 27.4% of the totalundergraduate mechanical engineering majors (“Enrollment by Major”), while women composed35.4% of undergraduates in the fall term of 2015 (Georgia Institute of Technology). For the2016-2017 academic year at the California Institute of Technology, women compose 40.9% ofthe total undergraduate population (Caltech), but only 34.8% of the total
tone of the reform and interactions among the parties involved. A summary of thistimeline is presented in Table 1. We also gathered information and analyzed the composition ofeach committee during each academic year of the promotion reform process: the number ofmembers by gender, rank, and type of appointment (tenure-track or non-tenure track). Thesedemographic dimensions reflect underlying power differentials among institutional members andmay also reflect a variety of professional interests and strengths.Step 2. Inductively generating categories and micro-processes. We then analyzed our casestudy data to identify key categories of action and interaction within the reform process. We paidclose attention to how these actions and interactions
thatintegrated learning dance moves with algorithmic thinking and computer programming. Thispaper will discuss the results of that camp that was offered in a very small rural town in asouthern state in the United States, and how the arts component influenced the learners’perception of computing.IntroductionScience, Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics (STEAM) has been defined asinterdisciplinary education that includes the arts with Science, Technology, Engineering andMathematics (STEM) in ways to promote creativity and reflection [5]. With younger citizens inthe United States using online computers more than ever before, and research indicating that thehigh school years is likely too late to influence perceptions and self-efficacy in computing
with the organizational analysis approach and project goals.Organizational Analysis ApproachOver the first two years of the project, the team successfully used the multi-frame organizationalanalysis approach,2, 3 as proposed. Recently this approach has been refined to reflect variousrealities of the project and a reconfigured set of three perspectives to guide the work, namelystructural, environmental, and political (Figure 3). Additionally, some of the interventionplacement has been shifted within these categories to better map to an evolving evaluation plan.Project GoalsCurrently, three project goals, displayed on the logic model (Figure 3), map to the originalproposal’s set of four goals where each related to an intervention grouping of
that contribute to how women develop their engineering identity and persist inengineering programs is necessary in understanding student satisfaction, achievement, andoutcome expectations. The following section presents the theoretical framework and for the proposed researchwhich includes a brief review of notable research on identity theory and women in engineering.The methodology section outlines the proposed participants, data collection, data analysis, andwill be followed by a discussion of major findings for this study. The paper will conclude witha discussion of the results, implications of the findings, recommendations for future research, anda personal reflection on the research process.Theoretical Framework and Literature
programming than their peers in fall 2018 is higherat 49.4% than subsequent semesters. There is no substantial difference in perception of femalescross the semesters. Male students largely do not express a perception that they are better atcomputer programming than females.Figure 4. Perceptions of Males versus Females in Post- surveys Fall 2018 and Fall 2019(Column labels are in percentage).The racial demographics of the classes studied reflect the underrepresentation of racial minoritiesin computer science education. All fall 2018 data is from CS0 students with a major in computerscience or software engineering. Spring 2019 data represents CS1 students not in a computingmajor, while the fall 2019 data is from CS1 students in those computing
of belonging and engineering identity sometimes overlapsbecause they have some similarities but there are also some distinctions between the twoconstructs. Students sense of belonging relates to their reflection on current experiences andgreater affective components in their majors, like- how comfortable they feel in engineeringclassroom or college. It emerges from the self-reflection of the students’ feelings when theycompare themselves with their peers [10]. On the other hand, engineering identity is theirbroader sense of fit in the engineering discipline, like- the extent student sees themselves as aprospective engineer [14], [15].In an engineering context, learning engineering content also requires becoming a member ofthe engineering
undergraduate engineering- or science-based computing major? Analysis isexpected to reveal the experiences and stakeholders that impact their decisions to enroll in acomputing major and persist into the workforce.BackgroundWith global competitiveness and homeland security driving the need to increase United Statesparticipation in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) workforce [4].In 2013, the National Center for Women and Information Technology (NCWIT) reported thatonly 26% of jobs in computing were held by women; African American women represented only3% of the computing workforce [5]. This reflects the need for accessible co-curricularprogramming in the southern region of the United States (US), particularly for females and
make meaning of thetraining, reflecting on how it impacted them personally, as well as on how it could impact theirpeers in the College. The meaning-making stage allowed cohort members to understand theapplicability of social justice work in STEM fields and the roles they play in creating systemicchange. Throughout the semester, AWE members attended training sessions on presentationskills, including how to manage an audience, how to speak in front of large groups, and how tofacilitate sensitive discussions. They also worked on building cohesiveness as a group as theystarted to examine possible locations and audiences for outreach in the university community.The time spent on AWE-related activities by cohort members ranged from one to five
leader.” – Asian American EngineerA few participants indicated that they had worked as interns or during college for certaincompanies. They reflected on the importance of the support that they had received from theircoworkers, as well as the value of having that work experience when it came time to look for a jobafter graduation. “As I was going to school, I was also working full-time at the CAD designers. I worked in the industry another four years prior to working as an engineer. My coworkers were willing to help me with homework. My employer was very acceptable and very supportive of me going to school, so they allowed me to work out hours to make up those hours.” – Asian American Engineer “I started off
began as a week-long residentialexperience, with counselors and mentors leading more of the workshops than faculty. Theworkshops are less technical than those offered at the high school level, but reflect the broadintroduction to multiple engineering disciplines and computer science. The program also advisesparticipants how to prepare for future studies in STEM. Middle school is a critical age for youngwomen where self-confidence and perceptions of others have a big impact on actions anddecisions. A well-known study has shown that young girls have gendered perceptions of STEMeven as middle school students [8]. By reaching the girls at a younger age, the program aims toincrease the STEM pipeline and encourage more young women to explore and
regarding theinstructional process. One girl appreciated the neat and detailed power point lecture notes, whileanother girl wished that hand outs had been given out. This would have been beneficial as the girlscould write notes for further reflection. It would have been a great addition to the lecture notes thatthe girls already had online access through the HBCU’s Blackboard Education Suite.Mixing of Cement Pastes: Four themes emerged from data analysis.Doing: Sixty-two percent (62%) of the girls made ‘doing’ statements to include calculating,measuring, timing, mixing, and ramming. One girl noted that ‘…mixing and ramming the cementpaste was really fun, and exciting but also pretty messy at the same time…’Comprehending: Fifty-two percent (52%) of
before thesetendencies turn into actual departures. Such early career studies require looking at motivation,because motivation is a critical determinant of future behavior.Although all motivation theories share the common goal of connecting people’s behaviors tospecific motivations, self-determination theory (SDT) is particularly useful because it drawsimportant distinctions among the types of motivations that people experience.15,16 SDT identifiesa continuum of motivation types, ranging from controlled to autonomous. Autonomousmotivations are distinguished from more controlled motivations in that they are driven byinternal rewards rather than external and reflect that an individual is self-directing his or herbehaviors, resulting in greater
country, but it is a major barrier at my institution.I otherwise believe that advocacy needs to be a formalized institution-level mission and goal, andit must be genuine. If it is not for the right reasons (such as public relations), then thoseindividuals within the institution will see through it and potentially lose confidence and morale.It cannot simply be words or data; there has to be action, and institutions cannot fake this. I alsobelieve that it is a barrier if the leaders of the institution do not speak and act consistentlybetween their public and internal personas. These leaders cannot speak of how important equityis and then internally emphasize efforts that do not reflect this
, similar to Martin and Garza [39]. This approach allows us to centerKayla’s experiences, and dismantle the “researcher-participant hierarchy” [37, p.1]. As Kaylajourneyed through her undergraduate career, she journaled her experiences in a shared document.Gretchen went through the entries probing for deeper reflections, finding underlying themes, andraising new questions. Over the course of a year, Kayla and Gretchen met bi-weekly to go overKayla’s experiences and discuss things such as the impact of gender, impacts on her engineeringexperience, interactions with classmates, and interactions within work settings.Specific to this paper, we focused on Kayla’s experiences with her internship over the summer of2020. Kayla journaled her experiences and
. After the first read-through, we assigned one or more codes to specific lines of text in the transcripts andsupplemented the codes with comments. The comments included further detail explaining whythe codes were used, the feelings of the coder at the time of coding, or possible links to previousliterature or concepts. This thematic analysis led to the four emergent themes based on the datafrom the six interviews. These four themes reflected trends in the experiences of these women.The codes “Confidence/Pride and Empowerment” and “Moment of Pride” were present in theoriginal codebook, but their definitions leaned toward circumstances that did not match thesenew code definitions. Instead, lack of confidence or valuing one’s own achievement
autoethnography.MethodsAutoethnography is a qualitative research method that aims to improve sociological understandingthrough drawing on personal experiences with social phenomena [7, 8, 9]. It looks at whatexisting literature says about these topics and relates it to one’s personal experiences throughrigorous self-reflection [10]. The researcher becomes the research subject. The process can besubjective and, as such, can only be properly experienced and understood by the self [7].This study originated when an informal discussion between two of the co-authors occurred aboutthe struggles female faculty face when teaching a predominantly male student population. Manyof the experiences articulated were found to be similar to those of individuals facing gender bias.Published
students’ labor market outcomes. Whether macro or microscale, however, these examples reflect educational practice firmly anchored to the experiences ofstudents journeying through the real problem spaces of our time.In this paper, we take the school-to-work pathways view one step further and place ourinvestigation in a specific real world context: the pathways of environmental engineeringundergraduate students within a time of environmental decline and climate crisis. We see thistime as a revealing societal moment in which beliefs, decisions, and leadership about ourenvironment move us towards sustainable solutions or away from them. We considerenvironmental engineering students as designers and agents of these sustainable solutions, aswell as
engineering.Davies and Gannon define Feminist Poststructuralism as a third kind of Feminist theory afterradical and liberal feminism [34]. They continue “feminist post-structuralism troubles the binarycategories male and female, making visible the constitutive force of linguistic practices, anddismantling their apparent inevitability” [34 p. 321]. Without a frame that looks to gender toinform practice and reality, there is no way to uncover the dichotomy that exists within the fieldof engineering.Dual IdentityThe subjectivity espoused by Feminist Poststructuralism is reflected in the ideas of a dualidentity. People, in particular women in STEM, are subjected to factors outside of the “norm.”The notion of double consciousness is applied to women in
had this entire new experience together to explore the city.” SiliconValley peer community experiences seemed to vary slightly based on the size of the housingunit. In some of the smaller units, finding cohesion within the group was a challenge because“there weren’t necessarily always people home.” Notably, Silicon Valley respondentsemphasized the value of the “DTech Circles” sharing/reflection (roses and thorns) time infostering peer community within their living community. This activity was offered but seeminglynot heavily utilized in Chicago or RTP.5.2 (PE) Internship ExperienceParticipants’ summer internship experience, while not directly provided through the program,was integral to the students’ experience of the program and served as a
the academic and socialengagement provided by peer mentoring aspects of the program may be positive predictors ofretention for first year female students in science and engineering.AcknowledgmentsThis material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No.7686640. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this materialare those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National ScienceFoundation.References[1] A. E. Bell, S. J. Spencer, E. Iserman, and C. E. R. Logel, "Stereotype threat and women's performance in engineering," Journal of Engineering Education, vol. 92, pp. 307-312, 2003.[2] N. M. Else-Quest, C. C. Mineo, and A. Higgins, "Math
, or reliance on the prospective member to take initiative toparticipate. Earlier work identified the fallacy of the open recruiting narrative.20 Formalrecruitment procedures are by-passed in favor of network friendships, excluding those who donot have high levels of cultural and social capital. Even though teams recruited at college ofengineering-wide events, they continued to be populated primarily by white male ME studentswith pre-existing friendships and other connections. Due to the effects of homophily andtransitivity (explained earlier), both team membership and leadership were limited to a cadre ofstudents with high social capital.19, 20 The survey results presented here reflect the samehomogenizing influences.Persistence barriers
NTIDcommunity and faculty’s professional development plans. The Connectivity series at RIT issupporting the goals of the AdvanceRIT project by removing barriers to resources that supportcareer success and creating new interventions and resources.AcknowledgementsThis material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grants0811076 and #1209115. The researchers wishes to express their gratitude for the support of thisproject. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this materialare those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National ScienceFoundation.References1. Hill, C.; Corbett, C.; Rose, A., Why so few. American Association of University Women: Washington D.C
competitiveworkforce in STEM fields (e.g., Presidential Awards for Excellence in Science, Mathematics,and Engineering Mentoring16). Linked with larger policy considerations reflecting civil rightsconcerns and the ability of the country to be competitive in a global economy, thesepolicymakers and agencies have specifically identified the importance of mentoring inconjunction with the career development of underrepresented groups in STEM fields, includingwomen in STEM fields.In this paper we report on the junior faculty cohort mentoring program developed by the Womenin Science and Engineering (WISE@OU) program at Oakland University, funded by an NSFADVANCE grant. We first begin by providing background information on the WISE@OUprogram and then discuss the
Page 26.606.5participants and has grown to 33 women students as of the 2014-15 school year. Evaluation dataand student and faculty input presented in this paper reflect the experiences of the study group over the 5 years in which the program has been operating. Figure 1 shows the participants byyear and the mix of freshmen and sophomore students. Because of generous donations, theprogram has been able to increase the number of student mentees over the past five years. 1st-‐year Students 2nd-‐year Students Faculty Mentors
the role of mentors inattracting underrepresented students, previously constructed instruments from 12 in theirattitudinal study of CS in the Level Playing Field’s Summer Math and Science Honors Academy(SMASH) were used. Additional instruments were developed by the researchers to measurecultural competency. The survey uses a 5-point Likert scale (where 1 = Not Really, 3 = Neutraland 5 = Absolutely).Along with the surveys, interviews were conducted to get a deeper sense of the effectiveness ofthe BJC curriculum in attracting historically underrepresented students. These audio-recordedinterviews were conducted at the university with participants that either attended CS10, CS61A,or both. Furthermore, participants were carefully chosen to reflect
few days later and included the two itemsshe had requested. The salary was not quite the level Sarai had hoped for, but given her interestin remaining in the region and her success in receiving funding for both of her requests, shedecided against negotiating for a higher salary. All in all, the negotiation workshop had, in hereyes, paid off. Without it, she reflected, she would have just accepted the verbal offer withoutarticulating what else she needed to help her succeed in this new position.Administrative Level NegotiationsCase 3: College level budget negotiationState U had just hired a new provost. He was a biologist and one of his platforms was to launch anew STEM program. The university had, however, been weathering budget crises for
developing newknowledge although this is possible” [9, p. 18]. The initial review of the articles consisted of ahigh-level examination of the articles in which the researcher noted the purpose, questions, andresults of each study. During this review, the first author reflected on what was read, noting keyfindings and making initial connections. The second review included an examination of themethodology, results, discussion, and any implications or limitations of the studies. During thesecond review of the data, themes common to the articles were extracted.ResultsThree themes emerged from the analysis of 11 articles collected in the systematized search. Thethemes describe the types of experiences women encounter in engineering industry. Most of
builders as an important experience they desired for themselves. For example,Batya, an 18 year old African-American girl who came to the program from a large city,explained that she took the time to reflect and think whether and how participation in theprogram would be beneficial to her. She described having conversations with her design teacherand several women in her family. Batya described that making and building was something thatshe was used to doing alongside her brothers: “Growing up I have all brothers. So being aroundgirls and doing stuff that I would normally do with boys, it, kind of I guess, not changes myperspective, but widens it. So, I might be more comfortable personally just working doing thingsthat I wouldn't normally do with
faculty. In 2017, ASEE surveyed 338 universities nationwide that have four-year degreegranting engineering programs and found that of the 27,412 tenured/tenure-track engineering facultymembers, only .52% were African American women [1]. Although this number depicts a dismalrepresentation, this number actually reflects an increase in the number of African American womenfaculty members in engineering over time [1].There are a variety of reasons why diversifying the engineering ranks adds value. Diversity has the abilityto either hinder or drive innovation [5,11]. Additionally, given the importance of role models inrecruiting and retaining underrepresented minorities, the lack of diversity in the academy influences therepresentation of