schooldistrict than the pilot study. The data was analyzed using bivariate correlation techniques inSPSS, a statistical software package.The results of this study are that as a group, boys displayed higher confidence inperforming technology tasks, showed more knowledge of technology, were more likelyto consider technology work as fun and were more likely to consider technology majorsfor college compared to girls. However, both boys and girls agreed that teachersencourage boys more than girls to pursue technology majors and careers. There was astrong correlation between girls’ sense of control of their lives and choosing a technologymajor. Parents appeared to have a stronger positive influence in boys’ decisions to selecttechnology majors compared to
, media and marketing images may affect girls’ career choices in ways that steer girls indirections other than engineering. When planning the first-ever overnight engineering camp forhigh school girls hosted at Boise State University, the planning team decided to embracemarketing methods to create realistic images about engineering that are relevant to the lives ofgirls. The planning team represented a partnership among Micron Technology, the southwestIdaho Society of Women Engineers section, Boise public school staff, and Boise State Universityfaculty, staff and graduate students. The team defined four messages that formed the foundationfor curriculum development and communications with prospective participants: 1) Engineershelp the world; 2
opportunity toconnect with other women faculty was also valued. Assessment indicates that over halfthe women faculty report feeling more confident about professional abilities and moreassertive in advocating for career needs. Male faculty/administrators report beingfamiliar with issues impacting the success of women, as well as strategies that can beemployed to manage around these issues. Women faculty are less likely to report feelingisolated in their department/on campus. This paper will review the plan to transition tosustainable status at the conclusion of the project, including a report on the first year ofthat transition effort.BackgroundLouisiana Tech University is in a medium-sized state university with an increasedemphasis on high-quality
professional fields. Since 2003, with a seed grant from TheWomen in Technology (WIT) Project (a statewide workforce development initiative funded in partby the U.S. Departments of Labor, Agriculture and Education), isisHawaii’s One+One eMentoringProgram has provided support early in the education process, targeting pre-college female studentsseeking non-traditional careers in science and technology.This paper will discuss how isisHawaii and WIT effectively built upon available eMentoring models,including presidential award-winning MentorNet, to develop community-based, culturallyappropriate and cost-effective programming that would have positive career implications forHawaii’s girls and women. As it follows the One+One program from inception through
slightly over the 2009-14 period. 6 In order to achieve thegoal of increasing “the representation and advancement of women in academic science andengineering careers,” the National Science Foundation (NSF) has funded over $130M in projectsat institutions of higher education and STEM-related not-for-profit organizations since 2001.7Cultural and structural barriers that may adversely affect women faculty are addressed by theseprojects. In 2012, RIT was awarded an NSF Advance Institutional Transformation grant. Thegoal of the AdvanceRIT project is to increase the representation and advancement of womenSTEM faculty, widely represented across ethnic, social, and cultural backgrounds. The approachis to remove barriers to resources that support career
females in science and engineeringIntroductionThe concerns of low numbers of women in STEM have led to studies on the attrition1 and theimplementations of programs for the female students2. Studies found that students who withdrawfrom STEM majors are less involved in extra-curricular engineering activities, have lowerengineering self-efficacy and career expectations, but higher anxiety1, 3. However, the averageGPA of women who withdraw from STEM is no different than that of others1. To increase theretention of women in STEM, solutions have been proposed by many studies such as facilitatingcommunities for females4-5, involving peer mentors6-9, and mentoring by faculty and/or womenengineers10.According to the American Association of University
STEM FacultyABSTRACTWomen faculty are underrepresented in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) disciplines.The ADVANCE Institutional Transformation project at a large private technical university (supported byNSF Award No. 1209115), referred to as AdvanceRIT, aims to increase the representation andadvancement of women STEM faculty (which includes social and behavioral sciences, SBS, faculty) byremoving barriers to resources that support career success and by creating new interventions andresources.This paper reports on the development of efforts to activate change for STEM faculty in the form of aninternal grant program, Connect Grants, as part of the AdvanceRIT project. The grants supportleadership and career development for all
colleagues; lack of support from peers and administration;3,6,7,11 and dual careersituations where the spouse did not find work.7 Family issues also derail women, as they try totime additions to the family and tenure. In Sue Rosser’s study of academic women’s struggles,over 60 percent of women interviewed reported that balancing their career and family was aconcern.11The National Science Foundation funds the ADVANCE Institutional Transformation for FacultyDiversity program with the goal of increasing the representation of women in academic scienceand engineering careers. At the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP), the ADVANCE missionis twofold: 1) to value a talented, diverse faculty and recognize that a collegial, productiveenvironment can be
Statement or Program GoalsThe final organizational method was based on mission statements, or if unavailable, the goals ofthe outreach programs. Three themes were observed: ● A focus on real-world applications or the use of practical applications in class ● To influence the career decisions of those that partake in the program ● To improve teacher knowledge in STEM to thus improve its instruction to K12 students.Results and DiscussionAs shown in Figure 1, just under half (44%) of the papers targeted high school students. K12teachers were the next most targeted group (24%) followed by middle school (16%), high schooland middle school (12%), and lastly elementary school (4%). By gender, 75% of middle schooloutreach programs were targeted at
AC 2007-233: CAN A MEDIA STRATEGY BE AN EFFECTIVE RECRUITMENTAND RETENTION TOOL FOR WOMEN IN ENGINEERING ANDTECHNOLOGY? A PILOT STUDYMara Wasburn, Purdue University Page 12.338.1© American Society for Engineering Education, 2007 Can a Media Strategy be an Effective Recruitment and Retention Tool for Women in Engineering and Technology? A Pilot StudyAbstractDespite the fact that many Western nations face a critical shortage of skilled professionals inscience, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) and despite abundant jobopportunities in STEM disciplines, few women still prepare themselves for careers in thesefields. Recently, there have been suggestions that
director at-large (2013-15) positions.Dr. Lori D. Lindley, Gannon University Lori D. Lindley is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology and Counseling, and the Associate Dean of the College of Humanities, Education, and Social Sciences. She earned her B.A. in Psychology from the University of Notre Dame, and her M.S. and Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology from Iowa State University. She serves on the editorial boards of the Journal of Vocational Behavior and the Journal of Career Assessment. Her research is on women’s career development, specifically self-efficacy and career barriers.Dr. Elisa M. Konieczko, Gannon University Elisa M. Konieczko, Professor of Biology at Gannon University, received her
artificial intelligence (ML/AI) technology can be biased throughnon-representative training and testing activities leading to discriminatory and negative socialconsequences. The enormous potential of ML/AI to shape the future of technology underscoresthe need to increase the diversity of workers within the field, with one group of untapped talentbeing women engineers. An unresolved contradiction exists between the trend of greater womanrepresentation in broader STEM fields and the consistently low numbers of women engineerspursuing careers in ML/AI. Furthermore, there has been a lack of tailored research investigatingthe potential causes of such under-representation. Professional Role Confidence has been shown to be a significant and positive
,including programs and initiatives linked to developing the aforementioned social support groups.However, women continue to hold a disproportionately low share of STEM undergraduatedegrees, particularly in engineering and computing, despite growing efforts to encourage womento pursue careers in STEM. For example, women comprise 46% of the available workforce [3] yetthey make up less than 20% of bachelor’s degrees awarded in computer science and only 22%awarded in engineering [4]. These findings highlight the need to further examine the dynamicslinked to women in engineering and computer science. To understand the need to increaseenrollment of women in STEM programs, this study will examine qualitative data in the form ofinterviews collected from
Paper ID #16444Design of an Interactive Multidisciplinary Residential Summer Program forRecruitment of High School Females to EngineeringDr. Paula Ann Monaco, Texas Tech University Dr. Paula Monaco, E.I.T., successfully defended her dissertation research Spring 2016 and will begin a career in the water/wastewater reuse treatment. Paula has led multiple outreach summer programs at TTU and provides support to student organizations within the college of engineering. Her technical research focuses include; anti-fouling and scaling RO technology and pharmaceutical and personal care product screening to predict environmental
Page 24.1367.1 c American Society for Engineering Education, 2014 What do Schoolgirls think of Engineering? A critique of conversations from a participatory research approachAbstractWhilst statistics vary, putting the percentage of women engineers at between 6%[1] and 9% [2]of the UK Engineering workforce, what cannot be disputed is that there is a need to attractmore young women into the profession. Building on previous work which examined whyengineering continues to fail to attract high numbers of young women[3,4] and starting withthe research question “What do High School girls think of engineering as a future career andstudy choice?”, this paper critiques research conducted utilising a
of experience in the aviation and construction industries. American c Society for Engineering Education, 2020 Unpacking the Elevator Pitch: Women’s Narratives in Engineering When you ask women how they became interested in engineering as a career path, they typically launch into an origin story, perhaps detailing their childhood hobbies, educational achievements, or mentors who encouraged them. The narrative often seems well-practiced, as if it has been honed to include only the most important information and sharpened through repeated tellings. In my ethnographic fieldwork with women engineers, I began to
imminentshortage of scientists, technologists, engineers, and mathematicians; further, female high-schoolstudents show little interest in pursuing careers related to engineering.1 This lack of interest maybe a significant factor in understanding the “Extraordinary Woman Engineers Project” whichreported that currently fewer than 10% of the nation's engineers are women in spite of the factthat girls do not lag behind boys in grades or test scores in either math or science.2 The program presented by this paper represents perhaps part of the solution to thisparadox by investing in the female youth of today through proven hands-on learning techniques.3This paper reports on a local initiative by the University of North Carolina at Charlotte to investin
prepared girls not enrolling in engineering degree programs?”Qualitative consumer research was conducted with high school girls, school counselors, andengineers that found that current messages regarding engineering emphasize “the necessity ofsuperior math and science skills” as well as the notion that engineering is “a challenging andstressful career”—messages that have little relevance to high school girls.In 2007, the coalition developed and tested new messages about engineering. Three compellingmessages—creativity has its rewards, explore the possibilities, and make a world of difference—are now the centerpiece of a national campaign designed to encourage college bound girls toconsider engineering. The campaign will introduce high school girls
Self-efficacy is a construct frequently used to examine an individual’s motivation toengage in particular tasks, including career choices.11-13 Naturally, engineering educationresearchers have focused on self-efficacy to address the low motivation and high attrition rate ofwomen in engineering programs.14-17 As defined by Bandura, 1986, self-efficacy is the belief onehas in one’s capability to perform specific tasks. Unlike global self-confidence, self-efficacy istask specific and can only be inferred for the task being examined.18 For example, an individualmay have high self-efficacy for repairing a computer, yet have low self-efficacy for composingmusic. Generally, a person is more motivated to engage in a task for which she has high self
in1978. Starting with just a few students, it has grown to over 360 members and is the 3rdlargest section in the nation. In the fall of 2002, the new Society of Women Engineers(SWE) faculty advisor and the Executive Director for the Women in Science,Engineering and Mathematics (WISEM) Program recognized that the organization couldbe a vital resource in recruiting and retaining female students at CSM. They beganworking on developing partnerships with decision makers and key personnel in the areasof Academic Affairs, Student Affairs, Admissions, Career Services, InstitutionalAdvancement and the Engineering Division. By doing so, they were able to secure boththe institutional commitment and the financial resources needed to provide prospectiveand
Professional Development Center for Educators, College of Education and HumanDevelopment, University of Delaware, Newark, DE4 Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of California, San Francisco, CAIntroduction Over the past twenty five years, the government and industry have called for heavyinvestment in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education anddeveloped an impressive array of classroom and extracurricular programming designed toencourage young people to pursue STEM careers [1,2]. Despite these efforts, the vast majority ofcollege-bound high school students continue to pursue majors outside of engineering and otherSTEM fields [3]. Furthermore, there are high attrition rates – some approaching 50
the Policies and Programs That Support Them” explored the challenges that female engineering faculty faced in their careers, as well as the institutional policies and programs (i.e. family-friendly policies, diversity/equity programs, mentoring initiatives, etc.) that helped them to be successful in obtaining tenure. c American Society for Engineering Education, 2016 Leaning into Engineering: Tenured Women Faculty and the Policies and Programs That Support ThemAbstractWhile researchers have documented the barriers that women in engineering programs face (i.e. genderbias, work/family conflict, “dual career” issues, limited access to information networks), few
. Page 12.762.1© American Society for Engineering Education, 2007 Four Years of Helping Underrepresented Students Succeed in EngineeringabstractThe Michigan Tech GUIDE (Graduate and Undergraduate Initiative for Development andEnhancement) began in the Fall of 2002. This NSF funded program helps engineering studentsfrom underrepresented groups succeed academically through mentoring, engineering seminars,and career development initiatives. During the grant period, over 70 undergraduate and graduatestudents have participated in the program. From the beginning of the program, the GUIDEundergraduates have out performed the average College of Engineering (COE) student in severalways (See Table below
workforce. She is currently working on research on girls' career and course taking decisions. In addition, she is the evaluator and a collaborator (co-PI) on an NSF Scientific Leadership Scholars grant funding American Indian and first generation college students who study Computer Science, Environmnetal Resource Engineering or Math at HSU.Elizabeth Eschenbach, Humboldt State University Beth Eschenbach is a professor of Environmental Resources Engineering at Humboldt State University. Beth left civil engineering as an undergraduate at UC Santa Cruz, and graduated with honors in mathematics and in psychology. She obtained her MS and PhD at Cornell in Environmental and Water Resources Systems
underrepresented racial/ethnic groups toengineering need to start early and continue throughout the K-12 years, in order to be trulyeffective. Further implications of this study, as well as in-depth analysis of the results for eachengineering sub-discipline, will also be addressed in the paper.Introduction As our nation continues to call for a larger domestic engineering workforce, an untappedresource for new workers exists in our schools in the young women and increasing population ofstudents from underrepresented races and ethnicities. Women and other underrepresentedpopulations are still not pursuing these majors and career fields in numbers representative oftheir status in colleges or in the workforce. How do students select their
. The1998 survey represents the pioneer generation of female faculty in BAE. It is our belief thatfollowing this group of faculty longitudinally will provide useful insights into the experiencesand career paths of women in all ranks of engineering as they “turn the corner” fromunderrepresented to critical mass.MethodsWe started with the original 47 item survey, which was developed with assistance from an expertpanel and LSU’s Measurement and Evaluation Resources Center (see Cauble et al., 2000, fordetails regarding survey administration and validation). We consolidated this instrument to 35items (see Appendix for a copy of the survey) and had this instrument approved by LSU’sInstitutional Review Board. The web sites of all BAE and similarly named
: enabling teamwork, having women staff at alllevels, emphasizing a variety of careers creating active/hands-on fun, and providingacademically challenging modules. Thus, from the start, we emphasized community. Wedeployed women staff at all levels – near peers (students enrolled in college), graduate students,women who work in the college, and women who work in the local area as engineers. Weemphasized community building among the cohort. And we embedded undergraduate students inthe camp, using a peer mentoring approach. These peers were paid for their contributions, andslept, ate and participated in activities with the girls, in four teams of about ten each. Note thatalthough the students are paid for their contributions, this is not a significant
retention rates, with a focus on performance and sustainability.Theoretical Framework Page 26.495.3Social Cognitive Theory10 and the extension of this theory to career development11 andwork satisfaction12,13 provide the underlying theory that informs the project. At thefoundation of this theoretical framework is the belief that a person is both an interpreterof contextually-bound experiences and agent in changing those experiences. As such,one’s context or environment plays a central role in moderating one’s career choices andgoals, and ultimately, work satisfaction. Bakken, et. al;14 proposed that research careerdevelopment in the medical field be studied
Education, 2006 Wisconsin and Hawaii WIT Partnership to Encourage Women and Girls in Rural Areas to Pursue STEM FieldsAbstractXXX in Milwaukee, Wis., is spearheading a new partnership with Hawaii’s XXXX toencourage women and girls living in rural areas to enter into science, technology, engineeringand math (STEM) fields. The partnership’s mission is to: • Ensure that women and girls, especially in rural areas, have more opportunities to be engaged in STEM careers. • Develop program models that can be adopted in the future by local organizations and institutionsThe Wisconsin and Hawaii Women in Technology projects are funded in part by the CooperativeState Research, Education, and Extension Service of the
of Undergraduate Studies, Center for Academic Advising and Student Affairs, and the Career and Professional Development offices. c American Society for Engineering Education, 2020A Phenomenological Exploration of Women’s Lived Experiences and Factors That Influence Their Choice and Persistence in EngineeringIntroductionIn recent years it has been suggested that the United States is losing its prominent global positionin Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) education, which has greatly influencedour country’s global and economic competitiveness. According to the National Math and ScienceInitiative (NMSI, 2016), “American students are falling behind other countries in the criticalsubjects of