Conference Session

Focus on Faculty

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Ane Johnson, Virginia Tech; Margaret Layne, Virginia Tech; Janis Terpenny, Virginia Tech

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

. Page 14.530.1© American Society for Engineering Education, 2009 Empowering Women as Leaders: ADVANCE Leadership Programs at a Doctoral STEM-Dominant UniversitySTEM-dominant universities have been historically dominated by men and by traditions that, bytheir nature, have excluded women.1 For example, women make up only 6.9% of all fullprofessors in engineering, nationwide.2 Women faculty members note disparities in numbers,salary, opportunities, resource allocation, and job satisfaction in general, and in the sciences andengineering more specifically.3 The lack of women in leadership positions has left many womenjunior faculty and graduate students feeling isolated and without the necessary support to buildsuccessful

Conference Session

Women in Engineering Division Poster Session

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jessica Rohlfing, Arizona State University; Erin Kube, Arizona State University; Brandon Yabko, Arizona State University; Erika Murguia, Arizona State University; Jennifer Bekki, Arizona State University Polytechnic; Bianca Bernstein, Arizona State University

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

videotaped interviews serve as examples, demonstrating the need for theaccompanying skill-building tutorials in a context familiar to the women STEM PhD students.CareerWISE not only provides the actual training to the target audience, but also highlights whythis training is particularly important.Purpose of the StudyThe research reported here focuses on the impact of the web-based training materials that pertainto Steps 1 and 2 of the CareerWISE problem solving model (assess the problem and specify thedesired outcome) and addressing difficulties related to advising. The materials selected forevaluation in this study were designed to help users determine the most important advisorcharacteristics for their individual success in graduate school. The

Conference Session

Attitudes, Self-Confidence, and Self-Efficacy of Women Engineering Students

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Carmen Villa, Texas A&M University; Carolyn Clark, Texas A&M University; Jennifer Sandlin, Arizona State University

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

would be to help better understand the role of Latino culture in retention.References 1. Asociación Nacional de Universidades e Instituciones de Educación Superior. (2007). Índice de feminización y masculinización por áreas de estudio y nivel educativo, 2006-2007 [Feminization and masculinization index by field of study and educational level]. Retrieved April 10, 2008 from http://www.anuies.mx/servicios/e_educacion/docs/CUADROS%20WEB/Generales/Cuadros%20Generales %20REVISADOS%202006-2007.xls#INDFEM!A1 2. Secretaría de Educación Pública. (2007). Estadística histórica del sistema educativo nacional. Retrieved April 10, 2008 from http://www.sep.gob.mx/work/appsite/nacional/index.htm 3. National Center for

Conference Session

Attitudes, Self-Confidence, and Self-Efficacy of Women Engineering Students

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Holly Matusovich, Virginia Tech; Ruth Streveler, Purdue University; Ronald Miller, Colorado School of Mines; Barbara Olds, Colorado School of Mines

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

engineering degrees, this research shows how students negotiate the choice process.This research focuses on ability beliefs which have been shown to be important in careerdecision-making processes particularly in STEM fields. 1-5 In particular, this study shows howtwo female participants, who, despite earning excellent grades, have recurring doubts about theirengineering-related ability and negotiate the path to persistence by adjusting their definitions ofwhat it means to be successful as an engineer. This current study builds on and expands a previous study 6 by examining an additional sixparticipants and focusing on similar research questions. Since qualitative research can be used togeneralize to a theory 7, increasing participant numbers

Conference Session

Issues of Persistence in Engineering

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Matthew Ohland, Purdue University; Michelle Camacho, University of San Diego; Richard Layton, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology; Russell Long, Purdue University; Susan Lord, University of San Diego; Mara Wasburn, Purdue University

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

cohorts andmore recent cohorts, so there is clear benefit to the practice. In earlier work using the MIDFIELDdatabase, it was anticipated that differences in persistence could accrue by race and gender asstudents attempted to graduate within six years after persisting in engineering for eightsemesters,3 and we begin our investigation by comparing eight-semester persistence to the six-year time window for graduation established as a standard of reporting by the IntegratedPostsecondary Education Data System.11 Our preliminary exploration of the suitability of the useof eight-semester persistence in our dataset is shown in Figure 1. Each datapoint in this figurerepresents all the students of a particular gender matriculating in engineering at a

Conference Session

Panel: What Funding Agencies Look For

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jane Daniels, Henry Luce Foundation; Kathleen Christensen, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation; Jessie DeAro, National Science Foundation; David Ruth, Elsevier Foundation

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

supporting facilities; andunderrepresentation of women in academic leadership and decision-making positions. 1 Thecumulative effect of such diverse factors has been to create formidable barriers to theparticipation and advancement of women in academic STEM careers. Overcoming andeliminating these barriers and challenges, as well as addressing emerging challenges such as theincreasing emphasis on a globally engaged STEM academic workforce and the increasinginterdisciplinarity of STEM research and education, is critical to support the full participation ofwomen in academic STEM careers.The full participation of women in academic STEM careers is important given the pivotal rolesthat faculty members and administrative leaders have as intellectual

Conference Session

Potpourri

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Rachelle Reisberg, Northeastern University; Amanda Funai, University of Michigan; Bala Maheswaran, Northeastern University

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

as Physics and Chemistry which canchallenge even the most prepared student. Studies show that support for the “gatekeeper courses”such as physics is an essential characteristic for successful retention.6Engineering students at Northeastern take Physics 1 in the spring semester of their freshman yearunless they have Advanced Placement or transfer credit. This required class covers the basicelements of Newtonian physics. The course involves a twice-weekly lecture held in a largelecture hall, a weekly small ILS (Integrated Learning Session) where students take quizzes andwork on homework, two weekly homework assignments submitted on-line using WebAssign,and a weekly physics lab with lab reports. There are two major exams: midterm and

Conference Session

Focus on Faculty

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Barbara Hacker, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona; Winny Dong, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona; Mary Lucero Ferrel, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

project is attempting to change the culture of the campus inorder to increase the number of women faculty in STEM and to help further the careers of thosealready on campus. Mentoring Circles have been created to allow networking among a smallgroup of women and reduce the burden on any individual of implementing such a program.IntroductionMentoring programs have been implemented to improve the retention and increase the success offaculty at many universities, especially for women in the male-dominated fields of science andengineering.1, 2, 3, 4 A number of different models have been used for the mentoring programsincluding the traditional dyadic relationship of a mentor and protégé, referred to as the groomingmentoring model, a less-structured

Conference Session

Potpourri

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Catherine Pieronek, University of Notre Dame

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

Federal Title IX Reviews: What They Really MeanOver the last three years, the federal government has stepped up its efforts to perform Title IXcompliance reviews in science and engineering, in response to criticisms in a 2004 reportpublished by the U.S. Government Accountability Office. The mere thought of using Title IX to“do for science and engineering what it has done for athletics”1 has fomented a great deal ofcontroversy.2,3 Moreover, the lack of visibility into what actually has resulted from these reviewshas limited any development of public awareness and understanding of why these reviews canbenefit academic institutions in general and their science, technology, engineering andmathematics (STEM) departments in particular.3,4This paper

Conference Session

Women in Engineering Division Poster Session

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Noel Schulz, Mississippi State University

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

variety of programs within the US and other countries to help facilitate facultyexchanges. These funds may sponsor faculty salary, graduate student salary, travel, livingexpenses, and research resources at the host institution. Timeframe for these exchanges may befrom one week or one year.In this section, we will review several of the programs for international collaborations availablewithin the U.S. and United Kingdom (UK). These programs can be used for sabbaticals or astools for developing relationships that may lead to sabbatical. The U.S. Fulbright Scholarsprogram (http://www.cies.org/)1 is a prestigious program that has opportunities around the world.It is very competitive and has a very early deadline as applications need to be submitted

Conference Session

Attitudes, Self-Confidence, and Self-Efficacy of Women Engineering Students

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Kristian Trampus, University of Texas, Tyler; Fredericka Brown, University of Texas, Tyler; Michael Odell, University of Texas, Tyler

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

ascomplementary and not as mutually exclusive. One way to increase the technical pool andattract women and minorities to technical careers is to “change the conversation” 1 and focus onpromoting understanding of engineering and technology literacy to the public. Even withincreased efforts nationwide to recruit women and minorities in the STEM fields, there seems tobe a missing piece. How can the attrition rate of women and minorities be improved?Much attention has been paid to the attitudes and interests of female students regarding theirdesire to pursue postsecondary education in STEM as well as their persistence in these efforts.Various initiatives have been launched to increase the recruitment and retention of thesepopulations through outreach

Conference Session

Focus on Faculty

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Charlie Law, Pennsylvania State University, Schuykill; David Younger, Rice University; Ann Saterbak, Rice University

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

2003 are used for numericalcomparisons because alumni are surveyed and students taking classes with faculty in 2007 wouldnot be voting yet. (We recognize that to strictly compare percents of women faculty with awardwinners back to 2000 would require data from 1991. However, reliable data is only availableback to 1999.) Unless otherwise stated, all percentages are averages of the 1999 and 2003 data.Figure 1 shows the percent of female and male faculty members (all ranks). Including all ranks,25% of the faculty are women. However, most of the award winners are at the Full Professorand Associate Professor levels (see Table 1), thus the above number might slightly overpredictthe percent of female faculty members. Figures 2 and 3 show the percent

Conference Session

Women in Engineering Division Poster Session

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

David Moore, Petroleum Institute; lana El Chaar, Petroleum Institute; Lisa Lamont, Petroleum Institute

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

by a graduate of a course or program. Using this approach, the STEPSteam was able to ensure that curriculum design, content, delivery, and assessment wasbased on an explicit identification of the integrated knowledge, skills and values neededby both students and society.The learning outcomes for the STEPS courses (STEPS I taken in Sophomore 1 andSTEPS II, taken in Junior year) require that students: ≠ Demonstrate competency in applying the steps of the engineering design process to solve open-ended problems. ≠ Demonstrate ability to present design solutions in oral presentation and written reports. Page 14.963.6 ≠ Practice

Conference Session

Women in Engineering Division Poster Session

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

J. Carter Tiernan, University of Texas, Arlington; Lynn Peterson, University of Texas, Arlington; Robyn Johnson, University of Texas, Arlington; Jamila Phillips, University of Texas, Arlington

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

cont.) 4 (3 cont., 1 grad.) 6 (4 cont.)M 2 2 (continuing) 4 (2 cont.) 3 (3 cont., 1 grad.) 3 (1 cont., 1 grad.)Table 1: Female and male peer recruiters since program inceptionThe ratio of female to male student ambassadors is quite unlike the ratio of female engineeringstudents to male students. In Fall 2008 in the College of Engineering at University of Texas atArlington women made up 14.18% of the undergraduate population ranging from a high of 26%of the Industrial Engineering department to a low of 10% for the Electrical Engineeringdepartment. We find that it is easier to find female students who are interested in recruiting andoutreach than it is male students which is one reason for the larger number of female

Conference Session

Potpourri

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Mary Anderson-Rowland, Arizona State University

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

thestudents were either female or underrepresented minority or both. Table 1 shows thebreakdown. The percentage of women in the program was 38.2% while the percentage ofwomen undergraduate students in the School of Engineering is less than 17%. Thepercentage of underrepresented minority students in the program was 39.5% while thepercentage of underrepresented minority students in the School of Engineering is now19%. Among the underrepresented minority students, 21 were Hispanic, 6 were AfricanAmerican, and 3 were Native American. Underrepresented Minority Non-Minority TotalWomen 9 20 29 (38.2%)Men 21 26 47 (61.8%)Total 30 (39.5

Conference Session

Attitudes, Self-Confidence, and Self-Efficacy of Women Engineering Students

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Moshe Hartman, Retired; Harriet Hartman, Rowan University

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

posed in this paper is how persistent are gender differences in engineeringorientation and achievement, once we control for engineering discipline, cohort, and year in theprogram. More specifically, we ask: 1. Do gender differences persist in grades, engineering self-confidence, satisfaction with engineering major, satisfaction with peers, and commitment to engineering as a career, even when major, year, and cohort are controlled? 2. Is there an interaction between gender and major, so that women and men in the same major have different reactions/achievements in engineering? 3. How much variation in these variables is there between majors (women or men)? 4. Is there a clear pattern of variation in any of these

Conference Session

WEPAN and WIED Joint Panel: Life after Tenure--Leadership Roles in Academia

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Donna Reese, Mississippi State University; Priscilla Nelson, New Jersey Institute of Technology; Patricia Davies, Purdue University; Cheryl Schrader, Boise State University; W. M. Kim Roddis, George Washington University

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

Conference Session

Panel: Taking a Break from Academia

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Bevlee Watford, Virginia Tech; Lesia Crumpton-Young, University of Central Florida; Susan Davidson, University of Pennsylvania; Leigh McCue, Virginia Tech; Noel Schulz, Mississippi State University

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

Belknap and Bradley Campbell, Istudied the sensitivity of tumblehome vessels to parametric resonance. The ONR 3 Topsideshulls were used to compare the single degree-of-freedom rolling response of a destroyer-sizedvessel with flare (model 5613), tumblehome (model 5613-1), and wallsided (model 5613-2)shapes above the waterline. Through this relative comparison, key aspects of parametricresonance of a tumblehome hullform were highlighted. Additionally, Bradley Campbell and Iconducted a study on the feasibility of approximating equations of motion for experimental rolltime series data via ‘guessing’ a form of the equations of motion and optimizing unknowncoefficient values. Publications arose from both summers’ work.DAVIDSON: On the professional

Conference Session

Panel: Forming an Interdisciplinary Research Collaboration

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Julie Mills, University of South Australia; Judith Gill, University of South Australia; Suzanne Franzway, University of South Australia; Rhonda Sharp, University of South Australia

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

research has received considerable support in recent years. In the resourcestarved climate of the current Australian neo-liberal university [1], [2] a multidisciplinaryapproach is thought to operate in ways more effective for real-world, complex problems – andhence be more attractive for industry funding – than when research occurs within the boundariesof just one discipline, faculty or department. The success of multidisciplinary research is evidentin engineering education. For example, Borrego & Newswander [3] cite acceptance statistics forjournal articles submitted to the Journal of Engineering Education as “20-30 percent when asocial scientist is a member of the author team, but only 2-3 percent if the authors were allengineers” (p. 123

Conference Session

Issues of Persistence in Engineering

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Carol Burger, Virginia Tech

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

students into their programs and retained a highpercentage of them until graduation shared some characteristics. The successful departmentshad a history of strong leadership that encouraged gender diversity, there were written guidelinesabout performance and evaluation standards, and there was a clear understanding about whatconstituted a good mentoring environment for female students.In light of this and other previous studies, the hypotheses that were developed to guide this workwere: (1) There are subtle but significant differences in the cultures of engineering departmentsthat graduate more or fewer females than the national average and that these differences areinfluenced by institutional leadership and history; and (2) Engineering colleges

Conference Session

Women in Engineering Division Poster Session

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Elizabeth Dell, Rochester Institute of Technology; Jeanne Christman, Rochester Institute of Technology; Teresa Wolcott, Rochester Institute of Technology; Maureen Valentine, Rochester Institute of Technology

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

the Engineering Technology programs has improved byan average of 6% per year. In addition to improved retention, the number of students receiving aD, F or Withdrawing from the core first- and second-year courses in these programs has droppedby over 75%.IntroductionUnless the U.S. can attract more students to science and technical fields, there will be a shortageof qualified workers for our increasingly technology-oriented society. Women make up 46% ofthe available workforce, but only 9% of engineers are women.1 Increasing the number of femaleengineering and engineering technology graduates is one way to increase the number of qualifiedworkers for the future. Although our university is taking actions to increase the number ofwomen enrolled in

Conference Session

Focus on Faculty

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Kristen Constant, Iowa State University; Sharon Bird, Iowa State University

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

.1 Numerous studies have investigated the barriers encountered bywomen with aspirations of university careers, many referred to in “Beyond Bias andBarriers”, a 2006 report by the National Academy of Sciences.1 These studies seek toprovide a deeper understanding of various issues including those pertaining to the careerpipeline, and faculty recruitment, retention and advancement. Recognizing the critical needfor full participation of women in the sciences, the National Science Foundation hassupported for the last 7 years efforts to study and improve recruitment and retention ofwomen faculty in the sciences through the ADVANCE Institutional Transformationprogram.2 Work within this program has allowed researchers to study multi

Conference Session

Attitudes, Self-Confidence, and Self-Efficacy of Women Engineering Students

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Angela Bielefeldt, University of Colorado, Boulder

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

this problem is expected toworsen in the future as changing demographics in the U.S. will reduce the population fromwhich engineering has typically recruited the most students; i.e. white males. Strong efforts torecruit and retain female students in engineering began in the 1980s with the creation of variousWomen in Engineering programs on campuses nationwide. While initially successful, theseefforts recently appear to be losing ground. The overall average percentage of female enrollmentin undergraduate engineering degrees in the U.S. of 17.24% in 2005 and 2006 has declined fromthe peak of 19.8% in 1999. 1 Particular majors have more female students, such asenvironmental engineering where women earned 44.5% of the Bachelor’s degrees in the

Conference Session

Issues of Persistence in Engineering

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Rose Mary Cordova-Wentling, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign; Cristina Camacho, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

engineering. However, there aresome young female students who complete their engineering education despite the presence ofobstacles throughout their college years. This study addressed the university and personal factorsthat have hindered, motivated, and assisted women who were graduating with a degree inengineering. By studying and understanding the barriers that hinder women in completing adegree in engineering, as well as the factors that assist and encourage them, we can learn how tobreak down the barriers and how to facilitate the educational journey of female engineeringstudents.IntroductionIn the U.S. Technical occupations increase almost 5 percent per year, whereas the rest of thelabor force is growing at just over 1 percent per year

Conference Session

Women in Engineering Division Poster Session

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Elizabeth Creamer, Virginia Tech

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

of the behaviorsassociated with low representation of women, including sexist behavior and sexual harassment.Across institutions, responses to questionnaires items indicated that faculty from the group ofinstitutions categorized as low enrolling were significantly less likely to perceive that theirenvironment was supportive of women than those from institutions with a somewhat largerproportional enrollment of women. There was a similar pattern of responses on questionsregarding the handling and/or accountability for sexual harassment and sexist behavior.Numbers of respondents were too small to break these data down and analyze it by engineeringdiscipline.Table 1 demonstrates that a significantly greater percentage of faculty members at high

Conference Session

Panel: Effecting Change in Higher Education

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Priscilla Nelson, New Jersey Institute of Technology; Theresa Hunt, New Jersey Institute of Technology; Cherrice Traver, Union College; Pamela Eibeck, Texas Tech; Zulma Toro-Ramos, Wichita State University; Cheryl Schrader, Boise State University; Mary Roth, Lafayette College; delcie durham, University of South Florida

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

topic segments, each with two focused panels (Table 1). Thepanel topics are identified and developed in material presented as Appendix B to this report.Each workshop attendee was assigned to a panel and invited to pre-prepare a white paper thatwould served as a personal statement about both her experiences and perspectives on the issuesrelated to her assigned panel. Each panel lasted two hours, and began with an overview by anassigned moderator, followed by a statement of personal views by the other panel discussants.The subject was then opened up for input and discussions from other attendees, furthergenerating varied perspectives on the single-issue focus. Lunch, dinners, receptions andconcluding activities provided opportunities for informal

Conference Session

Issues of Persistence in Engineering

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Peggy Meszaros, Virginia Tech; Catherine Amelink, Virginia Tech

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

Factors Promoting or Discouraging the Intent to Remain in EngineeringIntroductionInterest in the declining numbers of U.S. students choosing careers in science,mathematics and engineering (SME) emerged as a topic for discussion in the 1980’s.Numerous reports documented this early decline and called attention to the need tounderstand reasons for and to prevent migration out of SME fields. 1, 2 Gender losses wereobserved by Astin and Astin1 to be greater among men, but given the greater proportionalloss of women, their under-representation was magnified during the undergraduate years.Confounding this overall decline was the observation that SME losses came from a poolof disproportionately able undergraduates. 3, 4, 5 Efforts to identify the

Conference Session

Women in Engineering Division Poster Session

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Elizabeth Cady, National Academy of Engineering; Norman Fortenberry, National Academy of Engineering; Catherine Didion, National Academy of Engineering; Karen Peterman, Goodman Research Group, Inc.

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

encourage their interest in engineering, while others focused on providingfaculty training in gender equitable teaching. Other projects focused on developing curricular orrecruiting materials attractive to women and men. This paper will discuss the results and lessonslearned in the various programs.IntroductionDespite some progress toward equality in engineering, women remain underrepresented [1],especially in mechanical and electrical engineering, which are two of the largest disciplines. Onereason for the lack of women in these fields is that more women than men change their major toa non-engineering field after beginning college [1], and many students hold inaccurate views ofengineers and engineering [2] that discourage them from entering the

Conference Session

Issues of Persistence in Engineering

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Catherine Amelink, Virginia Tech; Elizabeth Creamer, Virginia Tech

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

journal articles and scholarly book chapters. Page 14.645.1© American Society for Engineering Education, 2009Gender Differences in In-Class and Out-of Class Experiences that Influence the Intent to Complete an Engineering Degree and to Pursue Engineering as a Career Page 14.645.2 Engineers contribute to national interests in business and industry, allowing the U.S. tomaintain economic competitiveness 1. Due to the contributions made by the engineeringworkforce to the national economy, undergraduates’ career goals as