Conference Session

Retention of Women Students II

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Kerry Meyers, University of Notre Dame; Catherine F. Pieronek, University of Notre Dame; Leo H. McWilliams, University of Notre Dame

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

personaldevelopment that is necessary for life-long learning” (p. 275).1 Smith and associates agree thatall engineering students throughout their undergraduate education require professional skilldevelopment in terms of talking through and listening to ideas with peers, knowing how to buildtrust in a working relationship, and leadership of group efforts.2 Finally, differences in terms oflearning style, approaches to learning, and intellectual development throughout the entire collegeexperience beyond academics should be recognized as growth factors that develop studentspersonally and professionally through the entire college experience.3Felder and associates reported that although women entered engineering programs withacademic credentials stronger than or

Conference Session

Women in Engineering Poster Session

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Shweta Chopra, Purdue University, West Lafayette; Gary R. Bertoline, Purdue University, West Lafayette; Chad M. Laux, Purdue University, West Lafayette

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

RationaleNumerous reports have discussed the dearth of women in Science, Technology, Engineering;Mathematics (STEM) fields 1, 2. Almost two-thirds of young children of age group 9-15 state thatthey enjoy science, but girls’ attitudes and interests change by middle school3. During highschool, girls and boys take the same number of science courses. In addition, girls perform as wellas boys in those courses. Despite comparable performance levels, girls rarely continue studyingscience at college level4. Lack of female progress in STEM education has been observed inSTEM fields despite multiple measures taken by universities, colleges, schools, industries, andother organizations dedicated to increasing awareness, providing mentoring services, andrecruiting and

Conference Session

Undergraduate Recruitment

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Patricia R. Backer, San Jose State University; Rona Tamiko Halualani, San Jose State University

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

. Page 25.718.1 c American Society for Engineering Education, 2012 Impact of Self-Efficacy on Interest and Choice in Engineering Study and Careers for Undergraduate Women Engineering StudentsAbstractSelf-efficacy refers to the belief in a persons’ ability to perform a specific task. Starting inmiddle school, girls tend to underestimate their abilities in STEM. This confidence gap amonggirls persists through high school into college [1]. This gap is presumed to be partiallyresponsible for the gender gap in engineering and other STEM fields (e.g. computer science,physics). In 2006, women only earned 19.5% of the undergraduate BS engineering degrees in theU.S. Using the Life Course Expectancy Framework, this

Conference Session

Potpouri

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Kristen B. Coletti, Northeastern University; Melinda Covert, Northeastern University; Paul A. DiMilla, Northeastern University; Lauren Gianino, Northeastern University; Rachelle Reisberg, Northeastern University

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

students enrolled in Science,Technology, Engineering, Math (STEM) majors as well as obtaining engineering degrees andemployment positions.1 Although women represent nearly 50% of the workforce in the US, theycurrently fill less than 25% of STEM positions3 and hold less than 11% of engineeringpositions.2 The problem is further compounded by the fact that women hold a significantlylower proportion of leadership positions in STEM than their male counterparts.4Increasing the enrollment, retention, and graduation rate of women in engineering is essential forUS global competitiveness and future economic success, as a diverse pool of individuals will beadvantageous in solving domestic and global technical problems.5 Several barriers continue tolimit

Conference Session

Retention of Women Students II

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jennifer Wang, University of California, Berkeley; Eli Patten, University of California, Berkeley; Ryan Shelby, University of California, Berkeley; Farzana Ansari, University of California, Berkeley; Lisa A. Pruitt, University of California, Berkeley

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

appreciationfor the experience and skills gained from the leadership module, as well as an increase inconfidence for women as engineers.IntroductionProfessional skills are often underemphasized in engineering programs. These “soft” skills –proficiencies such as leadership, teamwork, and communication – are important attributes of asuccessful engineer. Traditional engineering curricula and lecture formats need to be revised toenhance these professional skills, as “the quality of future engineers depends very much on thequality of engineering education”1. Service learning and design projects are new pedagogicalmethods found to be effective in nurturing these skills2,3. Moreover, service learning has thepotential to attract and retain women in engineering4

Conference Session

Mentoring Millennial Women in Engineering

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

David Porush, MentorNet

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

Conference Session

Faculty Career Development

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jenna P. Carpenter, Louisiana Tech University; D. Patrick O'Neal, Louisiana Tech University; Lori L. Bakken, University of Wisconsin, Madison

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

research career pathway. This theoretical framework is important because itrecognizes the role of personal agency and personal characteristics in the career developmentprocess. The authors suggested that interventions to increase the number and effectiveness ofresearchers in an academic environment be focused on 1) reducing role conflicts imposed bymultiple environments, 2) providing continuity of training efforts, 3) creating a positive andrewarding mentoring culture, 4) and incorporating and evaluating efforts to increase one’sresearch self-efficacy beliefs.Not only must one be interested in a career pathway and provided with the optimal conditions topursue a career pathway, they must be supported in their work environments to achieve

Conference Session

Retention of Women Students

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Diane Yu Gu, University of California, Los Angeles

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

, 2012 On the Fence: The Influence of Protégé-Mentor Relationships on Women Doctoral Students' Academic Career Aspirations in EngineeringStatement of Purpose According to a 2004 report from the Commission on Professionals in Science andTechnology, women in engineering and the physical, mathematical, and environmental sciencesmake up less than 6 percent of full professor positions.1 Two decades ago, researchers projectedthat occupational equity for females in science and engineering was just “a matter of time”—time for increasing the number of female Ph.D. students and moving them through the ranks ofacademia.2 However, the prediction that growing numbers of female Ph.D. students would leadto greater gender equity among the

Conference Session

Attaining Academic Leadership Positions

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Beena Sukumaran, Rowan University; Chris S. Anderson, Michigan Technological University; Dianne Dorland, Rowan University; Sarah A. Rajala, Mississippi State University; Mary Roth, Lafayette College

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

Conference Session

Panel Discussion: Off the Record

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Cheryl B. Schrader, Missouri University of Science and Technology; Janelle Brown; Lynn Lubamersky, Boise State University; Leslie Madsen-Brooks, Boise State University; Patricia Pyke, Boise State University; Heidi Reeder, Boise State University

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

clearly the opportunities open to, and obstacles faced by, women in STEM (science,technology, engineering and mathematics) today.The panel will be moderated by engineering educator Cheryl Schrader, who will brieflyintroduce the motivation behind the overall project and the team’s companion research on publicperceptions of women in the history of science and engineering.1 Each of the panelists – history,social science and engineering researchers who also wrote these draft monologues – will speakfor four to five minutes in the persona of a woman scientist, engineer or inventor from thehistorical record. These five draft monologues synthesize the details and distinctive voice foundin primary and secondary source documents with the larger concerns of

Conference Session

Undergraduate Recruitment

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Susan Shapcott, Arizona State University; Katherine G. Nelson, Arizona State University; Jenefer Husman, Arizona State University

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

Abstract The low recruitment and high attrition rate of women in engineering is well documented.Women account for only twenty percent of the entering class cohort, and drop out at a rate tenpercent higher than their male counterparts.1 Although in the past twenty years women havemade inroads into many fields that were male-dominated, women have made little or no progressin engineering.1 This paper has three goals. First, this paper will review existing literature that identifiescurrent and alternative theories about why engineering programs do not retain female students.Second, this paper will synthesize motivational psychology research into a best-practice modelfor engineering programs. Last, we hypothesize that photovoltaic

Conference Session

Faculty Career Development

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Lisa G. Bullard, North Carolina State University; Penny M. Knoll, Montana State University; Ann Saterbak, Rice University

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

Choosing The Road Less Traveled – Ten Years LaterAbstractIn 2002 the authors made a presentation at ASEE entitled, “Choosing the Road Less Traveled:Alternatives to the Tenure Track.”1 Three engineering educators with less than three years ofexperience related how their interests, priorities, and family situations led them to seek out non-tenure track faculty positions. From their perspective as new faculty, they candidly discussed thebenefits as well as the drawbacks of the paths they had taken. The original presentationconcluded by saying, “At this point the biggest unknown is the long-term satisfaction in andevolution of their non-traditional academic roles.”Ten years later, all three remain at their original institutions, and their careers and

Conference Session

Undergraduate Recruitment

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Sandra Woods, Colorado State University; Kathleen Baumgardner, Colorado State University; Lahoma Jayne Howard, Colorado State University

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

ambassador program focused on quality contacts withprospective students. As a result, undergraduate enrollments increased from 1,463 in Fall 2007 to1,866 in Fall 2011, a factor of 1.28 increase. At the same time, the number of women in thefreshman class increased by a factor of 2.04 and the total undergraduate female enrollmentincreased by a factor of 1.63. As a result the representation of women in our undergraduateprogram increased from a low of 14.6% in Fall 2007 (below the national average) to 18.6% inFall 2011.IntroductionThe representation of women in undergraduate engineering programs nationally increased from17.5% in Fall 2005 to 18.6% in Fall 2010 [1 – 6] (Figure 1). At Colorado State University, therepresentation of women in undergraduate

Conference Session

ADVANCE and Related Faculty Issues

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Marcia Gumpertz, North Carolina State University

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

it - unconscious bias,hidden bias, unrecognized bias, implicit bias, schemas or non-conscious expectations. If we’rehonest with ourselves we’ll recognize that we all have various “records” in our heads ofinvoluntary associations, thoughts, and stereotypes. What the research points out is the enormouscumulative and concrete impact of these involuntary associations. The approach of theDeveloping Diverse Departments project is to educate a wider and wider circle of faculty anduniversity leaders about the potent effects of unconscious bias on the composition and climate ofthe university.To summarize, the two guiding principles undergirding the D3 project are: 1. Having women in leadership positions and in senior faculty roles within the

Conference Session

ADVANCE and Related Faculty Issues

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Corey Schimpf, Purdue University, West Lafayette; Marisol Mercado Santiago, Purdue University, West Lafayette; Alice L. Pawley, Purdue University

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

research efforts that look this parental leave policy, we explore twonew emerging themes: 1) how do faculty come to access and understand the parental leave policyand 2) who contributes to the actual affordances of leave a faculty member receives, and how arethose affordances negotiated? To answer these questions we analyze on 8 interviews (with 9interviewees total) from STEM faculty members, department chairs and policy administrators.We also draw on the concepts of organizational roles and networks within organizations tounderstand the dynamics of access and definition of the policy at the university.We find that, given the limitations of formal modes of accessing the policy, informal accessnetworks can supplement access to the policy. We also

Conference Session

Retention of Women Students II

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Christel Heylen, Katholieke University, Leuven; Kathleen Geraedts, Katholieke University, Leuven

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

and motivation of the first year engineeringstudents were measured in relation to gender. Furthermore, because it was hypothesized thatboth aforementioned characteristics have an influence on the academic achievement2,3, thestudents’ study time and grades were compared with the gathered data.2. Materials and methodsSubjectsFor this study, data was gathered during two subsequent academic years: 2009 – 2010 and2010 – 2011. All participants were first year engineering students. Table 1 gives an overviewof the number of students that participated and their gender distribution. Table 1: Overview of the number of participants and their gender. Academic year Total number of Number of female Percentage of

Conference Session

Retention of Women Students II

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Heidi M. Steinhauer, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Daytona Beach

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

above essential for success in an engineering career.According to the National Science Foundation5 in 2009 only 11 percent of practicing engineersare women, as compared to the 17.8 percent of women graduating with undergraduateengineering degrees. While the number of engineering degrees awarded since 2000 hasincreased from 59,497 to 69,895 in 2008 very nearly all of this increase went to male students, assuch the number of females earning undergraduate engineering degrees has dropped two percent;Figure 1 documents this negative trend. There has been an equal percentage increase in thenumber of women pursuing graduate degrees in engineering, Figure 2 shows this increase.Published reports call for contextualized, hands-on, collaborative learning

Conference Session

Faculty Career Development

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Joyce B. Main, Purdue University, West Lafayette

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

advising experiences inthe doctoral program. The online survey was administered in January 2010 to current studentsand to doctorates who graduated between 2003 and 2009. Of the 640 individuals invited toparticipate, 370 individuals completed the survey resulting in a 58% response rate.Table 1 summarizes the characteristics of the respondents versus non-respondents. There is nostatistically significant difference between survey respondents and non-respondents on GREverbal score, GRE quantitative score, proportion of U.S. citizens, age at the start of the doctoralprogram, or in the proportion of non-white U.S. citizens. The non-white U.S. citizen variableincludes American Indian, Asian American, African American, Hispanic, and multiculturalstudents

Conference Session

Undergraduate Recruitment

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Mary R. Anderson-Rowland, Arizona State University

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

post-secondary education at acommunity college. A CC offers small classes, lower tuition, and a short commute from home tosave money on housing. A larger proportion of women and underrepresented minority studentsattend two-year colleges than four-year colleges. There are three basic steps for the process of aCC student to become an engineer: (1) having engineering and computer science on their radaras a good decision for their major, (2) the successful transfer to a four year college or university,and (3) the successful college or university retention to graduation.The base setting for this paper is Arizona State University (ASU), a Carnegie Research IUniversity and the largest public university in the nation with 72,254 students. The Ira A

Conference Session

Retention of Women Students

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Gretchen L. Hein, Michigan Technological University; Kaitlyn J. Bunker; Nilufer Onder, Michigan Technological University; Raven Rachaun Rebb; Laura E. Brown, Michigan Technological University; Leonard J. Bohmann, Michigan Technological University

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

students’ academicperformance is similar to other majors. Engineering students are engaged within theirclassrooms, and with faculty and other students at the same level as other majors. All students,regardless of their major, become less engaged as they progress through their degree program.Students who switch majors tend to disengage earlier than persisters19.Litzler and Young used latent class analysis on the PACE data collected in 2008 to identify threeclasses of students: (1) committed, (2) committed with ambivalence, and (3) at-risk of attrition.Their analysis shows that as GPA increases, respondents are less likely to be in the “committedwith ambivalence” and “at-risk of attrition” groups. However, an extended model shows theopposite: among

Conference Session

Faculty Career Development

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Sarah Miraglia, Syracuse University ; Sharon W. Alestalo, Syracuse University; Shobha K. Bhatia, Syracuse University

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

S facultty. The gendder compositiion of STEM M departments d aat SU for thee most part aare below national n levell statistics w with women cconcentratedd in fields fi of studdy relating too health, life sciences, annd communicatiion (Chart 1)). Despite thhe grassroots Chart 1: S&E S Faculty by

Conference Session

Potpouri

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Hoda Baytiyeh, American University of Beirut

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

systems in the Middle East where higher educationinstitutions constitute a prosperous source of fresh engineers for the Gulf region and it isregarded as an engineering educational center in the Middle East7, 8. The enrollment offemale in the engineering program in Lebanon9 between 2005 and 2010 fluctuatedbetween 15.2% and 18.2% with a mean of 16.5 as shown in Table 1. Female Male Total %Female 2009-2010 2087 9356 11443 18.2 2008-2009 1753 8223 9976 17.5 2007-2008 1426 7751 9177 15.5 2006-2007 1230 6873 8103 15.2 2005-2006 1259

Conference Session

Retention of Women Students

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Sriram Sundararajan, Iowa State University; Theodore J. Heindel, Iowa State University; Baskar Ganapathysubramanian, Iowa State University; Shankar Subramaniam, Iowa State University

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

peersand with faculty as a major attraction of the program. The department has also set up WiMEscholarships to prospective high school students to enhance recruitment and also employspersonalized phone calls from the department chair to all women applicants to highlight theprogram. Since the launch of the WiME program the women enrollment in the ME program hasincreased from 76 to 128 women (7.0% to 10%).1. IntroductionWith the changing demographics of the nation and state of the engineering workforce, theunderrepresentation of women among engineering undergraduates and the subsequent lack offemales in the workforce is a subject of national concern1-3. Studies show that about 20% ofengineering baccalaureate degrees are awarded to women, which is

Conference Session

ADVANCE and Related Faculty Issues

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Kathleen L. Kitto, Western Washington University; Sue Guenter-Schlesinger, Western Washington University

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

almost 15,000 students through our 160 plus programs ofstudy. Although approximately 94 % of our students are undergraduates, Western is also hometo several outstanding masters-level graduate programs within the CST. The student-to-facultyratio is 21:1, and the retention rate for the second year is relatively high at 84%. This academicyear Western admitted 2700 freshman and 1300 new transfer students. The academic units ofthe University consist of seven colleges and the Graduate School. The Principal Investigators(PIs) on our ADVANCE Catalyst program were: the Dean and the Associate Dean of the CSTand the Vice Provost for Equal Opportunity and Employment Diversity.Western’s Equal Opportunity (EO) Office assists faculty, staff and students by

Conference Session

Faculty Career Development

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Pamela S. Frinzi, Southern Polytechnic State University; Rebecca Hudson Rutherfoord, Southern Polytechnic State University

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

introduce our female faculty to the skills and criterianecessary to become a leader.This paper will focus on content development, participant selection, and the topical informationto be included in the program. The program was developed by the faculty that attended thecertificate program. Participants were selected based on how the program could potentiallybenefit them as seeking leadership positions on campus. For our first offering of the program,we are focusing on six major topics. 1. Personal Branding – helping female faculty determine their personal brand and making it work for them. 2. Life Balance – how female faculty can balance the workload of their job while also being wife, mother, daughter, sister, etc. 3

Conference Session

ADVANCE and Related Faculty Issues

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Carol E. Marchetti, Rochester Institute of Technology; Margaret B. Bailey, Rochester Institute of Technology; Stefi Alison Baum, Rochester Institute of Technology; Sharon Patricia Mason, Rochester Institute of Technology; Maureen S. Valentine, Rochester Institute of Technology

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

satisfaction with one’s position at the university.This paper is the second in a series that examines data from this study. Paper 1 [1] reported onthe distribution of RIT STEM faculty, outcomes of institutional processes of recruitment andadvancement, distribution of STEM faculty in leadership positions, allocation of resources forSTEM faculty, barriers to the recruitment and advancement of women, success of existingstructures at addressing these barriers, accomplishments over the grant period, and plans forinstitutionalizing various initiatives. This paper focuses on distillation of climate survey data toobtain useful and meaningful measures related to work/life balance, climate, value and influence.The paper also explores answers to the following

Conference Session

Potpouri

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Heidi Reeder, Boise State University; Patricia A. Pyke, Boise State University; Lynn Lubamersky, Boise State University; Seung Youn Chyung, Boise State University; Cheryl B. Schrader, Missouri University of Science and Technology

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

discussed, along with suggestions for educators on how tointegrate the contributions of women in STEM into the classroom.IntroductionFor at least forty years, women’s historians have delved into the historical record to deconstructfamiliar narratives around who is responsible for advances in science and technology. Thesehistorians have worked to dismantle the assumptions and practices that have typically excludedwomen’s scientific contributions throughout history. For example, the extensive scholarship onthe history of women in science and technology in Margaret Rossiter’s two-volume WomenScientists in America,1 demonstrates that tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, ofwomen have worked as scientists in fields as diverse as zoology and

Conference Session

Potpouri

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Nehal I. Abu-lail, Washington State University; Fatin Aliah Phang, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia; Ashley Ater Kranov, ABET; Khairiyah Mohd-Yusof, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia; Robert G. Olsen, Washington State University; Rochelle Letrice Williams, ABET; Azizan Zainal Abidin, Universiti Teknologi Petronas

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

research published on how to address the on-going UnitedStates (US) national challenge of increasing gender parity in undergraduate engineeringprograms is almost entirely US centric. The authors of this paper reached across borders andoutside the STEM education literature to gain a different perspective on the US problem ofpersistent gender segregation in undergraduate engineering education. As we compared the issueof gender parity between the US, Jordan and Malaysia, three previously unexplored areas beganto take shape: 1. The US has potentially inaccurately scoped the problem, 2. Different factors seem to contribute to greater gender equity in undergraduate engineering programs in Jordan and Malaysia than in the US, and 3. A

Conference Session

Retention of Women Students

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Ann M. Blasick, Georgia Institute of Technology; Christine Valle, Georgia Institute of Technology; John D. Leonard II, Georgia Institute of Technology

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

in recent years. There is widespread concern from both industry and academethat not enough engineers are produced in the USA. This has nefarious consequences onthe ability of American companies to remain globally competitive. In addition to the lownumber of engineers produced overall, there is long-standing worry regarding thepersistent under-representation of minorities (URM) and women in engineering. The lackof diversity in the engineering workforce may make it more difficult for companies toinnovate and meet the Grand Challenges (as defined by the National Academy ofEngineering) that the world faces in the future.While women earn over half of all undergraduate degrees, they receive only about 20%of all degrees awarded in engineering [1

Conference Session

ADVANCE and Related Faculty Issues

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Karen Chang Yan, College of New Jersey; Lisa Grega, College of New Jersey; Suriza VanderSandt, College of New Jersey; Diane C. Bates, College of New Jersey; Elizabeth Borland, College of New Jersey; Karen Elizabeth Clark, College of New Jersey; Amanda Norvell, College of New Jersey

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

through the College governance process.Introduction There is continuing concern about gender inequality in science, most recentlydocumented by the National Academy of Sciences1. Its report finds women are increasinglyrepresented as undergraduates, and among doctorates (30% for more than thirty years in thesocial sciences; 20% in the life sciences), but they are not advancing up the faculty ranks. In fact,at top research schools, only about 15 percent of full professors in the sciences are women, andminority women are “virtually absent”1. While the literature suggests that overt discrimination is less common on campusestoday, scholars increasingly recognize subtle “push” and “pull” factors that disadvantage women