Conference Session

The Impact of Curriculum on the Retention of Women Students

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Lisa Romkey, University of Toronto

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

AC 2007-2256: ATTRACTING AND RETAINING FEMALES IN ENGINEERINGPROGRAMS: USING AN STSE APPROACHLisa Romkey, University of Toronto Lisa Romkey is the Lecturer, Curriculum, Teaching and Learning with the Division of Engineering Science at the University of Toronto. In this position, Lisa plays a central role in the continuous improvement of the design and delivery of a dynamic and complex curriculum, while facilitating the development and implementation of teaching and learning initiatives and innovations. Lisa is cross-appointed with the Department of Curriculum, Teaching and Learning at OISE/UT (Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto). Lisa holds a Masters in

Conference Session

The Impact of Curriculum on the Retention of Women Students

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Patricia Backer, San Jose State University

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

instead of the actual articles; however, the articles must be current (within the past few years). Your references for this research exercise should be submitted to Dr. Backer by 9/28/06. 3. Write an essay that focuses on the following topic: identify the dynamics of ethnic, cultural, gender/sexual, age-based, class, regional, national, transnational, and global identities and the similarities, differences, linkages, and interactions between them. In this particular case, we are looking at the identities of women both as housewives and as paid workers. In your response, you should refer directly to your sources and give a comprehensive and integrative response. 4. Your

Conference Session

The Impact of Curriculum on the Retention of Women Students

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Rose Marra, University of Missouri; Barbara Bogue, Pennsylvania State University; Kelly Rodgers, University of Missouri; Demei Shen, University of Missouri

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

. Subscales1. Engineering career expectations (7 items, alpha = .84)2. Engineering self-efficacy I (5 items, alpha = .82)3. Engineering self-efficacy II (6 items, alpha = .82)4. Feeling of inclusion (4 items, alpha = .73)5. Efficacy in coping with difficulties (6 items, alpha = .78)6. Math outcomes efficacy (3 items, alpha = .84)Figure 1. LAESE subscales.Some sample items from the subscales are shown in Figure 2. Sample ItemsEngineering Self Efficacy I and II(All scales: strongly disagree (= 0), to strongly agree (= 6)) I can succeed in an engineering curriculum. I can succeed in an engineering curriculum while not having to give up participation in my outside interests (e.g. extra

Conference Session

Poster Session

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Amy Bentow, American Society of Mechanical Engineers; Richard Blais, Project Lead the Way; Laura Bottomley, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers; Catherine Didion, National Academy of Engineering; Norman Fortenberry, National Academy of Engineering; Christina Vogt, National Academy of Engineering

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

activities organized by ASME was to incorporate gender equityresearch into the Essential Teaching Seminars that are given by ASME for engineering faculty. Current effortshave utilized several on-going ASME activities including the Department Leadership Workshop scheduled forthe spring of 2007 and the Department Heads Forum in the fall of 2007. Topics to be addressed at these andother ASME meetings include the following: • Creating an effective teaching climate in the classroom; • Creating a supportive/effective climate in your department and how to get your colleagues to support this effort; • Effective hands-on pedagogy; and • Enhancing diversity through curriculum reform.These activities are being developed to improve faculty

Conference Session

Potpourri Session

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jessica Buck, Jackson State University

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

Educational institutions are increasing their efforts to integrate females into non-traditional technical programs. Adjustments, such as curriculum and recruitment andretentions efforts, are being made to ensure that females feel welcome and a part of theprogram’s standard regimen. Industrial Technology stands at the vanguard of successfulparadigms that prepare females in such non-traditional areas as managerial and technicaldegree programs. Marshall (2000)26 contended that the common goals of IndustrialTechnology programs are to increase enrollments and to offer a curriculum designed toprepare students for management and technical careers. O’Meara & Carmichael (2004)34added that emphasis should be placed on both recruitment and retention efforts

Conference Session

Issues of Diversity

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Fonda Swimmer, Northern Arizona University; Karen Jarratt-Ziemski, Ft. Lewis College

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

achieve success.Gender and Cultural Contextuality in the ClassroomSome scholars using surveying data and focus group information have found that while womenthat are both academically and intellectually capable, they lack confidence in their abilities in S& E.6 Reasons for lack of self-confidence included feelings of isolation, negative experiences inlaboratory classes, lack of role models and a cold classroom climate.9In short, current curriculum and teaching practices may leave women in a position where theydon’t “see” themselves in engineering. Classroom examples don’t include them, and for womenof color, the same examples may also be of an exclusive cultural context as well. The picture offuture engineers and scientists seems to be one in

Conference Session

Climate Issues for Women Students

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Xiang-Yun Du, Aalborg University; Anette Kolmos, Aalborg University

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

science and engineering curriculum. They arerespectively 1) the construction of the curriculum with the consideration of the students’ backgroundin light of formal and informal experiences and interests; 2) student/student interactions; 3)teacher/student interaction. Lewis [21] attributes these issues as main reasons that made the traditionalscience and engineering curriculum women exclusive, and asserts that real changes need to be made inall these aspects in order to make the environment women friendly.Gendered proportion is also suggested to be an essential element for the measurement of friendliness ofa learning environment, in that it is an important factor influencing the establishment of learning culture[4]. According to Hayes [10], the

Conference Session

Perspectives for Women Faculty

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Stacy Birmingham, Grove City College

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

as a result can make quickdecisions regarding curricular changes. In this sense, ETIs are the ideal locations to test newcurricular ideas and pedagogical techniques. For example, many of the pedagogical reformssuggested by the NAE report “Educating the Engineer of 2020”2 can, in principle, be more easilyand quickly implemented by ETIs. Most importantly, ETIs have a single focus on teachingundergraduates. At my current institution, for example, this is the sole source of income forinstitution (we accept no federal or state money). Thus, it is essential to develop faculty intoexcellent teachers and to continually improve curriculum and teaching facilities. In other words,it is what we do and are expected to do.We do an excellent job educating

Conference Session

Perceptions of Women's Success in STEM

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Susan Metz, Stevens Institute of Technology

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

. Susan served as principal investigator or co-principal investigator of several national projects including: Project to Assess Climate in Engineering (PACE), a current study involving 25 universities; FacultyfortheFuture.org, a website designed to support women and underrepresented minorities interested in pursuing faculty positions in the STEM fields; Achieving Success in Academia, a program to assist junior women faculty to navigate the tenure system; Making the Connection, an initiative designed to increase awareness of engineering among students in grades 3-12; and Increasing Access for Women in Engineering, a curriculum and technical assistance project to establish or

Conference Session

Recruitment and Retention Topics

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Elizabeth Godfrey, University of Auckland

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

disciplinary female participation at U of A reflectsinternational patterns of subdisciplinary participation.In the case study institution, Civil, Mechanical, and Electrical Engineering were the mosttraditional and well-established disciplines, with international as well as national professionalassociations. That background appeared to be linked to entrenched beliefs and assumptionsabout curriculum content, pedagogies and professional issues appropriate to each discipline.Chemical Engineering was newer (first taught as a separate discipline at the U of A in 1967)but was also an internationally recognised discipline. The Department of Engineering Sciencewas a younger (approximately 25 years old) and less traditional discipline. BiomedicalEngineering

Conference Session

Retention Programs for Women Students

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Gretchen Hein, Michigan Technological University; Amy Monte, Michigan Technological University; Kerri Sleeman, Michigan Technological University

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

program. After the first year, the application process, advertising, mentortraining, and engineering and career center workshops were expanded and improved. Table 3: GUIDE Scholar Demographics (Fall 2002-Spring 2006) Women Ethnic/Minority First Year Scholars 61% 41% Undergraduate Mentors 81% 22% Graduate Student Mentors 34% 6%Over the four years of the program, the students participating in the program have changed.During the first two years of the program, more scholars were enrolled in Calculus I or higherand therefore were more prepared for an engineering curriculum. This was due to the

Conference Session

Retention Programs for Women Students

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Helene Finger, California Polytechnic State University; Tracy Van Houten, University of Southern California; Barbara Curry, California Polytechnic State University; Jennifer Harris, United Parcel Service; Malia Francisco, United Parcel Service; Betsy Sale, United Parcel Service

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

the upcoming year ofactivities and the general goals of the section for the year. Teaching these leaders of theorganization strategic planning not only benefits the section to have a well organized set ofactivities, but also gives the officers strategic planning skills that are not learned in quarter longclasses.The executive board is an especially integral part of the officer team, comprised of the president,five vice presidents, secretary, treasurer and section advisors. The vice president position offersleadership experience beyond that of typical officer positions, in that the vice presidents haveresponsibility for four to seven officers of similar areas of interest (i.e. corporate, outreach,publicity). Some of the vice president

Conference Session

K-12 Programs (Co-sponsored by K-12 Division)

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Mary Virnoche, Humboldt State University; Elizabeth Eschenbach, Humboldt State University

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

Engineering. She completed a postdoc at the Center for Advanced Decision Support in Water and Environmental Systems (CADSWES) at UC Boulder. Beth’s career goals include increasing the diversity of engineering students and improving education for all engineering students. Three of Beth’s current projects are: 1) an NSF planning project for the Collaborative Large-scale Engineering Analysis Network for Environmental Research, 2) an NSF Scientific Leadership Scholars project providing 4-year scholarships to 30 students in computer science, environmental recourses engineering and mathematics and 3) a water resources curriculum project using CADSWES software

Conference Session

Issues of Diversity

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Julie Mariga, Purdue University; Alka Harriger, Purdue University

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

the computingfields. In order to make an impact all entities need to work together and continue to educate girls,teachers, educators, counselors, legislatures, and others regarding the importance of this issue.This paper described the complimentary efforts of two female faculty at Purdue University toeducate students, parents, counselors, and other constituencies on what IT is and careers withinIT. Support by a few male colleagues in various activities has also helped. All of these combinedefforts have had some success, but clearly, much more work needs to be done.Bibliography1 Martin, C.D. & Pearson, E., Jr. (January 2005). Broadening participation through a comprehensive, integrated system: Final workshop report. Arlington