Conference Session

The Impact of Engineering Disciplines

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Rose Marra, University of Missouri; Barbara Bogue, Pennsylvania State University

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

Mechanics and Women in engineering. Her research interests include STEM programming, career development and assessment. Page 13.501.1© American Society for Engineering Education, 2008 Engineering Classroom Environments: Examining Differences by Gender and DepartmentsAbstractThis paper reports on one year of data from a study of classroom learning environments in threeengineering departments, which differ in size, discipline and pedagogical methodology, at a largeeastern university. This study uses a quasi-experimental design to confirm or deny what iscommonly cited in engineering education literature

Conference Session

K-12 Programs for Girls and Young Women

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Joan Kowalski, Penn State University - New Kensington; Tracie L. Brockhoff, Penn State University - New Kensington

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

encourage and guide them in preparation for matriculation into engineering, engineeringtechnology, or science.The fifteenth annual FIRSTE Program was held on May 15-16, 2007. Students were exposed tointensive hands-on workshops designed to stimulate interest and provide a realistic view ofengineering and science-related careers. The young women had an opportunity to work on acomputer-aided design project, perform practical laboratory applications, and participate inscientific exploration – skills essential to engineering practice.The River Voyager provided a unique opportunity for the students to experience practical usageson modern technology as related to the world around them. Crew specialists met with the groupto demonstrate how trusses, dams

Conference Session

The Academic Environment

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Lisa McClain, Boise State University; Cheryl Schrader, Boise State University; Janet Callahan, Boise State University

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

all equity issues should be handled in the same way and will bereceived with the same degree of satisfaction by differing groups.DiscussionAlthough most universities have policies in place designed to promote equity, unfortunatelywomen and other minority faculty often become professionally stalled by subtle forms ofdisadvantage interwoven into university culture which policy alone fails to eliminate.3,17 This istrue for faculty university-wide as well as for S&E faculty as indicated by survey responses. Thedevaluation of a faculty member’s “non-traditional” research agenda, the inflexible weighting ofteaching/research/service workloads related to promotion and tenure, toleration of sexist or racistcomments, de facto exclusion from

Conference Session

Trends in Engineering Education

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Nadia Kellam, University of Georgia; Ashley Babcock, University of Georgia; David Gattie, University of Georgia-Athens

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

environment, and Page 13.1225.6between students that tend to take a holistic approach to problem solving and a complex learningenvironment (bottom, left and upper, right corners of figure 3 respectively) and those in between(blue oval). Ideally, students would be capable of using a holistic and reductive approach by thetime they reach graduation. The blue oval area is a good fit region and would prepare studentsfor the professional, real-world environment. This would be an ideal region for students toremain in order to best prepare them for their professional careers so that they can transitionseamlessly between reductive and holistic problem solving

Conference Session

Potpourri

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Douglas Cleary, Rowan University; William Riddell, Rowan University; Harriet Hartman, Rowan University

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

fourth-year, fourth-year to graduation).The engineering curriculum has a strong emphasis on teamwork and project-based learning, Page 13.201.4which are frequently cited as being best practices in engineering education. These are also foundto be supportive to retention of women in engineering7. In addition, the engineering programshave made significant efforts to be a place supportive of women engineers. The college providesactive role models on the faculty, with 22% of the faculty members as well as the Dean ofEngineering being female.The issue for this engineering program is therefore not retention of the female engineeringstudents who enroll

Conference Session

Focus on Under-Represented Women

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Susan Donohue, University of Virginia; Larry Richards, University of Virginia; Carolyn Vallas, University of Virginia

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

tradeoffs involved in the practice of engineering, and how engineering decisions have an impact society and the environment. Each ETK emphasizes the engineering design approach to problem solving, and includes real-world constraints (budget, cost, time, risk, reliability, safety, and customer needs and demands) and each involves a design challenge that requires creativity and teamwork.Carolyn Vallas, University of Virginia Carolyn Vallas is General Faculty and Director of Center for Diversity in Engineering at the University of Virginia School of Engineering and Applied Science. She received the B.A. degree in Education from Seattle University, and the M.S. degree in Education Psychology and

Conference Session

The Academic Environment

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

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

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

recruitment, mentoring, work/life balance, and balance of research/teaching andservice loads. Strategies for addressing these issues were discussed and an action plan wasdeveloped by the departmental ADVANCE team under the leadership of the ADVANCEProfessor. Examples of planned activities include:• leveraging both university and college resources to develop a “best practices” document for avoiding subtle bias, especially for faculty search committees• surveying other departments and colleges for existing resources on effective mentoring, including examining the possibility of mentoring associate professors. (Currently the department’s mentoring system is informal, undocumented and limited to assistant professors).• scheduling a faculty

Conference Session

The Pipeline

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Tania Monterastelli, University of Maryland-Baltimore County; Taryn Bayles, University of Maryland-Baltimore County; Julia Ross, University of Maryland-Baltimore County

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

AC 2008-1006: HIGH SCHOOL OUTREACH PROGRAM: ATTRACTING YOUNGLADIES WITH "ENGINEERING IN HEALTH CARE"Tania Monterastelli, University of Maryland-Baltimore County Tania Monterastelli graduated Summa Cum Laude in 2008 with a BS degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. She is a member of Phi Kappa Phi and Tau Beta Pi. She has been working on the YESS program for the last two years. In July 2008 she will begin her career with Exxon-Mobile Corporation.Taryn Bayles, University of Maryland-Baltimore County Taryn Bayles is a Professor of the Practice of Chemical Engineering in the Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Department at UMBC, where she incorporates her