Paper ID #24862Board 135: Reflecting on 20 Years of the Attracting Women into Engineering(AWE) WorkshopMiss Mahaa Mayeesha Ahmed, Rowan University Mahaa Ahmed is currently a senior at Rowan University in Glassboro, NJ studying Biological Sciences and Philosophy and Religion Studies with a minor in Dance. She is a student worker in the Outreach Office of the Henry M. Rowan College of Engineering and helps coordinate K-12 STEM programs during the academic year as well as STEM camps during the summer. She will be pursuing a MS in Environmental Health at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health upon graduation.Ms. Melanie
AC 2011-1243: NOT ALL WOMEN LEAVE! REFLECTIONS ON A CO-HORT OF ”STAYERS” IN CIVIL ENGINEERINGMary Ayre, University of South Australia Mary Ayre is currently a PhD student at the University of South Australia having recently retired from a senior lectureship at the University of Glamorgan, Wales, UK. When teaching mathematics to engineering students 25 year ago she became interested in recruiting female students and since then has been involved in many women in engineering initiatives and research projects in the UK and Australia.Julie E. Mills, University of South Australia Julie Mills is Professor and Program Director in Civil Engineering at the University of South Australia in Adelaide, Australia. Prior to
Engineering. Her research interests are in recruitment and retention of underrepresented groups in computing and engineering fields. c American Society for Engineering Education, 2018 Reflections from Past Chairs of the Women in Engineering DivisionAbstractIn celebration of 125 years of the American Society of Engineering Education, past Chairs of theWomen in Engineering Division (WIED), Beth Holloway, Donna Llewellyn, Sarah Rajala, andNoel Schulz convened in a focused panel that looked back through the division’s history. To helparchive the historical perspective of these leaders, this paper was developed to help the formerChairs focus their perspectives with guiding questions. One additional chair, who could
playing field can help combatthose disparities. For instance, inclusion of service learning has also been shown to increaseretention of women and underrepresented minorities in engineering 10,11. Other approaches suchas pairing female students with mentors and creating discussion groups that explore diversity andinclusion have also been shown to help, as was done in this study.Methodology:Participants shared experiences during weekly discussion and through journaling about howgender norms in engineering and the sciences tend to reflect masculine values, experiences andlife situations. Through these discussions, participants learned to address underlyingassumptions, norms, and practices to change the culture for all members, men and women
call this use of SET into question. In particular, evidence hasshown that SET do not reflect the effectiveness of instruction or learning [1], [2]. Therefore,changes to teaching practices in response to student feedback through SET may not improveteaching or learning effectiveness. Moreover, SET data are biased. Multiple studies have shownthat SET results are biased with respect to gender [3], to sexual orientation and gender identity[4], and to race [5]. Even purportedly objective metrics, such as how quickly homework aregraded and returned, are affected by student understanding of gender [3]. For all of these reasons,SET are problematic when used in merit, tenure and promotion decisions.Appropriate Use of SETSET are unlikely to be eliminated
” group, led by the secondauthor. The group provided a forum for brainstorming ideas and the course provided a platformfor testing these strategies. Four recommendations evolved from this effort: 1.) Education onteam function and bias in team dynamics is helpful. 2.) Teamwork skills and strategies forcollaboration and conflict resolution need to be taught. 3.) Mentoring and engaging withstudents is an important aspect of the process and can be enhanced to better serve women. 4.)Reflection and self-assessment exercises can be integrated to build self-efficacy and confidencein students. Assessment was done using data collected from mid-term evaluations, peerevaluations, self-assessment exercises, input from industry judges, and teaching evaluations
and most diverse representation of STEM professionals to students. InAugust of 2012, the inaugural training workshops were conducted as an effort to "Equip anArmy" of volunteers to go forth and: 1) Share with students why they love working in STEMcareers, 2) Explain to students the impact they can have on the world by working in STEM, and3) Show students the diversity of real-life women and men in STEM. Using guided, inquirybased instruction and learning, participants/volunteers reflected on their personal stories, anddeveloped strategies for how to talk to students about STEM careers using correct and positivemessaging[11].Two workshops were conducted, and evaluations and reflections from the first, informed thesecond. Each workshop was
especially helpful for being successful in the position you are in?It is expected that this panel will be informative and insightful and provide a tremendousopportunity to ask our current academic leaders to reflect on their experiences and provideinsights to the future leaders of the academic profession. The panel will also highlight women inleadership roles in academia and address the specific concerns that women face. The panelistsalso discuss the various strategies that they employed in moving up through the academic ladderto leadership positions at their institutions and the challenges they faced. It is hoped that thepanel will serve as a suitable catalyst for women in academia to consider leadership opportunitiesas they become available
Persistence 90.2% 86.7% 66.9% 69.1%6-Year Graduation Rate 75.7% 67.7% 47.1% 42.6%The COE’s recruitment program was developed to more appropriately reflect the attitudes andgoals of a more diverse student body. It was designed to increase options for personalizedcommunications with prospective students by adding social media, student ambassadors, andproviding increased access to faculty, staff, and current students. Print- and web-based mediawere completely revised to reflect a broader range of student perspectives. We created a newliving/learning community for engineering students and we created
overcomingstruggles, and described their negative perceptions of engineering before entering the major. Participants with alllevels of CSE highlighted their own creativity with respect to the performing and visual arts, before reflecting oninnovation as creative. Most participants with low CSE described their lack of creativity in the arts. They alsodiscussed being “intimidated” by negative classroom experiences more than their peers with higher levels of CSE.Those with low CSE were also exposed to more engineering centered experiences in high school, and most had aparent who worked in the profession. It is expected that this research will provide a more comprehensiveunderstanding of CSE, perceptions of engineering as a creative field, and the educational
Demanding Organized Engaging Approachable Patient Exciting Interested Motivating Prepared Respectful Energetic Understanding Fun PersonableImpact of Gender in ClassroomGenerally, gender is perceived as a negative for women in the classroom as it pertains tostudents’ perceptions of instructor effectiveness, as reflected in student evaluations. Forinstance, MacNell et al. (2014) found that students rated an instructor with a male identity higherthan female instructor possessing a female identity for online courses regardless of theinstructor’s actual gender. When female
series of questions that students responded to on a Likert scale. Male students had amore favorable view of engineers’ role in society than female students, based on responses toquestions from the Pittsburgh Freshman Engineering Attitudes Survey (PFEAS). Becauseprevious studies have indicated that females want to benefit society through their work, thecontinuing poor perception of engineering as a helping profession among females may reflectrecruiting problems. More revealing information was found in the reflective essays that thestudents write at the end of the semester summarizing their feelings about engineering andwhether they plan to stay in the major or switch majors.BackgroundThe engineering profession needs to recruit more students, and
increasing their representation in the non-traditional fieldsof study and are becoming more knowledgeable of technology’s multi-facet components,there still remains significant under-representation of females in areas such as IndustrialTechnology. Nelson (2004) 33 indicated that lack of female representation in technologymay be due to a threefold purpose: “(1) women of the world lack knowledge oftechnology, (2) technology alienates and often exploits women, and (3) decisions abouttechnology are made without women’s voices” (p.2). This is reflected from Mayer’s(1995)27assertion that females comprise only 30 percent of the industrial workforce. Thisglobally illustrates moderate but consistent initiatives. The U. S. Department of Labor(2003)38 reported
women’s roles are alsoaddressed in the course through selection of speakers with a variety of personal/professional lifesolutions as well as supporting materials from the USU ADVANCE Institutional TransformationAward. To overcome the small number of freshmen women interested in engineering, data fromthe Women’s Experiences in College Engineering project is shared to help the studentsunderstand their feelings are typically aligned with a larger body of female students across thecountry. Student reflections acquired through required essay questions and examinations arepresented to help understand whether their career choices are influenced by conservativeattitudes toward family and women’s roles. Preliminary retention data is
to any introductory academic engineering exercise that deliberately aims to incorporate as many aspects of real-‐engineering as possible in order to create an experience that accurately reflects the practice of engineering. For incoming students, up to the point when they arrive on a college campus, most introductory engineering activity is intended to entice or awaken the student to the possibilities of engineering. ECIE exercises, on the other hand, aim for accuracy of practice as a counter measure to downstream attrition resulting from shifting perceptions of engineering as students
-telling, andpeer mentoring; and (4) Physiological states through reflections, I-CAN statements, power poses,and fine and performing art.Data analysis of pre and post-tests, pre and post self-reporting 5-point Likert scale surveys, focusgroup sessions, and reflection sheets showed that this program had been effective. The 91%increase in Sustainable Construction Engineering knowledge, 7.41% increase in self-efficacy,and 7.35% increase in STEM attitudes were all statistically significant (p<0.01). The girls’strongest sources of self-efficacy were from observing peers (vicarious experiences),encouragement from parents (verbal persuasion), positive attitudes from fine and performing arts(physiological states), and continuous improvement and
the scienceprofessions, researchers have identified an enduring strong association of science as a disciplinefor men [4]. This association of gender and career field also impacts young people before theycommit to a career path: middle schoolers have parroted the assumption that engineering is acareer for men [8].The Media and Women in STEMThese disciplinary norms and perceptions are reflected in the ways in which, and if, women inSTEM are portrayed in art, media, and popular culture around the world [3, 7, 9, 10, 11]. Themedia reflects the truth of underrepresentation in STEM [7, 10]. Of the 391 most popular STEM-themed YouTube channels, only 32 hosts presented themselves as female [9]. In acomprehensive study of entertainment media
. Joachim Walther, University of Georgia Dr. Walther is an assistant professor of engineering education research at the University of Georgia (UGA). He is a director of the Collaborative Lounge for Understanding Society and Technology through Educational Research (CLUSTER), an interdisciplinary research group with members from engineering, art, educational psychology and social work. His research interests range from the role of empathy in engineering students’ professional formation, the role of reflection in engineering learning, and interpretive research methodologies in the emerging field of engineering education research. His teaching focuses on innovative approaches to introducing systems thinking and
Engineering Profession itself is beset by gender inequitiesin terms of the number of women engineers. National statistics, whilst not providing an‘exact’ comparison, do provide insight into the numbers of women within Engineering. Forexample, within the UK the literature suggests that only 9% of Engineering Professionals arewomen, compared with 18% in Spain, 26% in Sweden and 20% in Italy[2]. The low figure inthe UK reflects that of the USA where previous studies indicate that only 11% of Engineersare women[23] and in Australia where 14% of Engineers are women[24]. Page 24.1367.2Explanations in the literature as to why so few women select to become
goalthrough other avenues? This study explored the attitudes of female students at the end of theirfirst semester in engineering in order to help answer this question. Students’ reflective essaysfrom first year introduction to civil engineering (CE), environmental engineering (EvE), andarchitectural engineering (AE) courses were analyzed for content. The students were asked todiscuss if they were interested in continuing to major in CE/EvE/AE and why or why not. Arubric was used to score the extent to which the students indicated that helping people was amotivation toward engineering; 35% of CE students and 32% of EvE students indicated that theirprimary motivation toward the major was the ability to help people. Engineers Without Borders(EWB) and
andafter students completed the projects to evaluate the content of the workshops. 32 risingjuniors/senior female high school students participated in the RAMP for High School Girlsprogram in the past two years. The survey shows 6.25% students knew some/a lot aboutElectrical Engineering in the entrance survey, while 56.25% of the students knew some/a lotabout Electrical Engineering in the exit survey. 6.25% students thought they knew some/a lotabout Mechanical before the workshop, and 56.25% students thought they knew some/a lot aboutMechanical Engineering after the workshop. Students reflected that they enjoyed the experiencevery much and found the workshops to be extremely helpful in helping them to further identifytheir college interests and
project was LED Dexterity Challenge. A survey wasconducted to collect data right after students completed each workshop to evaluate the content ofthe workshop. 169 girl scouts members participated in the STEM program and took the survey inthe past two years. The survey shows 95% students enjoyed Electrical Engineering workshopactivity while 98% of the students enjoyed Computer Engineering. Students reflected that theywould like to participate more STEM related activities in the future.The program represents part of our university’s ongoing efforts to interest young women inSTEM and is part of the Girl Scouts' “fun with purpose” K-12 curriculum. That initiativeintroduces scouts of every age to STEM to inspire them to embrace and celebrate
processing.Theoretical Framework We employ the developmental construct of self-authorship as a theoretical lens tounderstand the cognitive processes students use to make decisions, including career decisions9.Defined as “the ability to collect, interpret, and analyze information and reflect on one’s ownbeliefs in order to form judgments” (p. 143) 6, self-authorship is grounded in the work of Perry33 Page 11.632.2and Kegan23. Self-authorship is linked to decision making because it influences how individualsmake meaning of the advice they receive from others and the extent that the reasoning theyemploy reflects an internally grounded sense of self6, 7, 8
& Poth, 2018). One of the challenges in qualitativeresearch is to convince the reader that the analytical process is focused, clear, and defined. Todemonstrate this, the data analysis spiral was utilized as a guiding framework in the analysisprocess. This structured format guided the analytic process and allowed for a high level of focusand attention towards the participants’ account and reflection of their experiences.ResultsThe IPA approach provided an in-depth and interpretative investigation into the personalexperiences of the participants and allowed the participants to reflect on the significance of theirexperiences during their choice and persistence in engineering. The study’s in-depth analysisrevealed several recurrent themes from
finalized. The questions were personalized for each interviewee andreviewed by the IEEE Historian. Following changes, the participating students sent the oralhistory questions to the interviewee prior to the interview.A standard set of interview components included the following sections: Introduction, EarlyLife/Education, Career, Awards/Honors, Gender-Related Questions, Reflection/Advice, andConclusion. Table I (shown on the next page) shows the structure of a typical oral historyinterview. Excluding an introduction and conclusion, the five general sections covered in theinterview are Early Life/Education, Career, Awards/Honors, Gender, and Reflection/Advice.Questions are personalized for each interviewee. Questions in the Early Life/Education
reduce stress and anxiety and to provide moral support, WELA members receivedexamination survival packs 6 .In celebration of the successful first year of WELA, an Inspirational Students booklet waspublished featuring the first WELA members. Professional photographs were taken of the Page 23.1180.4WELA members, and each member wrote a self-reflective article on what it meant to be a part ofWELA, and of the engineering world, as well as what they had learnt and gained during theirfirst year as WELA members 6. Special awards were given to acknowledge and celebrateacademic and other achievements of WELA members.2.1.2 WELA Senior programmeThe WELA
programs, etc.) haveimpacted the success of these women, it was important to have distinct research sites so that Icould examine the effects of various policies and procedures on the careers of the researchparticipants within the context of each institution’s programs and policies.Population and Sample I interviewed women faculty who have their primary appointment in the engineeringschool each campus (since some faculty have dual appointments). The objective for each site was to interview at least fifty percent of the faculty so that my sample would reflect the variedexperience of tenured women faculty at each site. Table 1-1 describes the population and sampleat each research site and Table 1-2 provides employment and demographic
for our programming efforts. First, we modeled the long-term effect ofour programming efforts on the percentage of females in the incoming residency class assumingthat we maintain our current level of programming indefinitely. We then adjusted selectparameters in the model to reflect “worst-case” assumptions for recruiting and retention inorthopaedic residency (see Table 2). This analysis is particularly important because our currentprogram evaluation data – on which the model parameters are based – reflect intermediaterecruitment and retention outcomes, e.g., intention to pursue orthopaedic surgery for high schoolparticipants rather than actual matriculation rates into residency. Our worst-case assumptionswere as follows: (1) 10% decrease in
research teammember. Any coding inconsistencies were resolved through consensus.Results Our first research question asked about the major hurdles or challenges that studentsfaced during their first semester and whether these challenges hindered academic success orwillingness to continue in engineering. Participant responses reflected five broader categoriesincluding academic-internal, academic-external, social, financial, and health barriers. Commonacademic-internal (i.e., intrapersonal) barriers included student disinterest (e.g., in coursematerial), negative affect (e.g., feeling overwhelmed or frustrated), problems with academic,organizational, and developmental skills and adjustment (e.g., time management, academicperformance problems
throughprocesses of community-building, organizing, and education, creating transformativeexperiences in democratic and reflective spaces that directly address root causes. This mayinclude every-day actions such as cooking, gardening, building, establishing space, as well asperformance and creative output.In conversation with Highlander’s practices of creative resistance and agency building, we alsotake from the foundational work of Imarisha Walidah and Adrienne Maree Brown regarding thepractice of emergent strategies for community organizing and enacting change [16]. Brown andWalidah have established the technique of future visioning through the writing of science fictionnarratives that enable social critique as well as creative resistance and playful