Conference Session

Retaining Women Engineering Students

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Elizabeth Creamer, Virginia Tech; Peggy Meszaros, Virginia Tech; Catherine Amelink, Virginia Tech

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

, emphasisplaced on competition, opportunities for meaningful and supportive interactions withfaculty11, and peers12 play a more critical role than individual qualities in promoting acommitment to engineering as a long-term pursuit. Page 15.297.21 This research was supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF GSE 0522767)Mary Frank Fox, a leading scholar in the field of gender and success in STEM fields, haslong been a champion for the environmental perspective, firmly taking an“institutional/structural centered” position where she argues that policies and practicesimplicitly reflect cultural assumptions and, when gender-related, a generally

Conference Session

Effective Methods for Recruiting Women to Engineering

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Sara Atwood, University of California, Berkeley; Eli Patten, University of California at Berkeley; Lisa Pruitt, University of California, Berkeley

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

exams and a final group project comprising a written report, an oral presentation, and anoutreach teaching activity at a local children’s science museum. The grades were assigned basedon 25% for each of two exams, 10% assignments, and 40% final project.This course’s unique emphasis on outreach teaching and on communication and interpersonalskills was enacted primarily through the skills lab and the final group project. The commontheme around which these activities were built was Felder’s learning styles. In the skills lab,students began the semester by identifying their learning styles with Felder’s online assessmenttool (active vs. reflective; intuitive vs. sensing; sequential vs. global; visual vs. verbal).21 The conceptof learning styles was

Conference Session

ADVANCE Grants and Institutional Transformation

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Suzanne Zurn-Birkhimer, Purdue University; Barbara Clark, Purdue University; Susan Geier, Purdue University; Christie Sahley, Purdue University

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

workshops.Modifications will be made to the materials and the script to reflect the feedback from theprevious workshops. By partnering with the OIE we hope to institutionalize the unconsciousbias and assumption literature into the Search and Screen process.Mentoring InstituteOne of the goals of ADVANCE-Purdue is to improve the success of the female faculty. PCFS isusing mentoring as a vehicle to foster success and retention through a Mentoring Institute (MI).The MI is an opportunity for peer and group mentoring, networking, and information gathering,and is open to all new assistant professors, regardless of gender, ethnicity or discipline. Inaddition, at least one senior faculty from each college participates in the MI. This commitmentdemonstrates the importance

Conference Session

How to Get Published: Tips from Journal Editors

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Bevlee Watford, Virginia Tech

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

paper enhance understanding of engineers orengineering?” and “What are the relationships among the technical and the nontechnicaldimensions of engineering practices, and how do these relationships changes over time and fromplace to place?”Along with its parent organization, the journal also seeks to (a) to help build and serve diversecommunities of researchers interested in engineering studies, and (b) link scholarly work inengineering studies to broader discussions and debates about engineering education, research,practice, policy, and representation. As such, it challenges authors to reflect on and anticipatehow their work might prove helpful to others elsewhere, both within the academy and beyond.The journal thus explicitly juxtaposes

Conference Session

ADVANCE Grants and Institutional Transformation

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Canan Bilen-Green, North Dakota State University; Elizabeth Birmingham, North Dakota State University; Ann Burnett, North Dakota State University; Roger Green, North Dakota State University

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

described by the American Council on Education16 — atransformation that: “(1) alters the culture of the institution by changing select, underlyingassumptions and institutional behaviors, processes, and products; (2) is deep and pervasive,affecting the whole institution; (3) is intentional; and (4) occurs over time.” Therefore, NorthDakota State University Advance FORWARD’s approach to such institutional transformationinvolves multiple interventions which take into account (1) the effects of institutional policies andpractices; (2) campus climate, reflecting attitudes and behaviors that diminish women’sadvancement; and (3) knowledge and skills for success in teaching, research, and leadership.Institutional ContextNorth Dakota State University, a

Conference Session

Women in Engineering Poster Session

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Erika Murguia, Arizona State University; Erin Kube, Arizona State University; Jennifer Bekki, Arizona State University Polytechnic; Bianca Bernstein, Arizona State University

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

the CareerWISE office. Page 15.263.5Participants completed a 12-item questionnaire about their experiences as part of the CW project.Participants reflected and described what they had gained as participants in a largeinterdisciplinary project as well as the challenges that they had faced. Participants responded toquestions about the changes in their knowledge and skills related to: interdisciplinary teams,disciplinary cultures, gender issues in educational and career settings (topic of the CW project),and the creation of instructional materials for online use (topic of CW project). They were askedhow they had used these skills in external

Conference Session

Effective Methods for Recruiting Women to Engineering

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Eleanor M. Jaffee, Smith College; Donna Riley, Smith College

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

descriptive reports of the sample.Data Analysis. Analysis began with structural coding, or segmenting interviews based on thestructure of the interview protocol itself. This allowed us to focus our efforts on portions of theinterviews relevant to particular topics. Following this initial step, we began the thematic codingprocess using a codebook reflecting the study‟s central theoretical themes17. According toMacQueen et al., “the codebook functions as a frame or boundary that the analyst constructs inorder to systematically map the informational terrain of the text” (p. 32).18 For the purpose ofintercoder reliability when working as a team, the authors recommend that codebooks include sixbasic components for each code: the code itself, a brief

Conference Session

Effective Methods for Recruiting Women to Engineering

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Donna Milgram, Institute for Women in Trades, Technology and Science (IWITTS); Daniella Severs, Institute for Women in Trades, Technology and Science (IWITTS)

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

out comparedto the dropout rate of 6.7% among the population of respondents who did not report a negativeexperience. The fact that 69% of the female students that dropped a technology course had anegative experience at some point may indicate how important a positive classroom environmentis when it comes to retaining female students.The women who took the female technology survey are a racially diverse group, reflective ofCalifornia’s community college population.Figure 3. An Excerpt from the Demographic Section of the Survey:Question 12) What is your ethnicity? Percentage of Choice Number of Respondents

Conference Session

ADVANCE Grants and Institutional Transformation

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Christine Grant, North Carolina State University; Jessica Decuir-Gunby, North Carolina State University; Barbara Smith, North Carolina State University

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

Minority (URM) women faculty have emerged as successful leaders in theengineering academia in a growing number of universities across the United States. Increasedexposure of this group raises the conversation in academia to a new level and createspartnerships based on scholarship with diversity as an added benefit. There are, however, stillunique challenges and opportunities. The representation of URM women faculty at the Top 50institutions (based on research expenditures) is not reflective of demographics due to acombination of selection/self selection processes and hidden biases in the academia (Nelson,2007). As they progress in their faculty careers, Underrepresented Minority Women (URM

Conference Session

Retaining Women Engineering Students

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Judith Cordes, Michigan State University; Thomas Wolff, Michigan State University

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

studying engineering andattending xxxx. She met with visiting prospective women students and their families, andintroduced them to the WIE Program. During the summer, she was the Co-Director of thesummer Women in Engineering Summer Camp which hosted 25 women students going intotheir second, third and fourth years of high school. Finally, the brochure for students and their Page 15.412.8families was taken from development stage to final copy. It is now used in all recruitmentactivities.Third Year. The third year has been a year of growth but also reflection. The Coordinator wasable to hire a student worker who works five hours per week and assists

Conference Session

ADVANCE Grants and Institutional Transformation

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Kristen Constant, Iowa State University

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

Page 15.817.8their persistence and impact.Although we have made significant progress, we know that sustaining the slow process ofinstitutional transformation will required continued efforts and investment. The ISU-ADVANCE team continues to develop strategies to address each of these challenges and remainsboth committed and optimistic to positive transformation.This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No.SBE-0600399. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in thismaterial are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National ScienceFoundation

Conference Session

Retaining Women Engineering Students

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Susan Metz, Stevens Institute of Technology; Suzanne Brainard, University of Washington; Elizabeth Litzler, University of Washington

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

but stillrepresentative sample of engineering colleges. Each PACE school was given tailoredrecommendations. When the research team looked across all the recommendations at all theschools, it turned out that some of the recommendations were highly prevalent at many of theschools. In this paper, those common recommendations are discussed in relation to thequantitative and qualitative findings that supported reasons for the recommendations.MethodIn conjunction with the substantive goals described above, the PACE research team also iscommitted to a set of scientific standards whereby the data gathered would be valid, reliable andethical reflections of students’ experiences. In order to meet these methodological goals, theteam designed and

Conference Session

Focus on Faculty

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Daniel Knight, University of Colorado, Boulder; Katie Corner, University of Colorado, Boulder; Beverly Louie, University of Colorado, Boulder; Amber Shoals, University of Colorado, Boulder; Cindy Cabrales, University of Colorado, Boulder

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

. In recent years, the retention rate for women has declined and dropped below the rateat which the College retains men. An analysis of graduation rates in other colleges at theuniversity did not reflect the same pattern, indicating this pattern is specific to the college ofengineering. 62% 60% 58% 56.6% 56% Percent Retention 54.0% 54% Female 52

Conference Session

Effective Methods for Recruiting Women to Engineering

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Manjusha Saraswathiamma, North Dakota State University; Kathy Enger, North Dakota State University; Canan Bilen-Green, North Dakota State University; Achinthya Bazebaruah, North Dakota State University; Bruce Schumacher, North Dakota State University

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

decision to study engineering. Anothersource of motivation was family support, followed by: mentors, teachers, role models, andfriends. The third most important influence was a desire to help people or community.However, upon further reflection, this translated into personality and personal passion.Opportunity to work was another significant factor. Females often entered the field afterlearning of the employment opportunities available to engineers. Financial security or jobsecurity ranked as average factors. Intrinsic motivators and self-confidence were of minorimportance to these females. Some females found inspiration in religious beliefs, and otherscited communication skill along with planning and hands-on work as factors influencing

Conference Session

Retaining Women Engineering Students

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Elizabeth Litzler, University of Washington; Stephanie Jaros, University of Washington; Suzanne Brainard, University of Washington; Susan Metz, Stevens Institute of Technology

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

Americans and Whites. There are no gender differences inconfidence among African Americans. In addition, the results show race differences inconfidence among men; African American men report less confidence in their engineeringabilities than White men.In addition, this study also contributes to the knowledge base the finding that there are morerace/ethnicity differences among women than among men, specifically regarding professor-student interaction and student-student interaction. The expression “double bind” is usedparticularly for women of color in that they face two barriers in science and engineering, as awoman and as a minority. The finding that they feel they face greater bias from professors andfellow students is a reflection of the “double

Conference Session

ADVANCE Grants and Institutional Transformation

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Anna M. Zajicek, University of Arkansas; Shauna A. Morimoto, University of Arkansas; Joseph Rencis, University of Arkansas; Valerie H. Hunt, University of Arkansas

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

institutions.IntroductionFor over 20 years, the US government has invested in the development and implementation ofgender equity programs in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM). Theeconomic, technological, social, and educational benefits of creating a more diverse science andengineering workforce provide the impetus behind the equity efforts in STEM disciplines.1Integral to these efforts is the growth of the number of women obtaining STEM doctoral degreesand entering the academic workplace as faculty members. Although recent statistics indicate asubstantive increase in the number of women receiving doctorates in STEM disciplines, thenumbers of women STEM faculty fail to reflect this change.2Using the metaphor of a leaky academic pipeline, social