Conference Session

History of the Women in Engineering Division: Reflections from Past Chairs of the Division

Collection

2018 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Beena Sukumaran, Rowan University; Janet Callahan, Boise State University; Donna C. Llewellyn, Boise State University; Beth M. Holloway, Purdue University, West Lafayette (College of Engineering); Noel N. Schulz, Washington State University; Sarah A. Rajala, Iowa State University; Donna Reese, Mississippi State University

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Diversity

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Women in Engineering

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

Conference Session

Women in Engineering Technical Session

Collection

2018 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Andrea Nana Ofori-Boadu, North Carolina A&T State University

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Women in Engineering

-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

Conference Session

Women in Engineering Division Technical Session 6

Collection

2018 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jiahui Song, Wentworth Institute of Technology; Gloria Guohua Ma, Wentworth Institute of Technology

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Women in Engineering

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

Conference Session

Women in Engineering Division Technical Session 6

Collection

2018 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Chloe Wiggins, Designing Education Lab; Sheri Sheppard, Stanford University; Shannon Katherine Gilmartin, SKG Analysis; Benedikt von Unold, Stanford University; Tua A. Björklund, Aalto University Design Factory; Michael Arruza Cruz

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Women in Engineering

, practices, and cultures that reflect expandedperspectives on gender, diversity, and intersectional identities. In order to better understand the role(s) of such a course in an engineering student'seducation and how engineering education considers these issues, the instructor team invited twoundergraduate researchers to undertake projects in support of these goals. One of these students(Amber Levine) was tasked with identifying other courses across the U.S. with similar subjectmatter and learning objectives (“EEL Related Courses Study”); she found 13 courses acrosstwelve institutions that connected issues of diversity and culture to engineering and were targetedto engineering students (Levine, 2016). The other student (Chloe Wiggins, who is

Conference Session

Women in Engineering Division Technical Session 4

Collection

2018 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

S. Zahra Atiq, Purdue University, West Lafayette (College of Engineering); Sarah Morton; Nehal I. Abu-lail, Washington State University; Ashley Ater Kranov, Washington State University; Julie A. Kmec, Washington State University; Jennifer Deboer, Purdue University-Main Campus, West Lafayette (College of Engineering)

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Women in Engineering

thatinform women’s decisions to enter each respective sector. More importantly, there is vanishinglylittle work on women’s decisions to enter different engineering careers in contexts where womenare well-represented.In our paper, we discuss participation of women in engineering in Malaysia, a context wherewomen represent a high share of both academia and industry (e.g., overall, 45% of theengineering workforce) [3]. Findings from the 2013 Malaysian MWFCD Women in the LaborMarket Study conclude that women are about 46% of the public and 51% of the privateengineering, manufacturing, and construction work sector [4]. Studying the Malaysian contextwill help us gain purchase on the way choices are driven by “preferences for science” [5],reflective of

Conference Session

Women in Engineering Division Technical Session 5

Collection

2018 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Kristin E. Sherwood, Stony Brook University; Angela M Kelly, Stony Brook University; Monica Bugallo, Stony Brook University

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Diversity

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Women in Engineering

friends with my mentor from three years ago and reach out to her for advice and previous mentees reach out to me often. The bonding has resulted in success that would not have happened without the program and community.Mentoring was prioritized by many of the women since they recognized the sustained impact oftheir efforts. They often viewed themselves as aspirational role models for the first-year studentswith whom they interacted. One student contextualized the importance of her work in terms offacilitating the growth of others: I think that I really prioritize mentoring. I think that it's something very important to me because just reflecting on my past year of mentoring, it's been very rewarding in the fact

Conference Session

Women in Engineering Division Technical Session 5

Collection

2018 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jessica Ohanian Perez, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona

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Women in Engineering

?Three distinct phases of a woman’s journey were examined. First, a sample of women who havealready completed an undergraduate engineering degree from a public university was studied.Secondly, women in their upper division year of their undergraduate degree program were askedto reflect on their experiences over their undergraduate career. Both of these groups of womenwere asked questions from the same interview protocol. Finally, classes were observed anddiscourse was analyzed in gatekeeper courses to understand the interaction of women and theirprofessors as well as women with their peers, both male and female. The lens of Feminist PostStructuralism and of Sense-Making allowed the critical analysis to shine a light on theunderlying cultural

Conference Session

Women in Engineering Technical Session

Collection

2018 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Hadil Mustafa, California State University, Chico; Shelby Ann Freese

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Diversity

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Women in Engineering

E F 0 1 2 3 4 5 Figure 4: Outreach impact on areas A-F in scale 0-5 ("0" no impact, "5" significant positive impact)In addition to the personal assessment portion, the survey contained a free response section. Inthis section, students were asked to reflect on their view of the importance of the outreach event,in correlation to self-development, society, and education.I: Outreach and Personal SkillsStudents indicated that outreach helped them develop and enhance their communication skills,public speaking skills, self-confidence, teamwork and leadership skills. The majority of therespondents mentioned communication as one of the most developed skills. “Public

Conference Session

Women in Engineering Division Technical Session 1

Collection

2018 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Henriette D. Burns, Washington State University, Vancouver; Sean Palmer Marquardt Rice, Washington State University, Vancouver

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Diversity

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Women in Engineering

questions (highest interest) by sex. Both sexes are interestedin mixing material (expected) but less so on how diseases like cancer work (not expected).Absent is mathematics interest for girls (expected) and space interest for boys (not expected):Figure 7 and Figure 8. Top Six STEM Interest Questions by Sex.By category, for some of the demographics, the mean scores reflect similar ranges as theresponses to the perception question “Do girls belong in engineering.” Note that the sample sizesfor different ethnic demographics are very small and can only serve as food for thought andfuture study, not for making claims. For example (Fig. 9), African American students score low,whereas Pacific Islanders and Whites score higher. Note Asian American and

Conference Session

Women in Engineering Division Technical Session 6

Collection

2018 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Vemitra M White, Mississippi State University; Sarah B. Lee, Mississippi State University; Litany H Lineberry, Mississippi State University; Jessica Ivy, Mississippi State Universitt; C. Danielle Grimes, Mississippi State University

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Women in Engineering

undergraduate engineering- or science-based computing major? Analysis isexpected to reveal the experiences and stakeholders that impact their decisions to enroll in acomputing major and persist into the workforce.BackgroundWith global competitiveness and homeland security driving the need to increase United Statesparticipation in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) workforce [4].In 2013, the National Center for Women and Information Technology (NCWIT) reported thatonly 26% of jobs in computing were held by women; African American women represented only3% of the computing workforce [5]. This reflects the need for accessible co-curricularprogramming in the southern region of the United States (US), particularly for females and

Conference Session

Women in Engineering Division Technical Session 5

Collection

2018 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jennifer A Gatz, Stony Brook University ; Angela M Kelly, Stony Brook University; Monica Bugallo, Stony Brook University

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Diversity

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Women in Engineering

the academic and socialengagement provided by peer mentoring aspects of the program may be positive predictors ofretention for first year female students in science and engineering.AcknowledgmentsThis material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No.7686640. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this materialare those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National ScienceFoundation.References[1] A. E. Bell, S. J. Spencer, E. Iserman, and C. E. R. Logel, "Stereotype threat and women's performance in engineering," Journal of Engineering Education, vol. 92, pp. 307-312, 2003.[2] N. M. Else-Quest, C. C. Mineo, and A. Higgins, "Math

Conference Session

Women in Engineering Division Technical Session 2

Collection

2018 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Madison E. Andrews, University of Texas, Austin

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Diversity

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Women in Engineering

noticed a higher level of responsibility entrusted to male students thanto female students. These hostile experiences often caused female students to question if theywould ever be taken seriously in the workforce or valued as an engineer. When reflecting ontheir working experiences, these women identified moments of extreme self-doubt that stand insharp contrast to the growing confidence and career satisfaction their male peers recounted (Case& Jawitz, 2004; Seron et al., 2016).It is important to note that while some accounts of this mistreatment in the workplace occurred instudies during the early 2000s, two were published in 2016, indicating this culture is consistentthroughout time and still relevant to women in engineering today

Conference Session

Women in Engineering Division Technical Session 1

Collection

2018 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

James A. Coller, University of Michigan; Magel P. Su, University of Michigan; Robin Fowler, University of Michigan

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Women in Engineering

interaction was found to be significant (p =0.001). A histogram showing the disagreement level compared to the fraction of participants foreach online and face-to-face medium is shown in Figure 2.Importantly, we do not expect that student teams assigned to meet online actually experiencedhigher levels of disagreement; instead, we believe that this difference reflects students’ ability tofeel safe expressing disagreement. The lowered social presence of the online chat allowedstudents to more readily express their possible disagreements with one another. Whiledisagreement was a small portion of the overall conversation, it can have a large impact on theoverall discussion.One student, who was in the face-to-face condition, indicated that it was

Conference Session

Women in Engineering Division Technical Session 6

Collection

2018 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Allison Webster-Giddings, Vanderbilt University; Nancy Dickson, Vanderbilt; Melissa S Martiros, Anna Maria College; Sarah Mullen, Vanderbilt University

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Women in Engineering

accounting for all four experience types,ResultsChi Squared Tests Our analysis found that a number of relationships were statistically significant atconventional levels, reflecting some of the findings in the existing literature, and providing newavenues for exploration that the literature has not yet addressed. First, as we explored various inquiry-based experiences for STEM majors, we found thatstudents who had an influential pre-college independent inquiry experience in STEM were morelikely to have an intended major in STEM (84%) than those who had a non-influentialindependent inquiry STEM experience (69%). These two findings suggest that simply havingpre-college independent inquiry experiences influence students’ choice of major

Conference Session

Women in Engineering Division Technical Session 5

Collection

2018 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Marissa H. Forbes, University of Colorado Boulder; Angela R Bielefeldt, University of Colorado, Boulder; Jacquelyn F. Sullivan, University of Colorado, Boulder; Ray Lynn Littlejohn

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Diversity

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Women in Engineering

women’s participation.22 While chemical and materials engineering werefound to have cultures that encompass both masculine and feminine characteristics (which isreflected in comparatively higher percentage women enrollment), the electrical engineeringculture was the most masculine (again, reflected in comparatively low women enrollment).22 Is itpossible that in programs less popular with women, offering increased course choice opportunityin a given program is comparatively more correlated to the gender diversity in that program? Ifso, increasing the flexibility and/or customizability in engineering programs via free electivesand other course choice opportunities might serve as a strategy to attract and keep more womenengineering

Conference Session

Women in Engineering Technical Session

Collection

2018 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Samuel Alberto Acuna, University of Wisconsin - Madison; Joseph E Michaelis, University of Wisconsin - Madison; Joshua Daniel Roth, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Joseph Towles, University of Wisconsin, Madison

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Diversity

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Women in Engineering

activitieshad a higher interest in engineering than girls. This study also showed that biomechanics-basedactivities could increase interest in considering careers in engineering, regardless of initial interest.Of note, when both boys and girls had little to no interest in engineering, boys were more easilydrawn in by the outreach activities than girls. The challenge with engaging girls in engineeringmay be a reflection of intrinsic differences such as gender stereotypes (Bieg et al., 2015), andpsychological factors (Stoet et al., 2016) between boys and girls that are more pronounced at lowindividual-interest levels. Thus, it may be necessary to tailor interventions (e.g., biomechanics-based activities) that target girls with low interest in engineering

Conference Session

Women in Engineering Division Technical Session 4

Collection

2018 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Angela M Kelly, Stony Brook University; Doreen Aveni, Stony Brook University; Monica Bugallo, Stony Brook University

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Diversity

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Women in Engineering

of belonging, self-efficacy). By providing studentswith honors level academic coursework, coupled with real world skills development, such asresearch and design projects, and practical leadership experiences, WISE Honors will positionstudents to become effective agents in science and engineering communities. Future researchwill explore longitudinal impacts of program participation, and how students might be betterprepared to balance the demands of their personal and professional lives.AcknowledgmentsThis material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No.1647405. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this materialare those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the

Conference Session

Women in Engineering Division Technical Session 4

Collection

2018 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Stephany Coffman-Wolph, University of Texas, Austin; Kimberlyn Gray, West Virginia University Inst. of Tech.

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Women in Engineering

students are much more likely to seekout tutoring. The authors believe that female students are more likely to think that they either“have what it takes” or not and this will be reflected in their grades. The data shows that femalefirst generation students are also not joining programs like TRIO (aimed specifically to help firstgeneration students), which the authors believe is a contributing factor to these students avoidingSTEM fields. The male students were more likely to be members of STEM organizations andother support programs on campus, which may be why they feel a much lower need ofmentoring. Increasing peer and faculty mentoring for our female students as well as encouragingthem to join STEM organizations may help fill some of these

Conference Session

Women in Engineering Division Technical Session 4

Collection

2018 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Coleen Carrigan, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo; Saejin Kwak Tanguay, University of Washington; Joyce Yen, University of Washington; Julie Simmons Ivy, North Carolina State University; Cara Margherio, University of Washington; Eve A. Riskin, University of Washington; Christine S. Grant, North Carolina State University; M. Claire Horner-Devine, University of Washington and Counterspace Consulting

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Women in Engineering

chose those five social identities. We aimedin this exercise to help displace white privilege from the center of LATTICE practices andoutputs, as well as other privileges like heteronormativity, class status, and career stages.Another purpose of this activity was to understand which identities are most important to groupmembers, how these identities intersect with our work in designing professional interventions forwomen. Additionally, this Identity Examination activity helped LATTICE team membersilluminate and reflect on the aspects of our identity that motivate our work and our engagementin this social/intellectual movement in academic engineering. Further, our professional activitiesshape and are shaped by our lived experiences. Sharing our

Conference Session

Women in Engineering Division Technical Session 7

Collection

2018 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jennifer C Mallette, Boise State University; Harold Ackler P.E., Boise State University

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Diversity

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Women in Engineering

traditionally-aged collegestudents who are white and cisgendered.While more quantitative data can provide essential big picture data, qualitative case studies havethe advantage of highlighting specific experiences, focusing on the particular instead of thegeneral [15]. In other words, case studies provide rich context and detail, though researchersmust be careful about generalizing what they find. In addition, assessing women’s experiencesmore quantitatively may not be possible because of the number of women present in a givenengineering program (the MSE program studied here has only 6 women out of a cohort of 22enrolled in the senior project course) and because their grades or other methods of numericalevaluation may not adequately reflect their

Conference Session

Women in Engineering Division Technical Session 6

Collection

2018 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Laura K Alford, University of Michigan; Valeria Bertacco, University of Michigan

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

-efficacy (reflected in themarginal means), and also shows how the increase in Course 1’s women’s self-efficacy comesprimarily from those women who were neutral at the beginning of the course feeling moresuccessful at the end of the class.IntimidationVisually inspecting the survey results for intimidation by programming in Figs. 3, 5b, and 6b, wesee that overall women are more intimidated by programming in both courses, although thisdifference is statistically significant only for Course 2. Therefore, we cannot reject the nullhypothesis for Hypothesis 2. Interestingly, we see that men at the start of Course 2 are, onaverage, about the same as where the left off at the end of Course 1, but women are on averagemore intimidated (not statistically