Technology. She is a co-PI for RIT’s ADVANCE grant, where her focus is on structural changes that can improve the climate for women faculty in STEM.Prof. Sharon Patricia Mason, Rochester Institute of Technology Professor Sharon Mason is an Associate Professor in the Department of Information Sciences and Tech- nology at RIT where she has served on the faculty since 1997. Sharon has been involved in computing security education at RIT since its inception. She is the PI of for the Department of Defense (DoD) In- formation Assurance Scholarship Program (IASP) awards to RIT. These scholarships enable students to study and do research in graduate programs in security, forensics and information assurance. To date
diversity efforts because of the low numbers ofwomen in departments and a highly masculinized culture. Academia, in particular in theengineering and science disciplines, remains inhospitable to the representation, advancement,and inclusion of women.1,2 Many, if not most, diversity efforts focus on students instead offaculty. Arguments for a student centered-approach include the idea that the pipeline of possibleunderrepresented faculty members must increase in order for there to be successful recruitment.However, women tend to disproportionately drop out of the pipeline, so that fewer apply for jobsat institutions than are present in postdoctoral positions or graduate schools. Our work focuses ongendered dynamics in departments. Our goal is to
career progressed, and frequently stated that thistrait is necessary for a successful career in engineering, but is not always an attribute that womendisplay. The sections that follow outline the findings of the study, including both the key factorsof support that helped women to be successful in academic engineering programs (ResearchQuestion 1) and the challenges that women frequently faced and overcame in their career(Research Question 2). The Challenge of Balancing Work and Family Demands: Making Tradeoffs Women at all three campuses described balancing work and family as one of the mostchallenging aspects of their careers in engineering. Female faculty members explained that theyhad to make significant tradeoffs to have children