London, M. R., & Cadwell, J. R., & Maxwell, A. (2011, June), Development of a Study Abroad Experience in Africa as a Recruitment and Retention Tool for Women in Engineering  Paper presented at 2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Vancouver, BC. 10.18260/1-2--17763

\bibitem{asee_peer_17763}
  London, M. R., \& Cadwell, J. R., \& Maxwell, A. (2011, June), \emph{Development of a Study Abroad Experience in Africa as a Recruitment and Retention Tool for Women in Engineering}
  Paper presented at 2011 ASEE Annual Conference \& Exposition, Vancouver, BC.
  10.18260/1-2--17763

Mara R. London, Jillian Rae Cadwell, and Alexander Maxwell.  "Development of a Study Abroad Experience in Africa as a Recruitment and Retention Tool for Women in Engineering".  2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Vancouver, BC, 2011, June.  ASEE Conferences, 2011.  https://peer.asee.org/17763 Internet.  25 Apr, 2024

\bibitem{asee_peer_17763}
  Mara R. London, Jillian Rae Cadwell, and Alexander Maxwell.
  "Development of a Study Abroad Experience in Africa as a Recruitment and Retention Tool for Women in Engineering".
  \emph{2011 ASEE Annual Conference \& Exposition, Vancouver, BC, 2011, June}.
  ASEE Conferences, 2011.
  https://peer.asee.org/17763 Internet.  25 Apr, 2024

@INPROCEEDINGS{asee_peer_17763
author = "Mara R. London, Jillian Rae Cadwell, and Alexander Maxwell"
title = "Development of a Study Abroad Experience in Africa as a Recruitment and Retention Tool for Women in Engineering"
booktitle = "2011 ASEE Annual Conference \& Exposition"
year = "2011"
month = "June"
address = "Vancouver, BC"
publisher = "ASEE Conferences"
note = {https://peer.asee.org/17763}
number = {10.18260/1-2--17763}
}

TY  - CPAPER
AB  -      Development of a study abroad experience in Africa as a recruitment and                     retention tool for women in engineeringMultiple studies have documented that women value career paths that incorporate a clear socialpurpose and provide opportunities to help others [1]. Furthermore, studies have shown that thegeneral public does not view engineering as a discipline that plays a viable role in solving theproblems of society [1, 2].Currently, recruitment and retention of women pursing engineering degrees at our university is inaccord with the national average. We describe here, our efforts to recruit, retain, and attract morewomen through the on-going development of an independent engineering study abroad programin Africa that integrates engineering and social justice projects. The motivation for focusing on astudy abroad program as a recruitment and retention tool is three-fold, (1) women in engineeringstudy abroad at approximately twice the rate of men [3], (2) a desire to support our university’smission to provide service in remote parts of Africa, and (3) the opportunity to incorporate intoour curriculum a direct connection between engineering and public service.Development of a quality study abroad program, let alone one in a remote area, requires asubstantial amount of planning and navigation. During the summer of 2010, two engineeringfaculty and one recent alumnus, spent five weeks traveling and researching in communitiesthroughout Zambia, Africa to investigate program potential. An assessment of programfeasibility was made at three potential sites: the remote town of Zambezi, a small village at theChimfunshi Wildlife Orphanage, and the growing four-year Zambia Catholic University outsidethe city of Kitwe. During the trip, we were able to inspect various teaching and housing facilities,develop local contacts and community partners, gather a volume of logistical details, andevaluate course and project opportunities and their potential impact on the local communities.Our assessment results indicated that a sustainable systems and/or sustainable design course (atany of the three locations) is the most appropriate type of course to implement in a three to fiveweek study abroad/socially responsible engagement experience. This type of ABET approvedcourse has the potential to be interdisciplinary; not only opening up the program to as manystudents as possible, but enabling the recruitment of faculty from throughout our engineeringschool.As we continue to work to establish a permanent program, we have incorporated a multi-yearwater treatment project at Chimfunshi into our senior design curriculum. The project was ourmost popular civil engineering (CE) project (out of a total of 12). Forty-three percent of ourfemale CE seniors and 23% of our CE seniors overall, ranked the Zambia project as their numberone choice. The senior design team includes two women who will work on the project in the U.S.for nine months. For our next phase of program development we hope to bring several juniors toZambia in 2011 to implement the design and help direct the path of our future socialjustice/engineering study abroad program.[1] Hill, C., Corbett, C., & St. Rose, A. (2010). Why so few? Women in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. Washington, DC: American Association of University Women,      Retrieved October 4, 2010, from http://www.aauw.org/learn/research/upload/whysofew.pdf[2] National Academy of Engineering (2008). Changing the conversation: Messages for improving public understanding of engineering. Washington, DC: National Academies Press.[3] Salisbury, M., Paulsen, M., & Pascarella, E. To see the world or stay at home: Applying an integrated student choice model. Retrieved from University of Iowa, College of Education web      site: http://www.education.uiowa.edu/crue/publications/documents/GenderDiffStudyAbroadIntentRiHEfinal.pdf
AU  - Mara R. London
AU  - Jillian Rae Cadwell
AU  - Alexander Maxwell
CY  - Vancouver, BC
DA  - 2011/06/26
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - Development of a Study Abroad Experience in Africa as a Recruitment and Retention Tool for Women in Engineering
UR  - https://peer.asee.org/17763
DO  - 10.18260/1-2--17763
ER  -