First-Year Women on the Engineering Pathway: Research Strategies to Support Retention

Daniel Knight; Beverly Louie; Lauren Marie Glogiewicz

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Conference: 2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Vancouver, BC
Publication Date: June 26, 2011
Start Date: June 26, 2011
End Date: June 29, 2011
ISSN: 2153-5965
Conference Session: Recruitment & Retention of Women I
Tagged Division: Women in Engineering
Page Count: 14
Page Numbers: 22.722.1 - 22.722.14
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--18003
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/18003
Download Count: 426

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Paper Authors

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Daniel Knight University of Colorado, Boulder

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Daniel W. Knight is the engineering assessment specialist at the Integrated Teaching and Learning Program (ITLL) and the Broadening Opportunity through Leadership and Diversity (BOLD) Center in CU’s College of Engineering and Applied Science. He holds a B.A. in psychology from the Louisiana State University, and an M.S. degree in industrial/organizational psychology and a Ph.D. degree in counseling psychology, both from the University of Tennessee. Dr. Knight’s research interests are in the areas of retention, program evaluation and teamwork practices in engineering education. His current duties include assessment, evaluation and research for the ITL Program’s and BOLD Center's hands-on initiatives.

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Beverly Louie University of Colorado, Boulder

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Beverly Louie is the director for teaching and learning initiatives in the Broadening Opportunities through Leadership and Diversity (BOLD) Center in CU’s College of Engineering
and Applied Science. She holds B.S. and M.S. degrees in chemical engineering from CU, and a D.Phil. in mechanical engineering from the University of Oxford, England. Dr. Louie’s research interests are in the areas of engineering student retention and performance, teaching effectiveness
and collaborative learning.

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Lauren Marie Glogiewicz University of Colorado, Boulder

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Abstract

First Year Women on the Engineering Pathway: Research Strategies to Support Retention_________________ has a K-16 organizational structure devoted to increasing the representationand retention through graduation of students who are underrepresented in engineering, includingwomen, students of color, low income and first- generation college attendees. A focus ofconcern is the declining retention rate of women that has dipped below that of men in our collegefor the past two years. The focus of the present study is the retention of women in their first yearof study in engineering, with comparisons to male students, upper division women and womenwho have left the college.The method for the present study makes use of two surveys and focus groups to investigate thefirst year experience. The surveys were administered in the spring of 2009 and 2010. One survey,referred to as the ‘Women’s Survey,’ was distributed to all undergraduate engineering women inthe college of engineering and incorporates scales from the Assessing Women in Engineering(AWE) assessments and from the Academic Pathways of People Learning Engineering Survey(APPLES). A second survey, referred to as the ‘First-Year Survey,’ was distributed to men andwomen who are all first year students. These surveys were followed with five focus groups todive deeper into research questions.Six research questions were posed for the current study: • Do women express a loss of interest during the first year of the program? • Is there a chilly climate for first-year women in the college? • Do women’s self-efficacy levels change during the first year of the program? • Do academic performance levels play a role in women’s retention in engineering after the first year? • Do women have an adequate support structures in the college during the first year? • Does the structure of the academic program instill career awareness in the first year?The women’s survey generated 404 responses from two solicitations, with women representedfrom every major across all four undergraduate years. The first year drew responses from 541first year students. This paper offers insight into our first year women’s self-efficacy and theirviews on the college climate, the benefits from various support systems – advising, mentoring,housing, social and financial – and the existing programming (academic and extracurricular) thatcan play a role in their retention in engineering.The results will compare the self-efficacy, career awareness, interest and academic performanceof first year men and women who both stayed in or left engineering. Examples of factors thatimpact retention for first year students will be presented. The paper will discuss strategies toreduce attrition and bolster academic success.

Citation
Format

Knight, D., & Louie, B., & Glogiewicz, L. M. (2011, June), First-Year Women on the Engineering Pathway: Research Strategies to Support Retention Paper presented at 2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Vancouver, BC. 10.18260/1-2--18003

TY - CPAPER
AB - First Year Women on the Engineering Pathway: Research Strategies to Support Retention_________________ has a K-16 organizational structure devoted to increasing the representationand retention through graduation of students who are underrepresented in engineering, includingwomen, students of color, low income and first- generation college attendees. A focus ofconcern is the declining retention rate of women that has dipped below that of men in our collegefor the past two years. The focus of the present study is the retention of women in their first yearof study in engineering, with comparisons to male students, upper division women and womenwho have left the college.The method for the present study makes use of two surveys and focus groups to investigate thefirst year experience. The surveys were administered in the spring of 2009 and 2010. One survey,referred to as the ‘Women’s Survey,’ was distributed to all undergraduate engineering women inthe college of engineering and incorporates scales from the Assessing Women in Engineering(AWE) assessments and from the Academic Pathways of People Learning Engineering Survey(APPLES). A second survey, referred to as the ‘First-Year Survey,’ was distributed to men andwomen who are all first year students. These surveys were followed with five focus groups todive deeper into research questions.Six research questions were posed for the current study: • Do women express a loss of interest during the first year of the program? • Is there a chilly climate for first-year women in the college? • Do women’s self-efficacy levels change during the first year of the program? • Do academic performance levels play a role in women’s retention in engineering after the first year? • Do women have an adequate support structures in the college during the first year? • Does the structure of the academic program instill career awareness in the first year?The women’s survey generated 404 responses from two solicitations, with women representedfrom every major across all four undergraduate years. The first year drew responses from 541first year students. This paper offers insight into our first year women’s self-efficacy and theirviews on the college climate, the benefits from various support systems – advising, mentoring,housing, social and financial – and the existing programming (academic and extracurricular) thatcan play a role in their retention in engineering.The results will compare the self-efficacy, career awareness, interest and academic performanceof first year men and women who both stayed in or left engineering. Examples of factors thatimpact retention for first year students will be presented. The paper will discuss strategies toreduce attrition and bolster academic success.
AU - Daniel Knight
AU - Beverly Louie
AU - Lauren Marie Glogiewicz
CY - Vancouver, BC
DA - 2011/06/26
PB - ASEE Conferences
TI - First-Year Women on the Engineering Pathway: Research Strategies to Support Retention
UR - https://peer.asee.org/18003
DO - 10.18260/1-2--18003
ER -