Girls Who Draft: A STEM Outreach Initiative

Ali Ahmad; Jerie Pedescleaux

Download Paper | Permalink

Conference: 2017 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Columbus, Ohio
Publication Date: June 24, 2017
Start Date: June 24, 2017
End Date: June 28, 2017
Conference Session: Women in Engineering Division Technical Session 7
Tagged Division: Women in Engineering
Tagged Topic: Diversity
Page Count: 9
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--28407
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/28407
Download Count: 517

Paper Authors

biography

Ali Ahmad Northwestern State University

visit author page

Ali Ahmad is the Head of the Engineering Technology Department at Northwestern State University of Louisiana. He received a B.Sc. degree in Industrial Engineering from the University of Jordan (Amman, Jordan; with Highest Distinction) and a M.Sc. and Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering from the University of Central Florida (Orlando, Fl, USA). He has diverse expertise in human-computer interaction, quality engineering, and simulating human-machine systems. He previously worked on projects related to transfer of training in advanced human-machine systems, usability evaluation of everyday products and services, and research in multimodal systems and virtual environments. His current research interests include virtual reality applications in manufacturing, multimodal interaction design, audio interfaces, advanced usability evaluation techniques, simulating complex human-machine systems, and advanced application of statistical techniques. Dr. Ahmad is a Certified Simulation Analyst and a Certified Six Sigma Black Belt.

visit author page

biography

Jerie Pedescleaux Northwestern State University

visit author page

Industrial Engineering Technology Graduate of Northwestern State University.

visit author page

Download Paper | Permalink

Abstract

Engineering and Engineering Technology are essential to a functioning society leading to these professionals to be highly sought after in the workplace. Recent data shows that, despite many Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) initiatives over the past decade to increase the number of those entering into the Engineering and Engineering Technology fields, the percentage of women engineers (and computer scientists) remains fairly low. Several reasons contribute to the low number of women in these fields, such as support of supervisors/co-workers, perceptions of working environments/conditions, and lack of awareness of what engineering/technology careers entail.

It is important to set up and execute STEM outreach activities to encourage young women to become more involved in engineering/technology fields. By setting up STEM programs offered specifically to young women, young minds are given an opportunity to get hands on experience as to some of the duties of what a career in engineering could entail, helping clear away confusion regarding the field. Programs like these would also offer a kind of support system between fellow students and the teacher, helping encourage young women to stay involved in the field. This paper describes such a program implemented in a University in Louisiana. The program employs female students currently attending an engineering technology program at a university to teach young women from neighboring schools how to design and draft using computer applications such as Autodesk AutoCAD. The program, named “Girls Who Draft”, aims to stimulate awareness regarding career options in engineering/technology, motivate more young women to pursue careers in these areas, and to recruit more female students into the university program to eventually graduate with a degree in these high demand fields. The program is structured so that young women from nearby schools come for a 2-hour block to one of the departments’ computer labs that have the AutoCAD software available. The engineering technology faculty and students provide these young women with a hands-on introduction to drafting. Future expansions of “Girls Who Draft” plan include multi-day and multi-session formats where more detailed content can be explored.

Citation
Format

Ahmad, A., & Pedescleaux, J. (2017, June), Girls Who Draft: A STEM Outreach Initiative Paper presented at 2017 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Columbus, Ohio. 10.18260/1-2--28407

TY  - CPAPER
AB  - Engineering and Engineering Technology are essential to a functioning society leading to these professionals to be highly sought after in the workplace. Recent data shows that, despite many Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) initiatives over the past decade to increase the number of those entering into the Engineering and Engineering Technology fields, the percentage of women engineers (and computer scientists) remains fairly low. Several reasons contribute to the low number of women in these fields, such as support of supervisors/co-workers, perceptions of working environments/conditions, and lack of awareness of what engineering/technology careers entail. 

It is important to set up and execute STEM outreach activities to encourage young women to become more involved in engineering/technology fields. By setting up STEM programs offered specifically to young women, young minds are given an opportunity to get hands on experience as to some of the duties of what a career in engineering could entail, helping clear away confusion regarding the field. Programs like these would also offer a kind of support system between fellow students and the teacher, helping encourage young women to stay involved in the field. This paper describes such a program implemented in a University in Louisiana. The program employs female students currently attending an engineering technology program at a university to teach young women from neighboring schools how to design and draft using computer applications such as Autodesk AutoCAD. The program, named “Girls Who Draft”, aims to stimulate awareness regarding career options in engineering/technology, motivate more young women to pursue careers in these areas, and to recruit more female students into the university program to eventually graduate with a degree in these high demand fields. The program is structured so that young women from nearby schools come for a 2-hour block to one of the departments’ computer labs that have the AutoCAD software available. The engineering technology faculty and students provide these young women with a hands-on introduction to drafting. Future expansions of “Girls Who Draft” plan include multi-day and multi-session formats where more detailed content can be explored.
AU  - Ali Ahmad
AU  - Jerie Pedescleaux
CY  - Columbus, Ohio
DA  - 2017/06/24
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - Girls Who Draft: A STEM Outreach Initiative
UR  - https://peer.asee.org/28407
DO  - 10.18260/1-2--28407
ER  -