Outreach Initiative For Recruiting Women To Engineering: Doing A Good Deed For Girl Scouts
- Conference
- Location
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Honolulu, Hawaii
- Publication Date
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June 24, 2007
- Start Date
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June 24, 2007
- End Date
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June 27, 2007
- ISSN
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2153-5965
- Conference Session
- Tagged Division
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Women in Engineering
- Page Count
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6
- Page Numbers
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12.1136.1 - 12.1136.6
- DOI
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10.18260/1-2--2807
- Permanent URL
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https://peer.asee.org/2807
- Download Count
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375
Paper Authors
David Cottrell University of North Carolina-Charlotte
DR. DAVID S. COTTRELL is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Engineering Technology, University of North Carolina at Charlotte. He graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1978 and retired in 2000 after more than 22 years of service with the US Army Corps of Engineers. Studies at Texas A&M University resulted in an MS Degree in Civil Engineering in 1987 and a PhD in 1995. He is a registered Professional Engineer and has taught courses in statics, dynamics, mechanics of materials, graphic communications, engineering economy, and construction planning, scheduling, estimating, and management.
Abstract
NOTE: The first page of text has been automatically extracted and included below in lieu of an abstract
Outreach Initiative for Recruiting Women to Engineering: Doing a Good Deed for Girl Scouting
Introduction
The youth of today are the leaders of tomorrow. This truth is frequently brought to light by many who would raise an alarm about a perceived trend or character trait contrary to their vision of a secure and robust future; others would sow confidence in a generation from which great things were expected. Current studies indicate that the United States is facing an imminent shortage of scientists, technologists, engineers, and mathematicians; further, female high-school students show little interest in pursuing careers related to engineering.1 This lack of interest may be a significant factor in understanding the “Extraordinary Woman Engineers Project” which reported that currently fewer than 10% of the nation's engineers are women in spite of the fact that girls do not lag behind boys in grades or test scores in either math or science.2
The program presented by this paper represents perhaps part of the solution to this paradox by investing in the female youth of today through proven hands-on learning techniques.3 This paper reports on a local initiative by the University of North Carolina at Charlotte to invest in the female youth of today through some proven hands-on learning techniques. It envisions an outreach initiative to teach, train, and aid in the learning of female youth of greater Charlotte in the many exciting facets of construction and engineering. However, the program reaches outside the traditional K-12 education system and targets 10-18 year old girls within the Girls Scouts of the Hornets Nest Council in Charlotte, North Carolina. Currently, there are a number of similar, successful institutions in other areas of the country that have developed extensive outreach programs that at least in part encompass Girl Scouts organizations as a significant target of opportunity for enlightening young girls to the exciting possibilities of a career in engineering. At the University of Colorado at Boulder, the College of Engineering and Applied Science offers a variety of hands-on engineering workshops to elementary, middle and high school students as well as teaching support for K-12 teachers to assist them in bringing science and engineering concepts into their classrooms. Their Girl Scout Outreach Program enlightens young women of opportunities in the fields of science and engineering through interactive Girl Scout badges in a fun learning atmosphere.3 Working in conjunction with the Society of Women Engineers, the University of Massachusetts Amherst has an outreach program to the Western Massachusetts Girl Scout Council that includes hands-on activities with an engineering focus, guest speakers from industry, and research experience for students.4 Ohio State University’s outreach program – “Girl Scout Days” – employs workshops sponsored by the Society of Women in Engineering for Girl Scouts to experience engineering first-hand. Through tours, group work, and engineering activities, the participants learn about the fields of math and science and have a glimpse of what it means to be an engineer.5 The Hornets Nest Council in Charlotte in cooperation with the Society of Women Engineers and the University of North Carolina at Charlotte has also implemented a number of initiatives to expose their Girl Scouts to a wide variety of engineering topics and disciplines. Their “Professor Buzz” and “Engineers are Cool” programs allow girls to encounter automotive maintenance, electronics, medicine, botany, geology, space, and others.6
“Proceedings of the 2007 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright 2007, American Society for Engineering Education”
Cottrell, D. (2007, June), Outreach Initiative For Recruiting Women To Engineering: Doing A Good Deed For Girl Scouts Paper presented at 2007 Annual Conference & Exposition, Honolulu, Hawaii. 10.18260/1-2--2807
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