To Recruit and Advance Women Students and Faculty in Science and Engineering (2006) / Chapter Skim
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Pages 48-70
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From page 48... ...
48 The goal of any academic program is to move students through tothe completion of their majors to graduation. However, some un-dergraduate students who were interested in science and engineering (S&E)
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RETAINING WOMEN STUDENTS 49 physical sciences and engineering (Siegel, 2005) .2 Other studies report similar findings (NRC, 1996)
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50 TO RECRUIT AND ADVANCE WOMEN STUDENTS AND FACULTY social sciences) had a high rate of switching out of their intended S&E major into the humanities, social sciences, or other non-S&E majors.
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RETAINING WOMEN STUDENTS 51 At the universities visited, interviewees speculated about the causes of attrition of females. At one university interviewees noted some of the problems that could lead to the attrition of faculty or students, including a lack of female role models, young women's lack of knowledge about engineering, and the perception that "doing it all" is too hard.
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52 TO RECRUIT AND ADVANCE WOMEN STUDENTS AND FACULTY hard enough. Inadequate preparation, while it can certainly be made up during college, may put additional pressures on students, leaving them more inclined to leave a program of study.
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RETAINING WOMEN STUDENTS 53 lying the attrition of female students. Of course, anyone can be a role model, but female students may view the absence of women faculty or the presence of unhappy female faculty as a sign that they are pursuing the wrong education.
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54 TO RECRUIT AND ADVANCE WOMEN STUDENTS AND FACULTY and physics conducted in 1993-1994, Fox (2001) found that women were less likely than men to report being taken seriously and respected by faculty, being comfortable speaking in group meetings, and collaborating with male graduate students and faculty.
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RETAINING WOMEN STUDENTS 55 RETENTION STRATEGIES Retaining Undergraduate Students Many of the efforts to increase women's participation in science and engineering have focused on the entry point to academia, the undergraduate degree. The logic behind this emphasis is evident: a sufficient percentage of students must enter a university if a sufficient percentage is to move on into graduate studies and into academic employment.
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56 TO RECRUIT AND ADVANCE WOMEN STUDENTS AND FACULTY There are other arguments as well for concentrating efforts on undergraduates. They are the largest cohort of students educated in academia, and the quality of the undergraduate student cohort is often the basis for judging quality among peer institutions.
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RETAINING WOMEN STUDENTS 57 the campus climate. Many such policies are in fact gender neutral, such as efforts to enhance campus security, which can certainly benefit any student.
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58 TO RECRUIT AND ADVANCE WOMEN STUDENTS AND FACULTY faculty review each student's progress every year. Have the students confidentially review their advisors each year.
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RETAINING WOMEN STUDENTS 59 signed to advise students on making course choices (and changes) and dealing with degree program requirements.
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60 TO RECRUIT AND ADVANCE WOMEN STUDENTS AND FACULTY A provost contrasted this list of activities with the lack of women's programs elsewhere: "In most other departments and schools there is nothing for women." The guide Adviser, Teacher, Role Model, Friend: On Being a Mentor to Students in Science and Engineering prepared by the National Academies suggests that faculty members mentoring undergraduates concentrate on building a respectful mentoring relationship and responding to various student issues (COSEPUP, 1997)
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RETAINING WOMEN STUDENTS 61 Finally, because technology is playing a larger role in the classroom and being applied in novel ways to deliver course content to the students, it is important to ask whether men and women benefit differently from such changes. At one university visited, the faculty considered making changes to both content and instruction: • A course in discrete mathematics, a subject foreign to most new women students, was expanded to include more motivational examples and "grand challenge" problems to illustrate the relevance of the subject.
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62 TO RECRUIT AND ADVANCE WOMEN STUDENTS AND FACULTY for attrition, some reasons identified by women are a sense of isolation, because there are so few other women in their area of study, and difficulty in finding a study or project group. Some institutions have established programs that specifically address this weak point.
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RETAINING WOMEN STUDENTS 63 easier for the university to offer events and programs that engage female students, such as lectures, dinners, and tutoring sessions (Black, 1999)
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64 TO RECRUIT AND ADVANCE WOMEN STUDENTS AND FACULTY mon occurrence on campus: "Faculty members are integrating undergraduate students into the research enterprise in a more deliberate fashion than ever before. Undergraduate research programs are proliferating, and undergraduate research conferences and journals are becoming a permanent fixture on the university's landscape." Most important, undergraduate research is beneficial to the students who participate, to faculty, and to the institution (Lopatto, 2005)
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RETAINING WOMEN STUDENTS 65 Finally, students could take an active role in recruiting new undergraduates. An event tends to be successful when students (undergraduate and graduate)
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66 TO RECRUIT AND ADVANCE WOMEN STUDENTS AND FACULTY The department chair can lead the effort to offer the motivational signaling of support for women graduate students. The chair can reinforce institutional policy on sexual harassment and initiate and institutionalize departmental policies that facilitate retention.
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From page 67... ...
RETAINING WOMEN STUDENTS 67 dents frequently to assess students' progress, and should provide the department with periodic assessments on progress to the degree." Moreover, "institutions and departments should clearly affirm the importance of faculty mentoring through policy guidelines and incentives." Departments can facilitate mentoring and advising by establishing programs in which students can socialize with all the faculty and advanced graduate students (Boyle and Boice, 1998)
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68 TO RECRUIT AND ADVANCE WOMEN STUDENTS AND FACULTY ute to attrition. Departments need to find ways to guarantee funding for the duration of a graduate student's enrollment (within reasonable limits)
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RETAINING WOMEN STUDENTS 69 9. Improve the quality of data both for postdoctoral working conditions and for the population of postdocs in relation to employment prospects in research.
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70 TO RECRUIT AND ADVANCE WOMEN STUDENTS AND FACULTY BOX 3-4 Summary of Strategies for Retaining Women Undergraduate, Graduate, and Postdoctoral Students What faculty can do: • Advise and mentor prospective and current female undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral students. • Conduct outreach to K-12 institutions to help prepare women for college and to combat negative attitudes about the place of women in science and engineering.
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