STEM Equity Pipeline

1. STEM Equity Pipeline Iowa Community Colleges: Expanding Options for Women and Girls in STEM August 21, 2009 Courtney Reed Jenkins National Alliance for Partnerships in Equity Education Foundation 608/886-0728 creedjenkins@napequity.org

2. Goals for today • Step 1: Document Performance Results 15 minutes • Review and edit data summary • Compare to data analysis at IHCC & HCC • Step 2: Identify Root CausesStep 3: Select Best Solutions90 minutes • Review root causes • Strategies that will work & that you want to do Break for 15 minutes • Step 4: Pilot Test and Evaluate Solutions90 minutes

3. Document Performance Results (Step 1) • The “equity picture” is hard to establish because of the high number of classes we offer and because we have teach a large number of required courses for all IWCC students. • Female students in our programs are not specifically recruited. • We recruit directly from area high schools. • Female students in our programs are not formally supported.

4. Document Performance Results (Step 1) • In some feeder HS programs, we serve equitable numbers of female and male students. For example, during this school year: • Web programming classes were almost 50-50 (female-male) • Networking classes were over 1/3 female • … which means we have a strong pool of candidates, female and male, to enter into our programs…

5. Document Performance Results (Step 1) • We serve very few female students as completers in CS. For example, SY 2008-09: • 6% of Cisco Networking students are female • Web programming is less than 1/5 female • We do not retain 100% of female students in our classes. However, … • … the number of female students entering the programs are so small that it is hard to analyze the drop-out rate; • … we do not retain 100% of male students, either.

6. Document Performance Results (Step 1) • The STEM pipeline, for females in the communities surrounding IWCC, appears to be “leakiest” between high school and community college. • What other data tells us this is true? • How is this leak different than other IA community colleges?

7. Identify Root Causes (Step 2) • What barriers exist (“root causes”) to increasing our number of nontraditional female students – and what might solutions look like? • In other words, “Why are female high school students engaged in CS – and then don’t continue to IWCC CS?” • Education • Career information • Family • Internal/Individual • Societal issues

8. Identify Root Causes (Step 2)Select Best Solutions (Step 3) • Education: Academic Proficiency • Successful programs:

9. Identify Root Causes (Step 2)Select Best Solutions (Step 3) • Education: Access to and participation in math, science, and technology • Successful programs:

10. Identify Root Causes (Step 2)Select Best Solutions (Step 3) • Education: Curriculum • Successful programs:

11. Identify Root Causes (Step 2)Select Best Solutions (Step 3) • Education: Instructional strategies • Successful programs:

12. Identify Root Causes (Step 2)Select Best Solutions (Step 3) • Education: School/Classroom climate • Successful programs:

13. Identify Root Causes (Step 2)Select Best Solutions (Step 3) • Education: Support Services • Successful programs: • Informal support groups (HCC) • Support groups (Tools for Tomorrow, Madison Area Technical College; IA State – Women in Science and Engineering)

14. Identify Root Causes (Step 2)Select Best Solutions (Step 3) • Career information: Materials and Practices • Examples of programs: • Michigan’s Breaking Traditions Award • Cisco’s Gender Initiative marketing materials • Changing College Freshmen’s Attitudes toward Women in STEM (NTAW2, p. 38) • U of O IT Program (NFAW2, p. 44, and NTAW, p. 39) • WOMENTECH at Community Colleges (NFAW, p. 195): • Community College of Rhode Island • College of Alameda

15. Identify Root Causes (Step 2)Select Best Solutions (Step 3) • Career Information: Early Intervention • Successful programs:

16. Identify Root Causes (Step 2)Select Best Solutions (Step 3) • Career information: Characteristics of an occupation • Successful programs:

17. Identify Root Causes (Step 2)Select Best Solutions (Step 3) • Family: Family Characteristics and Engagement • Successful programs:

18. Identify Root Causes (Step 2)Select Best Solutions (Step 3) • Internal/Individual: Self-efficacy • Successful programs:

19. Identify Root Causes (Step 2)Select Best Solutions (Step 3) • Internal/Individual: Attribution • Successful programs:

20. Identify Root Causes (Step 2)Select Best Solutions (Step 3) • Internal/Individual: Stereotype threat • Successful programs:

21. Identify Root Causes (Step 2)Select Best Solutions (Step 3) • Societal issues: Media (negative) • Successful programs:

22. Identify Root Causes (Step 2)Select Best Solutions (Step 3) • Societal issues: Media (positive) • Successful programs:

23. Identify Root Causes (Step 2)Select Best Solutions (Step 3) • Societal issues: Peers • Successful programs:

24. Identify Root Causes (Step 2)Select Best Solutions (Step 3) • Societal issues: Role Models/Mentoring • Successful programs: • IWITTS • Community-based Mentoring (NFAW, p. 49) • RISE: Research Internship in Science and Engineering (NFAW, p. 21) • MentorNet: http://www.mentornet.net/ • IA State Women in Science and Engineering (Carol Heaverlo, Outreach Coordinator, (515) 294-5883 orheaverlo@iastate.edu)

25. Identify Root Causes (Step 2)Select Best Solutions (Step 3) • Societal issues: Collaboration • Successful programs: • Girl Scouts • IA State WISE • IMSEP

26. Pilot Test and Evaluate Solutions (Step 4) • IWCC Implementation Plan • Root causes • Core values • Funding/resources

27. Next steps & Evaluations