Recruitment and Retention of Women: Best Practices from a Public Institution

1. Recruitment and Retention of Women: Best Practices from a Public Institution BeenaSukumaran Rowan University Presented at ASCE DHC, June 5, 2012

2. About Rowan University • Public, regional, comprehensive University • >95% of students from in-state • #15 in U.S. News non-Ph.D., higher in individual departments • 89% first year retention in engineering • 80% six-year graduation rate

3. Engineering Curriculum - Clinics

4. More about Engineering Clinics • Eight course sequence • All engineering students, one each semester • Multidisciplinary, hands-on • Freshman Clinic I and II • engineering measurements & competitive assessment • Sophomore Clinic I and II • engineering design • team-taught with communications faculty • Junior and Senior Clinics • small teams • open-ended projects, real-world

5. Degrees in Natural Sciences & Engineering Source: National Science Board, Science and Engineering Indicators, 2010 , NSF website Background

6. Engineering Degrees Awarded Source: Engineering Workforce Commission, NAE Website Background

7. Changing demographics General Population Engineering Enrolment Source: NAE Website, NSF Background

8. Earned Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering Source: ED, NCES, IPEDS, Completions Survey, and NSF/SRS, WebCASPAR database system, http://caspar.nsf.gov. Science & Engineering Indicators – 2004 Background

9. Lack of encouragement – Facilitating conditions to get them in the door More than three-quarters (77 percent) of chemists and chemical engineers polled say significant numbers of women and underrepresented minorities are missing from the U.S. STEM workforce because they were not identified, encouraged or nurtured to pursue STEM studies early on (Bayer study, 2010) Background

10. Outreach efforts to elementary, middle and high school Outreach

11. Engineers on Wheels • Provide exposure to engineering careers and make engineering more relevant to elementary and middle school educators, students, guidance counselors and others • Support teachers and students in exploring and understanding engineering content in K-12 education through simple sot effective hands on activities Jahan et al., 2010 Outreach

12. Spreading the word about engineering to school teachers - ECT • Provide exposure to engineering careers and how to make engineering more relevant to middle school educators and students • Ensure that teachers are academically prepared to successfully integrate engineering content into their existing curriculum Jahan et al., 2010 Outreach

13. Women Engineers at Rowan

14. Socioeconomics and Recruiting Cleary et al., 2008 Recruitment

15. Socioeconomics and Recruiting Cleary et al., 2008 Recruitment

16. Targeted efforts for female recruitment • Look at the schools with large applicant pools and make special efforts toward locations where females are not applying • Target somewhat lower SES districts where yield of female applicants is higher • While we have more students applying from the more affluent districts our yields are much lower especially for women Cleary et al., 2008 Recruitment

17. Other Efforts • SWE breakfast targeted at women students during accepted students day • Women in CEE newsletter • EWB Student Chapter Recruitment

18. Facilitating Conditions – Helping them succeed once they are in engineering Negative stereotypes reinforce poor performance (Steele and Aronson, Why so Few?, AAUW report, 2010) Performance on a Challenging Math Test, by Stereotype Threat Condition and Gender Retention

19. Peer mentoring and learning communities • Students in same dorm, along same hallway • Jointly enroll in 2 common courses • Participate in regular extracurricular activities • NSF funded $600k grant • Goal: Attract students to STEM fields • 4-yr $3k scholarships for 44 students in two cohorts (2009 and 2010) • All Engineering Majors w/financial need considered • Under-represented groups targeted • 50 & 64 % of two cohorts Retention

20. Necessary facilitating conditions – Helping them succeed • Most students leave engineering either in freshman or sophomore year (Goodman report, 2002) • Current research at Umass Amherst shows that female instructors key to retention of women in STEM Dasgupta said. “… these data suggest that the meaning of choices, of what it means to choose math or science, is more complicated. Even talented people may not choose math or science not because they don't like it or are not good at it, but because they feel that they don't belong." Source: http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2011/03/03/study_suggests_role_of_role_models_in_encouraging_female_undergraduates_in_math_and_science Retention

21. ASEE Prism, 2012 Retention

22. How do our female students do? • Are as active or more in academic enrichment activities, • Are as satisfied or more with the program’s opportunities and offerings … • Have as high or higher academic achievement both overall and in engineering • Have as high or higher retention throughout the program Hartman, H. and M. Hartman (2006). “Leaving Engineering: Lessons from Rowan University’s College of Engineering,” Journal of Engineering Education, American Society for Engineering Education, January, 2006, pp 49 – 61. Retention

23. Conclusions • Recruitment effort has to be targeted at schools that will yield the most diverse student body • Outreach, recruitment and retention are equally important in enhancing numbers of minorities and women • Retention is helped by peer mentoring and personal interaction with faculty

24. Acknowledgments • CEE Faculty at Rowan • Dr. Doug Cleary • Dr. Kauser Jahan • Dr. Will Riddell • Dr. Jess Everett • Dr. Steven Chin, Interim Dean • Ms. Melanie Basantis, Outreach coordinator