EEES Research-informed Practices for Student Recruitment, Retention, and Success
- Recommendations to the President's Educate to Innovate Intiative by the "July 19th Group"
http://stemcollaboration.org/documents/MEMOandREPORTofJuly19thCollaborationSept26-2010.pdf
- NAPE (National Alliance for Partnership in Equity)
http://www.napequity.org/page.php?183
- University of Washington Center for Workforce Development (CWD) Mentoring Scenarios
http://www.nae.edu/?ID=14405
- AAAS Science Mentoring
http://ehrweb.aaas.org/sciMentoring/
Website that provides guidelines and resources for developing high quality research and evaluation studies for STEM career and workforce mentoring, highlights resources for STEM mentoring, including guides and web sites, and disseminates announcements about mentoring awards and funding opportunities
- Building Engineering and Science Talent
http://www.bestworkforce.org/
Links to reviewed pre-K and higher education best practices for increasing women and minority participation in STEM careers
- MentorNet
http://www.mentornet.net/
Award-winning networking program; includes links to get or become a mentor in the STEM field as well as resources for careers at all stages
"Best Practices” for Adaptation
These “best practices” have been identified by applying a single criterion: demonstrated effectiveness with an intervention group compared to a matched control population with respect to the recruitment, retention, and/or progression of women students in engineering or science. However, as a practical matter, we recognize that certain characteristics will aid exploration and adaptation within the engineering community. So, although not rigid selection criteria, we have also sought exemplars that a) discourage potential legal or logistical challenges by demonstrating efficacy for multiple demographic populations, b) actively engage faculty as agents of long-term and persistent change through course creation and modification or instructional practices, and c) are adaptable to a variety of institutional contexts.A review of bibliographic resources that included, among other sources, the Journal of Engineering Education, the Journal of Women and Minorities in Science and Engineering, the conference proceedings of the American Society for Engineering Education, and the proceedings of the Frontiers in Education Conference revealed the following exemplars:
a.) Pre-college Activities
Temple University’s Sisters in Science program involved 560 fourth- and fifth- grade girls in six schools and an inter-generational corps of volunteers who were actively involved in STEM related fields, along with 450 Temple graduate and undergraduate students and 35 classroom teachers. Outcome evaluations for the first three years showed a statistically significant (p< .01) increase in: 1) girls’ scores on the science attitude survey; 2) girls’ scores on the math attitude survey; 3) girls’ interest in school science and math; 4) girls’ attitudes towards the possibility of pursuing a career involving science or math; 5) girls’ awareness of community responsibility and sense of social consciousness with regard to the environment; 6) girls’ scores on the math assessment; and 7) girls’ scores on the science skill assessment. The program design incorporates attention to the following key elements: academic preparation for science study, enhancement of the out-of-class social environment, and enhancement of the in-class social environment [21]. Apparently similar results are seen in middle and high school engineering-focused outreach programs [22, 23].
b.) Baccalaureate College Bridge Activities
Western Michigan University offers a two-week summer institute “Design-Engineering-Technology: Enlightened Trial and Error for high school juniors and seniors that provides an opportunity for interaction with engineering professionals in a simulated design environment. As a result of the two-week experience females and minorities had a statistically significant increase in their perception that engineering would be a highly interesting career for them; all participants showed a statistically significant increase in understanding of engineering as a career field [24]. Arizona State University has a Women in Engineering and Technology day for female community college students that builds self-efficacy through exposure to opportunities to experience performance accomplishment, vicarious learning, encouragement and support, and lowered anxiety as a result of a series of engineering-related, peer-mentoring, and role-modeling activities with current university students and faculty. Pre-post questionnaires show a significant increase in the participants’ math and career decision making skills, their ability to complete engineering studies, and their ability to prepare for careers as engineers. The program design incorporates attention to the following key elements: academic preparation for engineering study, enhancement of the out-of-class social environment, enhancement of the in-class social environment, attention to curricular, content, scope, and design, as well as curriculum delivery and instructional style [25].
c.) Hands-on Team Based Freshman Year Activities
The Integrated Teaching and Learning Laboratory of the College of Engineering and Applied Science at the University of Colorado at Boulder has developed a hands-on, team based first –year projects course that has increased retention for participating students compared to a matched cohort of non-participating students. The retention gain (retention among program participants compared to retention among program non-participants) was 19% for all students, 27% for women, 15% for men, 54% for Latinos, and 36% for African Americans, and 19% for Caucasians. The program design incorporates attention to the following key elements: academic preparation for engineering study, enhancement of the in-class social environment, attention to curricular content, scope, and design, as well as curriculum deliver and instructional style. [26]
d.) Comprehensive Undergraduate Academic and Academic Support Activities
Building on it’s participation in the Foundation Engineering Education Coalition and the Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation program, Texas A&M has built a comprehensive set of academic (first year program that integrates traditional engineering topics while emphasizing the development of non-technical skills such as communication) and academic support (e.g., pre-college to college bridge activities, student mentoring, and student participation in research). The relative retention gain (of program participants compared to non-participating students) was nine percent for women and 42% for Hispanics and African Americans. The program design incorporates attention to the following key elements: academic preparation for engineering study, enhancement of the out-of-class social environment, enhancement of the in-class social environment, attention to curricular, content, scope, and design, as well as curriculum delivery and instructional style [27, 28]. Similar results were seen for other comprehensive first-year curricular reform programs including Drexel’s Enhancing Engineering Education Experiences (E4) and Rose-Hulman’s Integrated First Year Course in Science, Engineering, and Mathematics (IFYCSEM) [27] and the Gateway Engineering Education (build upon the E4 model) [29].
Reference List
21. Hammrich, Penny L. "Confronting the Gender Gap in Science and Mathematics: The Sisters in Science Program." Proceedings of the 1998 Annual International Conference of the Association for the Education of Teachers of Science, Minneapolis, MN, editors Rubba Peter A., and James A. Rye, Session T1.1. Muncie, IN: Association for the Education of Teachers of Science, 1998.
22. Nicoletti, Denise, Joseph D. Petruccelli, and James Russell. "Monitoring Long-Term Effects of an Outreach Program for Girls." 32nd ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference, Boston, MA, page F1C-1. Piscataway, NJ: Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers, Inc., 2002.
23. Sullivan, Jacquelyn F., Derek Reamon, and Beverly Louie. "Girls Embrace Technology: a Summer Internship for High School Girls." 3rd ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference, Boulder, CO, pages T4D-6 to TD4-11. Piscataway, NJ: Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers, Inc., 2003.
24. Fredericks, Tycho K., Jorge Rodriguez, Steven Butt, Cheryl Harris, Heather Smith, and Norma Velasquez-Bryant. "The Impact of a Summer Institute on High School Students' Perceptions of Engineering and Technology." Proceedings of the 2004 ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition, Salt Lake City, UT, Session 3557. Washington, DC: American Society for Engineering Education, 2004.
25. Blaisdell, Stephanie, and Catherine R. Cosgrove. "A Theoretical Basis for Recruitment and Retention Interventions for Women in Engineering." 1996 ASEE Annual Conference Proceedings, Washington, DC, Session 1692. Washington, DC: American Society for Engineering Education, 1996.
26. Knight, Daniel W., Lawrence E. Carlson, and Jacqueline F Sullivan. "Staying in Engineering: Impact of a Hands-on, Team-Based, First-Year Projects Course on Student Retention." Proceedings of the 2003 ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition, Nashville, TN, page Session 3553. Washington, DC: American Society for Engineering Education, 2003.
27. Froyd, Jeffrey E., and Matthew W. Ohland. "Integrated Engineering Curricula." Journal of Engineering Education, vol. 94, no. 1, (2005).
28. Frair, Karen , and Karen Watson. "The NSF Foundation Coalition: Curriculum Change and Underrepresented Groups." Proceedings of the 2000 ASEE Conference and Exposition, St. Louis, MO, Session 2670. Washington, DC: American Society for Engineering Education, 2000.
29. Fromm, Eli, and Jack McGourty. "Measuring Culture Change in Engineering Education." 2001 ASEE Annual Conference Proceedings, Albuquerque, NM, Session 3530. Washington, DC: American Society for Engineering Education, 2001.