A team of researchers at Virginia Tech is conducting an empirical (both quantitative and qualitative) comparison of the cultures of engineering departments and colleges with female undergraduate completion rates above and below the national average. Culture is defined as the attitudes, values, beliefs, and practices of institutional leaders, faculty, and students. Practices include pedagogy, curriculum, and informal and formal polices.
Intellectual Merit Programs initiated over the past two decades to recruit and retain women and girls in science, engineering, and technology (SET) fields have, on the whole, been successful. What has been lacking is the institutionalization of these successful programs so that large-scale change could be sustained. The body of literature about the need for institutional transformation, in both the business and academic worlds, is extensive but is, almost without exception, lacking in an analysis of gender-focused initiatives.
The team hypothesizes that there are subtle but significant differences in the cultures of engineering departments, both within engineering colleges and across engineering colleges at different institutions, and that these differences are influenced by institutional leadership and history. The team further hypothesizes that engineering departments with the strongest record of graduating undergraduate women engineers will operate within colleges and universities that have activities intentionally targeted to improving the cultural climate for women and that these initiatives are located within colleges and universities that have multiple gender-focused initiatives and related supportive structures, like women and science programs.
Knowledge resulting from this study will improve our understanding about strategies faculty and administrators can use to effectively improve the educational climate for women in engineering fields. The study will inform policy and practice through the following project outcomes:
1. Identification of the elements of departmental and institutional cultures that distinguish departments with graduation rates of women in engineering that are above and below the national average. 2. A self-assessment guide and questionnaire to assess critical elements of departmental and institutional culture. 3. Case studies that illustrate best practices or effective strategies that promote a female friendly climate in engineering and which will be accessible in printed form and online. 4. A student questionnaire and a statistical model that includes individual, environmental, and structural factors that predict women's interest and choice of SET majors.
Broader Impacts As an incentive to the universities participating in the study, the team will provide a two-hour training workshops and faculty development modules that will be accessible online. The modules include case studies and resources related to how faculty can operate as change agents. Study findings will yield concrete suggestions for how college and departmental leaders in engineering can design and implement programs that improve the climate for women in undergraduate engineering.
