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Women in Science and Engineering: Increasing their Numbers in the 1990s
2
THE SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING EDUCATION INFRASTRUCTURE
The education system is the most effective way to attract people into a career. As noted in its 1991 Strategic Plan, the Office of Scientific and Engineering Personnel (OSEP) is concerned about the nature of education infrastructure in the United States, which
has a profound effect on the number and quality of individuals in the science and engineering talent pool. Policies addressing the education infrastructure in the United States are diverse and distributed throughout federal, state and local governments, not to mention the private sector.... NRC and OSEP can make a unique contribution to our understanding of the complex issues to be faced by ... education in the next decade and beyond. While these issues are of interest to many other organizations, few of these other actors effectively link fundamental research with policy formulation. NRC and the broader Academy complex specialize in developing such linkages through its unique committee process.
It is in this linking role that the Committee on Women in Science and Engineering addresses those aspects of the S&E education infrastructure that can increase the participation of women in science and engineering.
Data from the National Center for Education Statistics' National Longitudinal High School Study of the Class of 1972 (NLS-72) and its follow-up studies show that, after expressing an initial interest in S&E studies, individuals often switch to nonscience or nonengineering fields (see, for instance, Burkheimer and Novak, 1981, and Eagle et al., 1988). Many undergraduate S&E majors of both sexes switch to education, law, business, or medicine and other health-related fields for graduate study. For
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Women in Science and Engineering: Increasing their Numbers in the 1990s
example, of those female freshmen enrolling in engineering programs in 1985, 35.6 percent dropped out of engineering during their sophomore year compared with approximately 16 percent of the male freshman engineering majors (Engineering Manpower Commission, 1987).
The S&E education infrastructure has both formal and informal mechanisms for attracting and retaining talented and qualified individuals into careers in the sciences and engineering. Forming the backbone of the formal S&E education infrastructure are (1) the institutions providing the education to potential scientists and engineers and (2) the policies and programs providing the financial assistance essential for acquiring that education. Informal aspects of the education infrastructure include the media, parents, role models, and mentors. We discuss below the formal and informal mechanisms that have been developed and the data that indicate their effectiveness.
Formal Mechanisms
Various studies have shown that females intending to major in science, mathematics, and engineering have higher attrition rates from those fields than their male counterparts. For instance, a 1986 survey revealed that only 44.4 percent of females (compared with 54.2 percent of males) intending to major in one of those fields actually received a degree in them (Tables 8 and 9). Further,
an examination of college majors ... demonstrates that females of all races consistently majored in science, engineering, or mathematics less often than males.... White females majored in these fields about half as often
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Women in Science and Engineering: Increasing their Numbers in the 1990s
TABLE 8: College Major Field of Study of 1980 High School Seniors Who Had Graduated from College by 1986, by Intended Field of Study in High School and by Sex (in percent)
College Graduates, by Major Field of Study
Sex and Intended Field of Study in College in 1980
Total (sample size)
SEM*
Other
All
All 1980 High School Seniors Planning to Attend College
Males
Total
100.0 (668)
33.9
66.1
100.0
100.0
SEM*
100.0 (230)
54.2
45.8
39.1
31.2
All other fields
100.0 (634)
20.9
79.1
60.9
68.8
Females
Total
100.0 (786)
18.2
81.8
100.0
100.0
SEM*
100.0 (152)
44.4
55.6
18.8
19.6
All other fields
100.0 (634)
12.1
87.9
81.2
80.4
* Science, engineering, and mathematics
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, "High School and Beyond" survey, 1986, in Henry A. Gordon, Who Majors in Science? College Graduates in Science, Engineering, or Mathematics from the High School Class of 1980 (NCES 90-658), Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1990.
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Women in Science and Engineering: Increasing their Numbers in the 1990s
TABLE 9: 1980 High School Seniors Who Graduated from College by 1986, by Major Field of Study and by Race/Ethnicity and Sex
College Graduates, by Major Field of Study
Sex and Race/Ethnicity
Total (sample size)
SEM*
Other
Percentage of All 1986 College Graduates
Percentage of All 1980 High School Seniors
Males
Total
100.0 (730)
30.8
69.2
100.0
100.0
White
100.0 (491)
31.1
68.9
91.2
79.9
Black
100.0 (114)
26.3
73.7
5. l
10.6
Hispanic
100.0 (125)
29.0
71.1
3.8
9.5
Females
Total
100.0 (868)
16.5
83.6
100.0
100.0
White
100.0 (575)
15.7
84.3
88.5
78.8
Black
100.0 (161)
23.8
76.2
7.8
12.2
Hispanic
100.0 (132)
18.1
81.9
3.7
9.0
* Science, engineering, or mathematics.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, "High School and Beyond" survey, 1986, in Henry A. Gordon, Who Majors in Science? College Graduates in Science, Engineering, or Mathematics from the High School Class of 1980 (NCES 90-658), Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1990.
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Women in Science and Engineering: Increasing their Numbers in the 1990s
as white males (15.7 percent versus 31.1 percent). Black females, however, majored in science, engineering, or mathematics almost as often as black males (26.3 percent of males versus 23.8 percent of females) (Gordon, 1990; Table 9).
The near parity of black females with black males suggests that further study should be done to probe cultural and sociological reasons for this result.
Institutions
Analyzing the status of women in the S&E education pipeline, one must examine those institutions most effective in producing women scientists and engineers and the programs they have in place to achieve that goal:
Ph.D.s: As shown in Table 10, the 10 U.S. doctorate-granting institutions that awarded the most S&E degrees during the past decade are University of California-Berkeley, University of Illinois-Urbana/Champaign, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), University of Wisconsin-Madison, Cornell University, Stanford University, University of Minnesota-Minneapolis, Purdue University, University of Michigan, and University of California-Los Angeles. When ranked by S&E Ph.D.s awarded to women, however, their rank order changes dramatically (see Related Tables A and B), and MIT and Purdue are displaced in the top 10 by the Ohio State University and the University of Maryland. These
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Women in Science and Engineering: Increasing their Numbers in the 1990s
TABLE 10:
Top 25 Science and Engineering Doctorate-Granting Institutions, 1980-1990 (all graduates)
Institution
1980
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
Total 1980-1990
TOTAL, MALE and FEMALE
Calif, U-Berkeley
540
483
542
519
517
549
563
534
585
658
607
6097
III, U, Urbana-Champ
394
411
358
382
381
442
383
434
444
468
514
4611
Mass Inst Technology
372
384
391
412
389
421
442
436
489
469
478
4683
Wisconsin, U-Madison
400
389
442
398
399
458
413
453
479
485
460
4776
Cornell Univ/NY
330
333
328
355
351
337
371
367
377
395
455
3999
Stanford Univ/CA
327
358
339
308
364
334
393
405
411
412
411
4062
Minnesota, U-Minneapl
291
316
291
275
312
336
381
310
337
360
403
3612
Purdue University/IN
297
326
288
305
308
308
320
300
302
348
383
3485
Michigan, Univ of
292
315
323
376
348
371
348
344
344
335
382
3778
Calif, U-Los Angeles
314
330
310
311
296
296
282
288
363
334
382
3506
Texas, U-Austin
219
228
234
228
227
255
298
330
326
329
367
3041
Ohio State Univ
300
274
305
293
269
323
297
322
307
371
366
3427
Texas A&M University
211
195
180
202
227
221
228
257
253
310
305
2589
Maryland, Univ of
175
172
202
192
209
210
213
220
205
244
301
2343
Michigan State Univ
281
279
305
299
250
240
242
258
268
287
286
2995
Washington, U of
228
231
246
249
237
221
249
262
279
272
283
2757
Penn State Univ
215
233
240
261
243
234
237
251
260
289
282
2745
Florida, Univ of
169
166
142
206
203
216
203
223
236
259
273
2296
Harvard Univ/MA
248
232
244
256
246
205
243
215
242
221
269
2621
NC State U-Raleigh
112
128
168
164
171
175
193
180
210
199
252
1952
Columbia University
228
231
222
197
233
245
219
215
223
254
243
2510
Pennsylvania, U of
201
214
256
217
211
206
202
248
221
272
240
2488
Northwestern Univ/IL
178
184
193
179
188
218
207
211
220
259
234
2271
Calif, U-Davis
233
253
193
276
239
209
229
234
252
247
234
2599
Arizona, Univ of
184
154
179
188
197
182
171
214
225
237
228
2159
SOURCE: National Science Foundation, unpublished data.
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Women in Science and Engineering: Increasing their Numbers in the 1990s
results may indicate that other universities are taking steps to broaden the supply of female Ph.D.s in S&E fields.
Baccalaureate Origins: Many of the same institutions that are successful in retaining female S&E graduate students to completion of doctorates have also provided their undergraduate education in S&E fields. Data from the Doctorate Records File indicate that efforts in this area during the 1985-1990 period were particularly successful at University of California-Berkeley, Cornell University, University of Michigan, University of California-Los Angeles, University of Illinois-Urbana/Champaign, and University of Wisconsin-Madison. Joining those institutions to form the top 10 baccalaureate institutions of women who received S&E Ph.D.s during 1985-1990 were Pennsylvania State University, Rutgers University, University of California-Davis, and the University of Pennsylvania. The latter four institutions also awarded 17 percent of the Ph.D.s granted to women in the sciences and engineering by the top 25 institutions between 1985 and 1990. As shown in Table 11, however, the number of doctorates awarded to women who received undergraduate degrees from the same institution varies by field. Data from NCES (1970 +) confirm that women, particularly minority women, are somewhat less likely than men to attend the most prestigious research universities as either undergraduate or graduate students.
Availability of Financial Support
Financial aid is a very important factor in recruiting and retaining able women in science and engineering. At the undergraduate level, schol-
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Women in Science and Engineering: Increasing their Numbers in the 1990s
TABLE 11: Top Five Baccalaureate Institutions of Female Science and Engineering Doctorate Recipients, by Field of Doctorate, 1985-1990
Physical Science
Agriculture
Biological Science
Psychology
Social Science
Engineering
1 UC-Berkeley
1 Cornell Univ.
1 Cornell Univ.
1 UC-Los Angeles
1 C-Berkeley
1 Univ. of Illinois, Urbana-Champlain
2 Cornell Univ.
2 Univ. of Illinois, Urbana-Champlain
2 UC-Berkeley
2 Univ. of Michigan
2 Univ. of Michigan
2 UC-Berkeley and Purdue Univ.
3 Wellesley College
3 UC-Davis
3 UC-Davis
3 UC-Berkeley
3 UC-Los Angeles
3 Univ. of Michigan and Penn State
4 Univ. of Michigan
4 Michigan State
4 Univ. of Michigan
4 Cornell Univ.
4 Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison
4 Cornell Univ.
5 Rutgers Univ.
5. Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison
5 Univ. of Illinois, Urbana-Champlain
5 Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison
5 Univ. of Minnesota, Minneapolis
5 Ohio State
SOURCE: National Research Council, Doctoral Records File, unpublished data.
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Women in Science and Engineering: Increasing their Numbers in the 1990s
arships to women for S&E studies often reinforce recruitment efforts (NSF, 1990b; Moran, 1986). Furthermore, undergraduate women are encouraged to continue their S&E studies because they know that financial support will be available for continued studies at the graduate level. At the graduate level, recruitment is strongly tied to the availability of financial support (see, for instance, Anderson, 1990), and retention requires consistent, continuing support.
However, women do not receive the same kinds and levels of financial aid as their male counterparts in science and engineering (Table 12), and this may inhibit their entry. An increase in the probability that women students will receive financial support could yield significant increases in female participation in the undergraduate and graduate student segments of the pipeline (Coyle, 1986). Research indicates that women who are offered financial aid at the beginning of their undergraduate education are more likely to continue their studies in the sciences and engineering (Rosenfeld and Hearn, 1982). In addition, needy students, those who cannot afford to complete their education without interruption to earn more money, may require special alternatives such as part-time or continuing education programs, perhaps developed in cooperation with industry. The availability of sustained financial aid when needed by students later in their undergraduate education is also important for retention (Connelly and Porter, 1978).
Variations in Ph.D. attainment rates by S&E field are highly correlated with the availability of financial support (Tuckman et al., 1990). Some universities have responded favorably to this finding: Yale University, for instance, has decreased the use of teaching assistants (TAs) but now encourages graduate students to earn Ph.D.s more rapidly by
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Women in Science and Engineering: Increasing their Numbers in the 1990s
TABLE 12: Percentage Distribution of Primary Sources of Support of Doctorate Recipients, by Sex and Broad Field, 1989
Source/Gender
Year
Total Fields
Phys. Scncs.
Engng.
Life Scncs.
Social Scncs.
Human.
Prof/Educ.
Other
Personal
Men
1989
34.1
13.7
15.3
22.3
49.1
48.0
74.6
53.5
Women
1989
51.1
13.0
12.5
27.3
59.5
48.0
77.6
57.2
Federal, Non-R.A.
Men
1989
5.3
4.1
4.1
13.0
4.0
2.3
2.7
2.1
Women
1989
5.7
4.3
10.4
15.1
5.2
1.5
1.9
1.3
R.A., Fed. & Univ.
Men
1989
27.2
45.4
49.7
34.4
9.2
1.5
3.0
7.2
Women
1989
15.1
42.8
50.5
30.8
8.5
1.5
3.8
9.2
Teaching Assistant
Men
1989
17.5
25.9
12.1
10.9
21.7
31.5
5.9
21.2
Women
1989
15.7
29.5
10.0
11.8
14.6
35.4
6.4
19.1
Fellowship
Men
1989
6.0
4.7
4.7
7.7
7.6
11.3
2.4
4.9
Women
1989
6.0
4.9
9.7
8.1
7.1
9.1
2.4
5.2
Other Sources
Men
1989
9.9
6.2
14.1
11.6
8.4
5.4
11.3
11.1
Women
1989
6.4
5.4
6.9
6.8
5.2
4.4
7.7
8.0
SOURCE: Delores H. Thurgood and Joanne M. Weinman, Summary Report 1989 Doctorate Recipients from U.S. Universities, Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press, 1990.
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Women in Science and Engineering: Increasing their Numbers in the 1990s
offering them fellowships to finish their dissertations (Cheney, 1990). However, it was pointed out to the committee that
The graduate education process is evolving into a system serving the needs of the faculty and institution at the expense of the needs of the graduate student population. The shrinking availability of research funds accelerates this process, further compromising the quality of the graduate experience. All graduate students are adversely affected, but women in graduate programs are especially impacted because of their traditional lack of assertiveness.... Their dependency on a major advisor for financial support may force them to endure misuse or abuse: long hours in the laboratory, excessive teaching responsibilities, extended stays in the graduate program (Mulnix, 1990).
Table 12 shows that women graduate students in the life sciences and the social sciences are more likely than men to be self-supporting and less likely, in general, to be funded as either TAs or research assistants (RAs). Thus, relative to men, women overall are more likely to be deprived of research time and important opportunities for interaction with peers and faculty.
The extent to which these problems occur varies by field and by race/ethnicity. In this context, OSEP examined the numbers of women applying for and receiving graduate fellowships in the programs it administers for NSF. These fellowships are highly selective and prestigious and are generally regarded as early indicators of future success. Although women in general have received about one-third of those awards, primarily in the earth, biomedical, biological, and behavioral science same fields in which most women apply (Tables 13 and 14; see also Related Tables C, D, E, and F)—the percentage of awards to women has increased steadily since 1985. Overall, the proportion of women receiving NSF graduate fellowships is lower than among men, though it appears to vary
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Women in Science and Engineering: Increasing their Numbers in the 1990s
TABLE 13: NSF Graduate Fellowship Program Applications and Awards, by Sex, 1985 and 1991
Discipline
1985
1991
1985
1991
M
W
M
W
M
W
M
W
Total Applicants
Total Awards
N
2776
1614
4145
3201
362
178
556
394
%
63.2
36.8
56.4
43.6
67.0
33.0
58.5
41.5
Biochem*
246
167
276
256
32
16
31
31
59.6
40.4
51.9
48.1
66.7
33.3
50.0
50.0
Biology
298
274
369
432
32
40
40
53
52.1
42.9
46.1
53.9
44.4
55.6
43.0
57.0
Chemistry
219
118
272
174
32
9
41
16
65.0
35.0
61.0
39.0
78.0
22.0
71.9
28.1
Earth Sci
151
88
116
124
20
9
13
16
63.2
36.8
48.3
51.7
69.0
31.0
44.8
55.2
Appl Math/ Statistics
80
39
100
87
14
1
18
4
67.2
32.8
53.5
46.5
93.3
6.7
81.8
18.2
Mathematics
105
43
132
90
19
1
22
10
70.9
29.1
59.5
40.5
95.0
5.0
68.8
31.2
Physics and Astronomy
309
44
404
99
39
6
57
13
87.5
12.5
80.3
19.7
86.7
13.3
81.4
18.6
Behavioral Sciences**
397
436
627
780
50
50
92
89
47.7
52.3
44.6
55.4
50.0
50.0
50.8
49.2
Biomedical Sciences
154
208
195
311
15
28
23
30
42.5
57.5
38.5
61.5
42.5
57.5
43.4
56.6
Computer Science
182
54
282
67
27
3
40
5
77.1
22.9
80.8
19.2
90.0
10.0
88.9
11.1
Engineering
635
143
1280
692
82
15
179
127
81.6
18.4
64.9
35.1
84.5
15.5
58.5
41.5
* Includes biochemistry, biophysics, and molecular biology.
** Prior to 1991,this field included psychology, economics, and sociology. Bemuse the disaggregation of behavioral sciences——into (1) anthropology, sociology, and linguistics; (2) economics, urban planning, and history of science; (3) political science, international relations, and geography; and (4) psychology——did not occur until 1991,a single category is used here. SOURCE: Office of Scientific and Engineering Personnel.
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Women in Science and Engineering: Increasing their Numbers in the 1990s
TABLE 14: NSF Minority Graduate Fellowship Program Applications and Awards, by Sex, 1985 and 1991
Discipline
1985
1991
Men
Women
Men
Women
Total Applicants
N
298
305
595
644
%
49.4
50.6
48.0
52.0
Biosciences*
62
79
93
158
44.0
56.0
37.1
62.9
Chemistry/ Earth Science Phys/Astron/ Math
27
22
48
41
55.1
44.9
53.9
46.1
37
32
82
56
53.6
46.4
59.4
40.6
Behavioral Science**
68
116
113
207
37.0
63.0
35.3
64.7
Engineering
65
35
172
119
65.0
35.0
59.1
40.9
Total Awards
N
39
21
87
63
%
65.0
35.0
58.0
42.0
Biosciences*
10
5
16
13
66.7
33.3
55.2
44.8
Chemistry/ Earth Science Phys/Astron/ Math
2
2
4
4
50.0
50.0
50.0
6
1
9
8
85.7
14.3
52.9
47.1
Behavioral Science**
12
11
18
21
52.2
47.8
46.2
53.8
Engineering
9
2
40
17
81.8
18.2
70.2
29.8
* Includes biology, biochemistry, biophysics, and biomedical science.
** Includes anthropology, sociology, and linguistics; economies, urban planning, and history of science; political science, international relations, and geography; and psychology.
SOURCE: Office of Scientific and Engineering Personnel.
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Women in Science and Engineering: Increasing their Numbers in the 1990s
unpredictably from one field to another and from year to year. Women applicants fare particularly poorly in the fields of computer science, applied mathematics/statistics, and physics/astronomy. Until 1991, when they received 31 percent of the awards in mathematics, women received less than 18 percent of the graduate fellowships in that field.
Informal Mechanisms
Informal efforts to recruit women into S&E fields typically:
address the negative public image of scientists and engineers and of science and engineering;
encourage precollege interest of young women in S&E majors and careers;
involve parents and peers; and
as in formal programs, provide opportunities for female students to interact with scientists and engineers in academe, industry, and government who serve as role models and mentors.
Research on retention of both men and women in undergraduate S&E programs indicates that effective programs include the following: orientation programs for freshmen, remedial courses, career seminars, educational and career counseling, peer tutoring, research opportunities, cooperative and summer job programs, campus chapters of professional organizations such as the Society of Women Engineers, recognition awards and events, and exit interviews with graduating seniors. Successful retention programs, such as Purdue University's Women in Engineering Program and the Women in Science Program of Rutgers University's
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Women in Science and Engineering: Increasing their Numbers in the 1990s
Douglass College, have used two other intervention actions that can affect retention of women in S&E majors:
the use of professional counselors with training both ill the special problems faced by undergraduate women in traditionally ''masculine'' fields of study and in specific counseling strategies that can increase women's persistence in these fields; and
interactions with industrial scientists and engineers in order to enhance the motivation of beginning S&E students (LeBold, 1987).
Two additional factors affecting undergraduate retention were noted in the National Engineering Career Development Study: academic performance during the freshman year; and self-perceptions of math, science, and problem-solving ability (Shell et al., 1985). These same factors could also be applicable to undergraduate science majors.
The Role of The Media
In order to recruit male or female students into science and engineering, those fields must be perceived as positive career choices (MacCorquodale, 1984). However, a number of recent studies in various developed counties suggest that science and engineering, in general, have an "image problem." When students and adults are asked about their image of scientists and engineers, not only are science and engineering strongly viewed as traditionally masculine fields of study, but in most cases scientists and engineers are pictured as "mad" scientists and perpetrators of destruction (Kahle and Matyas, 1987).
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Women in Science and Engineering: Increasing their Numbers in the 1990s
The positive benefits of S&E research and development have not been the primary focus of the public image, nor have science and engineering generally been viewed by the public as ennobling careers (OTA, 1988; NAS, 1989). Even a cursory glance at popular television and print materials (such as comic books) suggests that the popular media do little to change this public image and can have an important negative influence on students' images of science and engineering and of scientists and engineers. The potential for using popular media in recruitment strategies remains largely untapped (Task Force, 1988).
Parental Guidance
A study by the American Association for the Advancement of Science found that most of the most effective precollege programs to increase females' participation in science and mathematics involve parents in some way (Malcom, 1983). Parents play an important role in influencing the initial career choices of all students, but especially those of young women. However, there has been no systematic evaluation of programs and materials informing parents about the importance of science and mathematics education for their children, girls as well as boys, and guiding parents on how to assist their children in career choices in these areas.
Role Models and Mentors
Research indicates that students, both male and female, are influenced by role models and faculty members (see, for instance, Nagy and Cunningham, 1990). Opportunities to interact with S&E personnel have
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Women in Science and Engineering: Increasing their Numbers in the 1990s
long been central to "career day" and other precollege programs designed to spark young women's interests in S&E careers.2 As John F. Welch, Jr. (1991), chairman and chief executive officer of the General Electric Company, wrote recently:
Corporate volunteers can guide America's students toward a world of work, study, and achievement.... GE volunteers and their counterparts at a few other companies have proved that social and economic upward mobility——the glue that holds us all together——can be restored. American nightmares [about inability to compete in the global marketplace] can be changed into American dreams.
Undergraduate women in science and engineering have been effectively used to recruit high school students, and women graduate students have successfully served as recruiters of women undergraduates in science and engineering (Hall and Sandler, 1983). At present, however, female S&E faculty role models are most likely to be found among the untenured junior faculty and, therefore, are not generally available for significant time commitments to recruiting and other activities involving greater interactions with students (Cheney, 1990). Recruitment of women students at a given institution would be enhanced by the presence of women faculty at all ranks, a signal to women students that they will be respected and treated fairly. The presence of women faculty at junior ranks only or in adjunct or off-ladder status signals the opposite (Sandler, 1986). However, many top graduate departments in science and engineering still
2
For descriptions of some of these programs, see Sandra L. Keith and Philip Keith, eds., Proceedings of the National Conference on Women in Mathematics and the Sciences (St. Cloud, Minn.: St. Cloud State University, 1990).
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have no tenured women faculty, which gives an even more negative signal (see, for instance, Selvin, 1991).
Undergraduate women and men at large research universities are negatively affected by the frequent lack of interactions with the research-oriented faculty in their departments (Smith, 1990). Many highly talented students may not be receiving adequate encouragement to pursue graduate study. Such a phenomenon would affect women more than men, bemuse women are usually less plugged into the network (Mulnix, 1990). In response, some institutions encourage women S&E faculty members to act as role models and mentors for undergraduate and graduate women in their departments (Malcom, 1983). Institutions address this issue through formal programs that (1) sensitize faculty to the needs of women students, (2) follow the progress of women students throughout their enrollment period, and (3) promote mentoting between undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral women in science and engineering. Examples of programs that seem effective are the Illinois Institute of Technology's Women's Mentoring Organization and the University of Chicago's Mellon Instructorships, which "offer new Ph.D.s the opportunity to work with mentors teaching in the common core (Cheney, 1990), as well as the University of Washington's Women in Engineering Initiative.
Institutional Factors
Attrition from S&E majors is seldom related only to academic talent and achievement, especially for women (Roby, 1973; LeBold, 1987; Hall, 1982; Sandler, 1986). As Cavanaugh (1990) noted,
Women often "drop out" of science in graduate school or
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even after starting their careers. The major factor is the climate of the workplace, with its competitiveness, subtle forms of sexual harassment, off-track assignments or limited responsibilities, and lack of encouragement. Add to this lower salaries and promotion rates, inappropriate responses to reproductive hazards, and lack of provision for child-care and the difficulties of staying in science become obvious.
In addition to formal barriers and overt discrimination, women completing studies in traditionally masculine fields often encounter subtle forms of discrimination called "micro-inequities" (Hall, 1982; Ehrhard and Sandler, 1987) that contribute to an unsupportive "campus climate." On an incident-by-incident basis, micro-inequities appear to be insignificant, but collectively they make an important and significant difference in the collegiate experience of men and women. For example, women who try to participate in classroom discussion are ignored or interrupted more frequently than men by both faculty and male students; their questions are more often treated as trivial by faculty; and they are frequent targets of ''good-natured" derogatory humor (Sandler, 1986; Mulnix, 1990). Anecdotal evidence also indicates that faculty, teaching assistants, and graduate students from certain cultures are less accustomed to the presence of female students in the classroom and laboratory and may discriminate against women students either consciously or unconsciously.3 However, the
3
This issue was a topic of much discussion at the conference, "Women in Science and Engineering: Changing Vision to Reality," of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, July 29-31, 1987, and at meetings of the National Research Council's Committee on the International Exchange and Movement of Engineers [see National Research Council, Foreign and Foreign-Born Engineers in the United States: Infusing Talent, Raising Issues, Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press, 1988, and Engineering Education and Practice in the United States, Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press, 1985]. Although a recurrent theme during subse
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Committee knows of no research undertaken to determine how common this phenomenon is or how to combat it.
Many academic institutions are unaware of the successful activities by other institutions to create a supportive campus climate. Besides programs mentioned earlier, these include data collection and analysis from each department on the participation and advancement of women at the undergraduate, graduate, and faculty levels. The campus climate for women is also enhanced by on-campus branches of professional societies——such as the Society of Physics Students, Chicanos in the Health Sciences, and the Society of Women Engineers——that promote interactions between S&E professionals and students and shepherd women students into professional careers.
Priority Issues
Policies affecting the S&E education infrastructure are diverse, and many groups——public and private alike——have placed high priority on developing programs to increase the number and quality of women entering science and engineering careers. After some discussion, we have concluded that an effective role for the Committee on Women in Science and Engineering in this area will be:
stimulating data collection, to assess the effectiveness of
quent meetings of various professional scientific organizations, this issue has not yet been studied in depth.
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educational programs that have been introduced formally over the years;
examining data on science majors graduating from historically black undergraduate colleges and universities, to determine the effectiveness of HBCUs in preparing those graduates for S&E careers;
specifying those features of effective programs developed in one institution that can be duplicated in another;
collecting data in order to analyze and evaluate the effectiveness of college admissions policies in newly coeducational institutions, some of which are major sources of future S&E Ph.D.s and which may routinely establish quotas for admitting women and racial/ethnic minorities;
studying the career differences of men and women S&E doctorates, by discipline, with reference to their education; developing techniques to disseminate information to academic administrators on the importance of role models and mentors in the undergraduate and graduate S&E infrastructure, pointing out institutional mechanisms that are effective in producing S&E doctorates;
examining the incentives (financial support, etc.) available for potential S&E majors;
conducting regional and/or national conferences on the effective partnerships in science and engineering between academe, industry, and government; and
planning strategic "awareness" sessions for decision makers in the print and visual media in order to eradicate the negative image of science and engineering in society.
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Representative terms from entire chapter:
women students
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