Science and Engineering Programs On Target for Women? (1992) / Chapter Skim
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4 Promoting Undergraduate Studies in Science and Engineering
4 Promoting Undergraduate Studies in Science and Engineering
Pages 43-66
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From page 43... ...
, leas examined student interest and enrollment in and attrition front science and engineering studies through a series of studies arid papers over the last 10 years at ALAS and Purdue University. Information in this chapter that supplen~enfs the conference deliberations is drawn primarily frown that research.
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From page 45... ...
First, many of the effective undergraduate recruitment and retention efforts by colleges and universities are grounded in outreach efforts at the precollege leveL Second, research on precollege efforts provides useful information about the development and improvement of efforts at the undergraduate and Valuate levels. Table ~1 includes listings of target groups and program models for intervention at the precollege level.
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From page 46... ...
. SOURCE: Marsha Lakes Matyas, Interve''tion Programs irz Mat1'e~rzatics and Science for Precollege Fern ales: Program Types and Charactenstics, invited research report and presentation for the Bush Foundation Board of Directors, St.
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From page 47... ...
L Matyas' Intervention Programs in Mathenzatics and Science for Precollege Females: Program Types and Charactenstics, invited research report and presentation for the Bush Foundation Board of Directors, St.
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From page 48... ...
The program includes multi-year involvement with participants, strong academic components, daily or weekly contact with students, strong peer support networks, low or no fees for participation (or readily available financial aid) , hands-on (laboratory3 activities, inquiry approaches, cooperative learning situations, residential experiences for participants such as overnights, bridge programs, and summer programs where appropriate, and involvement of role models from both academe and industry.
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From page 49... ...
Recruitment programs Comprehensive retention programs Support for student research involvement [for example, Minority Access to Research Careers (MARC) and Minority Biomedical Research Support (MBRS)
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Minority Access to Research Careers (MARC) program was established in 1972; its Honors Undergraduate Research Training Program provides grants to junior and senior honors students at minority institutions.
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The California State University (CSU) at Los Angeles has a variety of programs for undergraduate students, including a Forgivable Loan Doctoral Incentive Program to encourage undergraduate women and minorities to pursue doctoral degrees in targeted disciplines.
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From page 52... ...
Undergraduate mentoring activities are frequently found in the form of "Big Sister" programs in which junior and senior undergraduate women mentor freshmen women in science or engineering. These programs are being successfully implemented at Purdue University (as described above)
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From page 53... ...
, as a part of a scholarship or fellowship (for example, the AT&T scholarships) , or as a portion of student research involvement efforts (such as MARC or the Howard Hughes Program)
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From page 54... ...
D r The steps for implementing model programs at other levels of the education/employment pipeline are discussed in subsequent chapters of this report. Beyond Intervention: Rethinking the Undergraduate Experience Science and engineering intervention programs for undergraduate students were developed originally as "stop gap" measures to provide additional information, encouragement, and financial and social support for female and minority undergraduate students to pursue degrees in nontraditional areas.
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From page 55... ...
For example, Matyas and Malcom (1991) note that intervention efforts must evolve from isolated intervention efforts to structural reform; from the commitment of individual program directors and involved faculty and administrators to an institution-wide commitment; and from isolated projects supported primarily by external funds or volunteer services to line-item budgets that support a variety of on-going activities (Figure ~2~.
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From page 56... ...
Figure ~2. Model for the evolution of intervention programs.
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From page 57... ...
The second key point participants at the 1991 conference identified in the evolutionary process was a change in how institutions New student persistence and attrition. Currently, many science and engineering departments in the United States utilize a "weeding" strategy allowing and even encouraging students to withdraw from science and engineering studies by setting high "failure" levels.
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From page 58... ...
Subcomponents of the precollege components are intervention programs for tracking talented students in grades 7-12 to enriched academic programs; continuing education for precollege teachers; an institute for the development of master teachers; and school-based programs. The undergraduate component of CR CM includes student enrichment programs; undergraduate student education development; and faculty development (George, 1991~.
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From page 59... ...
The AAAS study mentioned earlier found few programs directly targeting female undergraduate students. In fact, less than 10 percent of the over 300 programs identified were targeted at women while 51 percent of the programs were targeted at minority students.
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From page 60... ...
These activities included student chapters of the Society of Women Engineers, availability of recruitment brochures and information, programs for teachers and counselors, career conferences, summer programs, and junior high outreach activities (see Figure ~3~. This decline in program activities was paralleled or followed by a number of indicators suggesting that the absence of these activities may have affected the overall production of women engineers nationally: Between 1975 and 1982, the percentage of freshman women planning iSix additional programs targeted at women were classified as "other." 60
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From page 62... ...
In summary, few undergraduate S&E programs are today directed at the recruitment and retention of women, and the most effectively targeted models are not necessarily the most likely to be employed. Although previous work has provided a number of excellent program models that include the components of successful interventions, few of these model programs are targeted specifically at women.
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From page 63... ...
ant englneenng. Comprehensive intervention models should be targeted toward women and implemented in diverse institutions, particularly in those fields where the number of female undergraduate students is small compared to that of their male peers.
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From page 64... ...
Contnbutions to the Fourth GASAT Conference, Volume 3. West Lafayette, IN: Purdue University Department of Freshman Engineering, pp.
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From page 65... ...
West Lafayette, IN: Purdue University. Wheeler, David L
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