This paper from the ASEE 2010 Conference shares CalWomenTech Project results, strategies, resources, and survey responses from female students in STEM programs where they are underrepresented. Two community college technology programs that implemented recruitment strategies within recommended timelines increased enrollment of female students from 18% to 30% and 35% to 50% respectively. Retention strategies implemented by CalWomenTech colleges also led to significant increases in completion rates of not only women, but also men, in several technology programs. One college that went from a female completion rate of 81% to 100% in 15 months also saw an increase of over 20% in male completion.
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Copyright© American Society for Engineering Education. By viewing this paper, you agree to all the copyright laws protecting it. Milgram, D., & Severs, D. (2010). CalWomenTech Project: Recruiting and Retaining Women in Technology Programs. The U.S. Conference Proceedings of the 2010 Annual ASEE Conference & Exposition. Louisville, KY: American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) |
The WomenTech Educators Training got us thinking intentionally about who we were going to target for outreach, how we were going to target them, and how we would follow up to make sure we had actual results linked to the different programs and events that we were holding. Since then, it has grown organically and blossomed into something that our college just does naturally.
I think getting together as a team with intention—because we're all so busy—and developing a written plan that we could stick to was what made all the difference. I don’t think we would have ever done that if it wasn't for the WomenTech Educators Training.