Bring the WomenTech Educators Training to your location to increase the number of female students in your STEM classes |
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Bring Our Training to Your Location!
Based on proven practices, the workshop curriculum includes the "best-of-the-best" of our strategies, culled from our 5 National Science Foundation (NSF) projects and over 20 years of success in assisting educational institutions in recruiting and retaining female students in programs around the country. Our work was highlighted by the NSF for demonstrating significant achievement and program effectiveness.
Watch this short video to learn how to avoid the most common mistakes educators make in recruiting female students
▸ What Educators Are Saying About the Training
Tools to Gain Support from Your Colleagues:
Download the sample training agenda (PDF)
Download the brochure (PDF) to share with others in your institution
Download a sample letter to gain support (DOC)
Source: Participants in WomenTech Educators Training. External evaluator's report to the National Science Foundation for the CalWomenTech Scale-Up Project, March 2013.
You Will Learn:
Females in STEM: Key Factors for Recruitment
✓ Top three recruitment strategies & how to put them to use
✓ How to adopt a program-wide “female friendly” recruitment approach
✓ How to communicate the benefits of STEM at each stage of the recruitment process
✓ Effective strategies to involve faculty & staff in your recruiting effort
Gender Diversity in STEM: Boosting Enrollment & Implementing New Culture
✓ Barriers to recruiting women into STEM & how to overcome them
✓ How to identify your target audience for recruitment and low-hanging fruit
✓ Success in STEM: See actionable examples of successful STEM programs
Strategies to Keep STEM Students on Course & Improve Graduation Rates
✓ How to make female students feel welcome and what not to do
✓ Ways to bolster confidence in STEM students to ensure success
✓ Strategies to help your female students be successful in the lab
✓ Building block skills to help close the experience gap
Addressing the STEM Challenge: Appeal to Women Who Aren't Excited by STEM
✓ How faculty can teach to female learning styles
✓ How to connect students with female role models & create community
✓ An "ah-ha" moment on spatial reasoning - what you need to know
Building a Leadership Team Model for Women in STEM: Strategies for Success
✓ Ways to partner with faculty, administrators, student services & others
✓ No educator is an island: How to work together & boost STEM retention
✓ Top 3 qualities of an effective Leadership Team & how to employ them
"As a result of working with IWITTS, over two years the percentage of women in targeted classes at CCRI went from 10.8% to 14.3%"
~ Peter Woodberry, Community College of Rhode Island
" I have already implemented retention strategies from IWITTS with much success. The workshop has empowered me!"
~ Jessica J. du Maine, St. Louis Community College
You Will Take Away
- An easy-to-implement Recruitment Plan to greatly increase the number of women and girls in your STEM classrooms.
- A Retention Plan for your school to increase the completion rate of your female (and male students), starting this semester.
- The knowledge and confidence you need to put these plans into action right away, and the bonus tools that will help you be even more successful. (See Ready to Go Outreach Materials section below)
Your Institution Can Achieve Results Like These:
✓ A Georgia community college went from only 1 female student in an introductory Emerging Technology course to 15 females out of 17 students the next semester.
✓ A Massachusetts community college went from 1 female student in its introductory Manufacturing class to 9 females out of 13 students the next semester. Plus, 100% of both female and male students were retained!
Choose the Training Package that's the Best Fit for Your Institution:
The WomenTech Educators Training System for Success
IWITTS has cracked the code to helping community colleges broaden participation as soon as the next semester with the WomenTech Educators Training System – developed during our 5 National Science Foundation (NSF) projects and now available to all community colleges through IWITTS's WomenTech Online Training program. The proven formula that makes this system so effective includes the following elements:
Why a Team-Based Training System?
The WomenTech Educators Training System recommends schools participate in teams of 6-10 because working as a team has proven critical to helping other colleges see real results and enact institutional change. Participating in teams ensures that all the key stakeholders are represented and invested in the Women in STEM Recruitment and Retention Plans your college develops as part of the training, while also improving the infrastructure of your college to broaden participation. (See “The Power of Teams” below for recommendations on potential team members.)
Pre-Training Activities and Support
A pre-training consultation with your trainer will help set your college up for success. Trainer will meet with you to help with: 1) Team composition and development; 2) Baseline data collection and analysis for targeted career pathway of each team; and if appropriate, 3) Review of a related grant proposal and discussion on how to meet grant goals.
Focus on 1 STEM Career Pathway
Each team that participates in the WomenTech Educators Training program will need to choose 1 career pathway/program (example: engineering technology) in which women are underrepresented to focus on. Keep in mind that each team’s recruitment and retention strategies will differ by program because the outreach materials, talking points, prerequisites, building block skills, and female role models will all be unique to each program. We recommend teams pick a career pathway in a high-demand area where employers are hiring at relatively high wages, so you can share this information with prospective female (and male) students!
Training Modules and Plan Development
Based on proven practices, the WomenTech Educators Training curriculum includes the "best-of-the-best" of our strategies, culled from our 5 NSF projects and over 20 years of success in assisting educational institutions in recruiting and retaining female students in programs around the country. As part of the training, each team develops a custom Women in STEM Recruitment Plan and a Retention Plan using a proven template. The plan templates include required key elements that set teams up to be successful. (See the Training Learning Outcomes and Take Aways for more details.)
Team Building and Customized Feedback for Each Team
Note: Each team receives transcripts and recordings of all coaching calls
In our successful NSF CalWomenTech Project, the external evaluators found that along with the training itself, support for implementation with trainer Donna Milgram was one of the top 2 most important things that helped schools achieve their impressive recruitment and retention results. The WomenTech Educators Training program includes 6 hours of call time for each team with Donna:
- Team-Building Orientation Call (Includes Laser Coaching on Target Audience) – This first 1.5 hour call with each team and trainer sets them up to be high-functioning Leadership Teams and takes them through the nuts and bolts of training logistics, such as choosing a weekly meeting time for homework/plan development. Trainer will also help each team take the critical, first step of their Recruitment Plan – choosing the best target audience for your school. Target audience impacts every portion of a team’s Recruitment Plan, so it’s critical to get it right at the start.
- Recruitment Plan Feedback Call and Retention Plan Feedback Call in Weeks Following Training – Trainer will provide an hour of customized feedback on each action plan – 1 call on a team’s Recruitment Plan and 1 on their Retention Plan. Teams will also receive another round of written feedback when they revise and finalize plans after these calls.
- Team Support for Implementation Call 3 Months After Training – Teams receive personalized support from their trainer on implementing Recruitment and Retention Plans during this 1-hour team call.
- Final Group Presentation Call Presentation 6 Months After Training –Teams will have a chance to present and hear from the other teams in the training. The information your teams present can be included in reports to funders and in future grant proposals.
“The [Customized Feedback] sessions really keep you on task. It’s too easy for this to be just one project among dozens, and the calls give you just-in-time reminders. It’s very helpful when you’re in the middle of implementing your plan to be reminded of something from the training you might want to go back and look at, or to receive new information from Donna [Trainer] that you need just at that moment."
~ Patrick J. Enright, Dean for Business, Mathematics, Engineering and Technologies, County College of Morris, Randolph, NJ
Who is this WomenTech Educators Training System for?
This program is recommended for community colleges that are serious about broadening participation in their institution’s STEM programs where women are underrepresented, and are ready to do so in 1-years’ time.
The Power of Teams:
Each in-person training accommodates up to 6 teams, with a total of up to 40 participants. After the initial training at your location, team members work together to implement the Recruitment and Retention Action Plans they developed during the training. To achieve these results, each team is required to focus on one career pathway.
Who Should Be on Your Team:
To be most effective, each team consists of a group of 6-10 members with a variety of stakeholders. Below are the recommended core team members (not every team will have every job title!):
- Dean or Chair of the Department of the targeted program (recommended)
- Director of the Technology Center (or equivalent)
- Principal Investigator of grant (if applicable)
- Dean of Instruction
- Minimum of 2 instructors in targeted courses (highly recommended)
- Math administrator if your core targeted courses have math prerequisites
- Outreach & Recruitment Director/Staff
- Curriculum Developer
- STEM Coordinator
- Learning Center Director/Staff
- Counselor/Advisor
- Workforce Development Director
- Research & Planning Officer
Who is the Audience for the Training:
Training is not limited to women – men benefit from the training just as much and often more. The WomenTech Educators Training will be customized to focus on your school's grade level(s): two-year colleges, four-year colleges and universities, high schools, middle schools. Whether you're looking to have more women in engineering, women in technology, women in computer science or women in the trades, these strategies will work for you! We work with individual educational institutions as well as at the regional and state level.
How to Recruit Participants to the Training:
We'll help you get other educators as excited as you are about the WomenTech Educators Training. We'll also provide you with a series of customizable emails to recruit participants.
About Your Trainers:
Learn directly from Executive Director Donna Milgram, the creator of the WomenTech Educators Training
Donna Milgram is Executive Director of the Institute for Women in Trades, Technology and Science (IWITTS) and has been Principal Investigator on 5 National Science Foundation (NSF) grants – including the CalWomenTech Project, which was highlighted by the NSF for demonstrating significant achievement and program effectiveness and chosen as 1 of 3 model projects nationally by the American Association of University Women.
- Ms. Milgram developed the WomenTech Educators Training to help educators nationwide increase the number of women in their technology programs.
- A nationally recognized expert on closing the gender gap for women and girls in STEM, Ms. Milgram has personally conducted hundreds of WomenTech Educators Trainings in 46 states and Canada.
- She is the author of numerous peer-reviewed articles and conference presentations including the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) and Women in Engineering Proactive Network (WEPAN). Recent presentation highlights include:
- U.S. Department of Education, Moving STEM Forward in the Career, Technical and Adult Symposium;
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Challenging Technical Privilege Symposium Panel; and,
- Engineering for Kids Conference (Keynote Presenter).
- Donna has been featured in the media on CNN, Fox Morning News, C-Span, and National Public Radio, and has been quoted in major newspapers such as The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, The Chicago Tribune, Associated Press, and more.
- An innovative leader, Donna Milgram draws upon over 21 years of experience leading successful projects, such as the NSF-highlighted CalWomenTech Project.
Download a full bio of Donna Milgram (PDF)
Sign Up to Talk with Donna Milgram about WomenTech Educators Professional Development
Carmen Lamha
Carmen Lamha is a dynamic trainer with hands-on experience increasing the number of women in technology classrooms, having achieved impressive results in the Computer Networking Information Technology department, which she chairs, at the City College of San Francisco, one of eight sites in the IWITTS CalWomenTech Project. The percentage of female students increased from 18 % to an average enrollment rate of 26.4%. The retention rates of female students increased from a 64% baseline to 79% on average (up by 23%). The retention rate of male students increased as well. Ms. Lahma was the Co-Principal Investigator of the CalWomenTech Project and is the Co-Chair of the California Joint Special Population Advisory Committee (JSPAC).
Download a full bio of Carmen Lamha (PDF)
Recruit more female students, and retain more female and male students.
Leave the training with customized recruitment and retention plans for your programs.
What Educators Are Saying About the Training:
"One thing that was especially valuable about the WomenTech Educators Training was having a variety of people come to the table to talk about all the issues. It was interesting for faculty to learn how they can engage students who might be on the fringes of the class, not necessarily just female students either. Also, in our publications and brochures, we're now as likely to use images of women as of men. As a result of working with IWITTS, over two years the percentage of women in targeted classes at CCRI went from 10.8% to 14.3%."
~ Peter Woodberry, PhD, Dean of Business, Science & Technology, Community College of Rhode Island, Newport, RI
"A lot of people, including me before I met Donna, do a lot of things that aren't necessarily recruitment, they're career awareness tools. People think if you put up a flyer that will solve the problem. Donna really taught us proven techniques to grow the program."
~ Edie Schmidt, Professor, Technology Leadership and Innovation/Supply Chain Management Technology, College of Technology, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN
"The training conducted by Donna Milgram was the best training I have ever received because I can implement the recruitment and retention plans I created specifically for my program Computer Information Management (CIM) to help increase females in technology at Irvine Valley College!"
~ Roopa Mathur, Professor, Computer Information Management, Irvine Valley College, Irvine, CA
"The most valuable things I received from working with IWITTS were strategies that have been researched and have data to support them. There are also many inexpensive strategies; "inexpensive" is a key term in these difficult economic times. I anticipate additional increased retention in my programs. I have already implemented retention strategies from IWITTS with much success. The workshop has empowered me!"
~ Jessica J. du Maine, Assistant Professor/Program Coordinator, Electrical/Electronic Engineering & Technology, St. Louis Community College, St. Louis, MO
"At the WomenTech Educators Workshop, it was eye-opening to learn that there is a long list of simple things we could be doing that would make women feel more welcome and included, for example the pictures we use to market the program, and some curricular approaches in the lab environment.
The first big benefit that we've seen is finding out the cross-campus interest in this topic. We've put together a team of 30 people covering a variety of academic departments, student services, admissions, and counseling. The workshop gives everyone a common language to continue discussions.
I don't see how we couldn't be successful. In the upcoming fall, we're looking forward to having more women in our Engineering and Computer Information Systems departments."
~ Patrick J. Enright, Dean for Business, Mathematics, Engineering and Technologies, County College of Morris, Randolph, NJ
See the full list of testimonials
Here Are Just a Sample of Our Many Past Clients:
- SouthWestern College, Chula Vista, CA
- James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA
- State of Kentucky, Dept. for Technical Education, Cabinet for Workforce Development, Frankfort, KY
- Convergence Technology Center, Collin County Community College, Plano, TX (ATE Center)
- Consortium for Alabama Regional Center for Automotive Manufacturing, Gadsden, AL (ATE Center)
- Quincy Public Schools, Center for Technical Education, Quincy, MA
- Midwest Center for Information Technology, AIM Institute, Omaha, NE (ATE Center)
Start Recruiting Right Away with Ready-To-Go Outreach Materials:
The WomenTech Classroom eBook: A Treasure Trove of Hard-to-Find Women in STEM Resources for Educators
Instantly access hard to find women in STEM classroom resources and online role model resources that will help women and girls see themselves in all career pathways. This downloadable guide includes links to sample curriculums and websites that teach STEM in a female-friendly way.
Women in Technology Outreach Kit
This easy-to-use downloadable kit has examples and fill-in-the-blank templates for program brochures, flyers, recruitment presentations, and school website sections that all include female role models. The female role model questionnaire has all the proven questions to ask your role models.
Role Model Banner
Each team receives a 6’ x 2’ banner in the career pathway of their choice.