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All the tools you need to welcome and introduce women and girls to engineering |
 It’s easier than you think to get started recruiting women and girls to engineering. With these ready-to-go outreach tools, you can hit the ground running and start increasing the number of women and girls in your engineering programs right away. Order the whole kit, or any individual item or combination of items. |
Women in Engineering Recruitment Starter Kit includes:
Deal of the Month: Save 25% Full Starter Kit: $359 $269
Use code ENGINEER25 at checkout
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See all items in the kit: |
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Women in Engineering Banner This banner sends a visible message that your school supports women and girls in engineering and makes your career events more appealing to female students. Plus, hang the banner year-round in your school’s classrooms, hallways, communal spaces, and around campus to send the message that women can succeed in these career pathways. |
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Think Again Posters: Women in Engineering (Set of 7) Hang this set of seven posters around your school's classrooms, counseling offices, hallways, library and cafeteria to inspire more female students to consider a career in engineering. |
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Role Model Video: Engineering Videos of female role models help get engineering careers on the radar screens of women and girls because they’re able to see someone who looks like them on the job, especially doing hands-on work in a lab or field setting.
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STEM Resources for Instructors to Help Women and Girls: Annotated Bibliography It's not easy to find ready-made classroom activities that will appeal to female learning style or resources on identifying female role models and associations. This bibliography does the research for you, and the best part is it's a downloadable e-book with clickable hotlinks that bring you directly to the websites where these primarily free resources are housed. Our bibliography has over 100 entries and provides you with information on the school level, program type, and career pathway for each resource. The bibliography is rich with engineering examples, ranging from Engineer Your Life to Fair Play: Design & Discovery to engineering associations for women.  |
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We are honored to receive so many positive reviews for the WomenTech Educators Training. We really appreciate the time participants have taken to share their feedback with us and we've included their comments below. If you have completed the training and would like to include a testimonial on this page, please contact us.
Training Format:
- In-person Training (Including Onsite and National Training)
- Online Training
School Level:
- Educators from 2-year Colleges (Including ATE Projects and Centers)
- Educators from 4-year Colleges
- Secondary School Educators
In-person Training (Including Onsite Training and National Training)
"Participating in the IWITTS training refined my skills as an instructor and administrator to be an agent of change in this realm. Because Computer Networking and Information Technology was not on the radar of many women, the tools that were given to us by IWITTS for reaching out to students for our entry level class were very effective. And those changes have been institutionalized in my department. Thanks to our work with IWITTS, female enrollment in my department has risen from 19% to 33%."
~ Pierre Thiry, Principal Investigator, Mid-Pacific ICT Regional Center, San Francisco, CA (ATE Center)
"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 and 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
"Completely made me re-evaluate the approach that we have been taking. I realized the many mistakes and plan to make changes that I learned from the training. Great information!"
~ Hector Yanez, Department Chair/CADD Manager of Computer Drafting and Design Technology, Texas State Technical College, Harlingen, TX
"I felt there was a tremendous opportunity to increase the proportion of female students in my computer programming and web design classes if I could only get help. During the WomenTech Educators Training, I loved learning about personal encouragement strategies. As an instructor, I now know how to retain women in my classes while providing them with the tools to be successful. When I walked in the door to the training, I did not know what to expect. When I walked out, I had additional tools and ways of teaching to women that I did not know about before."
~ Jim Luckas, Digital Media Instructor, North Orange County Community College District, Anaheim, CA
"If you want lights and action, this workshop provided great features, advantages and ways in which to recruit and retain our STEM women! This workshop covers the major points to develop your programs. Truly appreciate the statistics and websites."
~ Trinidad Stassi, Professor, Computer Information Science, Cosumnes River College, Sacramento, CA
This was an engaging and practical learning experience that will help us to increase recruitment and retention."
~ Myron Curtis, Deputy Sector Navigator, ICT & Digital Media, Butte College, Oroville, CA
"The WomenTech Educators Training Workshop was one of the best things I've done. I feel very confident that I have the strategies and tools to help me increase the number of women in my STEM programs. Thank you so much."
~ Hank Miller, Division Head of Science and Math, Nebraska Indian Community College, Macy, NE
"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
"The information provided was applicable and easy to incorporate to improve my program. I'm confident I can increase the number of females enrolled in the nontraditional majors. I'm excited about the new changes to come!"
~ Shakisha Davis M.Ed., Transitions Program Director, Greenville Technical College, Greenville, SC
"I left the training feeling equipped and empowered with the necessary tools to improve female performance and success in STEM programs."
~ Timothy Brown, Department Chair of Mathematics, Georgia Perimeter College, Dunwoody, GA
"Last year, the Computer Science department held an Open House event for prospective students. Although a few female high school students came, none of our female faculty members could attend and there weren't any women there representing the department.
After attending the workshop with IWITTS, I was committed to making sure that didn't happen again. At this year's Open House, the College of Sciences held a special Women in Technology event in partnership with the College of Engineering. The girls who came had a great experience, they learned a lot, and I'm confident that it strengthened their resolve to pursue careers in science and engineering. Our goal is to have enough female students in science and engineering majors so that the process can become self-reinforcing."
~ Fred Martin, Associate Dean of College of Sciences, University of Massachusetts Lowell
"In my division, we had about 200 students and only five of them were female. I have three daughters myself, and I really wanted to get more women interested in these technically oriented careers. I didn't realize initially that our programs may not have been welcoming for female students. Now, an important benefit that we've gotten from working with IWITTS is to have increased the number of female educators in the division. We're working together to recruit more female students, and to give them better support. We want to achieve a critical mass of female students in the classroom, so these numbers can become self-perpetuating."
~ Virgil Cox, Dean of Engineering & Industrial Technology, Gaston College, Dallas, NC
"Thank you so much for the information you presented. The manner in which you did so was easy to understand and comprehend. The fact that we were able to create plans to implement at our institution were helpful; especially since we were able to receive input immediately from our peers. This certainly allowed my partner and I to adjust our plans given others input and perspectives. Again, thank you!!."
~ Edda Urrea, Director of Support Services/Title IX Coordinator, Texas State Technical College Harlingen, Harlingen, TX
"What stands out about what I learned from working with IWITTS is real strategies that can be applied as soon as you return to your institution. During the training, I had the opportunity to collaborate with other educators who are facing the same challenges. I'm excited to implement new ideas to increase female enrollment as well as build additional relationships within our school to support our initiative."
~ Nicole Carter, School to Career Partnership Coordinator, Colorado Springs, CO
"It was great attending this workshop and now I'll be able to be successful in our retention plan at our college."
~ Sergio Lujan, Computer-Aided Design Instructor, Laredo Community College, Laredo, TX
"I have an awareness now of what we need to do to attract more women to our programs. I don't think if I tell most women to come in and learn how to make fighter jets and bombers it will be attractive to them. I learned from the WomenTech Educators Training to talk to female students about how the engineering program will be helpful to them, and to humanity in general.
Also, in all of our promotional materials, we now have 50/50 images of women and men, whether that's in print materials, brochures, event flyers or in our videos. Before, we always had at least one lady in our pictures, but you need to have 50/50 to show that you don't have just one woman as an outlier, or one person out of many."
~ Chrysanthos Panayiotou, Professor and Department Head of Electronics and Electrical Engineering Technology, Director of OP-TEC Program, Indian River State College, Fort Pierce, FL
"Even though I've managed a women in science and engineering program for many years, I found the WomenTech Educators Workshop to be very valuable. It was comprehensive and focused, and was packed full of well-organized, specific, evidence-based, and actionable strategies.
I walked away with a detailed recruitment and retention plan that can be implemented immediately. I wish I had attended this workshop when I first started in my role. I highly recommend this workshop to anyone interested in increasing the number of women in their STEM programs, and especially anyone starting out in a women in STEM program."
~ Elena Nasim, Manager of Women's Advancement Office, University of Calgary, Canada
"This seminar was most helpful in that we had concrete examples to work from. We had good time for practice and actual use of the information."
~ Kathleen McNamee, Division Chair of Community & Technical Education, University of Arkansas Community College at Batesville, Batesville, AR
"The best evidence-based training on recruiting and retaining women in technology I have attended."
~ Linda Meccouri, Professor/Professional Development Coordinator, Springfield Technical Community College, Springfield, MA
"I have been waiting for almost a year to attend this workshop and it was well worth the wait. The training has exceeded my expectations."
~ Christa Jones, Senior Training Development Specialist, Mountain View College, Dallas, TX
"This workshop was positive, relevant and provided participants with good tools to recruit and retain female students into technology programs."
~ Caroline McDowell, Director, Creative Career IDEAS, Dallas, TX
"The WomenTech Educators Workshop uniquely brought us together with an eye toward making class more friendly and informative. Whether teaching in the curricular area of Technology education, teaching Information Technology or teaching vocational education – National IWITTS Training is a must."
~ Tom Frawley, President, New York State Technology Education Association
"We received the information we needed to put our desire to attract females for PLTW into action. The ideas were realistic, workable and encouraging. Thanks!"
~ Joel Noble, Teacher, East High School, Denver, CO
"If you are ready to learn how to recruit and retain females in your program, then I strongly suggest taking the training with IWTTS. The training was well worth my time. It opened up my eyes as to why the invisible barrier remains for females. I am a female and had never thought of some of the ways we are impacted culturally."
~ Paula Shelton, Executive Director of Maryland Mathematics, Engineering, Science Achievement (MD MESA), Laurel, MD
"Attending the WomenTech Educators training was the best decision I have made in a long time! During the training, I developed a recruitment and retention plan for one of the CIS programs. This is not a training where you consider doing "something" when you get back to your office, you are actually developing and obtaining feedback from other colleagues on what they have done and how you can improve your plan before implementation! Plus, I will be able to take my experience and work on other programs of study using the same framework."
~ Edna Quintana Claus, Ph.D., M.B.A., CIS Division Director, Texas State Technical College Harlingen, Texas
"We have the first three women in our Auto Technology Program and really want to make sure they succeed. After participating in the WomenTech Educator's online training, we created additional open lab time for them, realizing they may need extra time to develop hands-on skills in a nonthreatening atmosphere. Two months into the course they are still with us. I learned so much about retention from the online training, I decided our entire Engineering and Technology Department could benefit and we are bringing the online training to our school and rolling it out to all of the technical faculty over the next two years."
~ Van Madray, Dean of Construction and Industrial Technology Division, Pitt Community College, Winterville, NC
"The WomenTech Educators Online Training has the potential to change the way you view your program. Important data is presented with passion and humor."
~ Lauran Sattler, Department Chair, Computer Information Systems, Ivy Tech Community College, President's Award for Instructional Excellence 2007, Warsaw, IN
"I learned a lot of new methods and perspectives on retention I did not have before and I've already started making changes on how I do things here at my school! The WomenTech Educators Online Training was a content-filled and highly informative training program."
~ Antigone Sharris, Full-time Faculty & Program Coordinator, Engineering Technology Program, Triton College, River Grove, IL
"Thank you so much for this training. It was all that I had hoped for and more. I have acquired new set of tools to help my students succeed."
~ M.J. Papa, Instructor, Santa Rosa Junior College, Santa Rosa, CA
Educators from 2-year Colleges (Including ATE Projects and Centers)
"Participating in the IWITTS training refined my skills as an instructor and administrator to be an agent of change in this realm. Because Computer Networking and Information Technology was not on the radar of many women, the tools that were given to us by IWITTS for reaching out to students for our entry level class were very effective. And those changes have been institutionalized in my department. Thanks to our work with IWITTS, female enrollment in my department has risen from 19% to 33%."
~ Pierre Thiry, Principal Investigator, Mid-Pacific ICT Regional Center, San Francisco, CA (ATE Center)
"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 and Technology, Community College of Rhode Island, Newport, RI"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 training was time well spent. It was such a minimal amount of time to get so many concrete implementable strategies. The WomenTech Educators Online Training gives you the most for your money—you can implement the tools immediately with minimal resources and see true quantitative results!"
~ Phyllis Baca, Director of STEM Initiatives, Santa Fe Community College, Santa Fe, NM
"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
"I felt there was a tremendous opportunity to increase the proportion of female students in my computer programming and web design classes if I could only get help. During the WomenTech Educators Training, I loved learning about personal encouragement strategies. As an instructor, I now know how to retain women in my classes while providing them with the tools to be successful. When I walked in the door to the training, I did not know what to expect. When I walked out, I had additional tools and ways of teaching to women that I did not know about before."
~ Jim Luckas, Digital Media Instructor, North Orange County Community College District, Anaheim, CA
"If you want lights and action, this workshop provided great features, advantages and ways in which to recruit and retain our STEM women! This workshop covers the major points to develop your programs. Truly appreciate the statistics and websites."
~ Trinidad Stassi, Professor, Computer Information Science, Cosumnes River College, Sacramento, CAThis was an engaging and practical learning experience that will help us to increase recruitment and retention."
~ Myron Curtis, Deputy Sector Navigator, ICT & Digital Media, Butte College, Oroville, CA"If you are ready to learn how to recruit and retain females in your program than I strongly suggest taking the training with IWTTS. The training was well worth my time. It opened up my eyes as to why the invisible barrier remains for females. I am a female and had never thought of some of the ways we are impacted culturally."
~ Paula Shelton, Executive Director of Maryland Mathematics, Engineering, Science Achievement (MD MESA), Laurel, MD
"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
"Completely made me re-evaluate the approach that we have been taking. I realized the many mistakes and plan to make changes that I learned from the training. Great information!"
~ Hector Yanez, Department Chair/CADD Manager of Computer Drafting and Design Technology, Texas State Technical College, Harlingen, TX
"Attending the WomenTech Educators training was the best decision I have made in a long time! During the training, I developed a recruitment and retention plan for one of the CIS programs. This is not a training where you consider doing "something" when you get back to your office, you are actually developing and obtaining feedback from other colleagues on what they have done and how you can improve your plan before implementation! Plus, I will be able to take my experience and work on other programs of study using the same framework."
~ Edna Quintana Claus, Ph.D., M.B.A., CIS Division Director, Texas State Technical College Harlingen, Texas
"The WomenTech Educators Online Training has the potential to change the way you view your program. Important data is presented with passion and humor."
~ Lauran Sattler, Department Chair, Computer Information Systems, Ivy Tech Community College, President's Award for Instructional Excellence 2007, Warsaw, IN
"The WomenTech Educators Training Workshop was one of the best things I've done. I feel very confident that I have the strategies and tools to help me increase the number of women in my STEM programs. Thank you so much."
~ Hank Miller, Division Head of Science and Math, Nebraska Indian Community College, Macy, NE
"We have the first three women in our Auto Technology Program and really want to make sure they succeed. After participating in the WomenTech Educator's online training, we created additional open lab time for them, realizing they may need extra time to develop hands-on skills in a nonthreatening atmosphere. Two months into the course they are still with us. I learned so much about retention from the online training, I decided our entire Engineering and Technology Department could benefit and we are bringing the online training to our school and rolling it out to all of the technical faculty over the next two years."
~ Van Madray, Dean of Construction and Industrial Technology Division, Pitt Community College, Winterville, NC
"The information provided was applicable and easy to incorporate to improve my program. I'm confident I can increase the number of females enrolled in the nontraditional majors. I'm excited about the new changes to come!"
~ Shakisha Davis M.Ed., Greenville Technical College, Transitions Program Director, Greenville, SC
"I left the training feeling equipped and empowered with the necessary tools to improve female performance and success in STEM programs."
~ Timothy Brown, Department Chair of Mathematics, Georgia Perimeter College, Dunwoody, GA
"What stands out about what I learned from working with IWITTS is real strategies that can be applied as soon as you return to your institution. During the training, I had the opportunity to collaborate with other educators who are facing the same challenges. I'm excited to implement new ideas to increase female enrollment as well as build additional relationships within our school to support our initiative."
~ Nicole Carter, School to Career Partnership Coordinator, Colorado Springs, CO
"In my division, we had about 200 students and only five of them were female. I have three daughters myself, and I really wanted to get more women interested in these technically oriented careers. I didn't realize initially that our programs may not have been welcoming for female students. Now, an important benefit that we've gotten from working with IWITTS is to have increased the number of female educators in the division. We're working together to recruit more female students, and to give them better support. We want to achieve a critical mass of female students in the classroom, so these numbers can become self-perpetuating."
~ Virgil Cox, Dean of Engineering & Industrial Technology, Gaston College, Dallas, NC
"Thank you so much for the information you presented. The manner in which you did so was easy to understand and comprehend. The fact that we were able to create plans to implement at our institution were helpful; especially since we were able to receive input immediately from our peers. This certainly allowed my partner and I to adjust our plans given others input and perspectives. Again, thank you!!."
~ Edda Urrea, Director of Support Services/ Title IX Coordinator, Texas State Technical College Harlingen, Harlingen, TX
"I learned a lot of new methods and perspectives on retention I did not have before and I've already started making changes on how I do things here at my school! The WomenTech Educators Online Training was a content-filled and highly informative training program."
~ Antigone Sharris, Full-time Faculty & Program Coordinator, Engineering Technology Program, Triton College, River Grove, IL
"It was great attending this workshop and now I'll be able to be successful in our retention plan at our college."
~ Sergio Lujan, Computer-Aided Design Instructor, Laredo Community College, Laredo, TX
"I have an awareness now of what we need to do to attract more women to our programs. I don't think if I tell most women to come in and learn how to make fighter jets and bombers it will be attractive to them. I learned from the WomenTech Educators Training to talk to female students about how the engineering program will be helpful to them, and to humanity in general.
Also, in all of our promotional materials, we now have 50/50 images of women and men, whether that's in print materials, brochures, event flyers or in our videos. Before, we always had at least one lady in our pictures, but you need to have 50/50 to show that you don't have just one woman as an outlier, or one person out of many."
~ Chrysanthos Panayiotou, Professor and Department Head of Electronics and Electrical Engineering Technology, Director of OP-TEC Program, Indian River State College, Fort Pierce, FL
"This seminar was most helpful in that we had concrete examples to work from. We had good time for practice and actual use of the information."
~ Kathleen McNamee, Division Chair, Community & Technical Education, University of Arkansas Community College at Batesville, Batesville, AR
"The best evidence-based training on recruiting and retaining women in technology I have attended."
~ Linda Meccouri, Professor/Professional Development Coordinator, Springfield Technical Community College, Springfield, MA
"The National IWITTS workshop provides participants with a plethora of useful strategies for recruiting and retaining girls and women in technical programs. An exceptional educational experience."
~ Christa Jones, Senior Training Development Specialist, Weatherford College, Weatherford, TX
"These two days provided tremendous information, strategies and the motivation to return to school and 'kick it up a notch!' Lots of exciting ideas!"
~ Sue Haughey, Counselor, Calhoun Area Technology Center, Marshall, MI
"I have been waiting for almost a year to attend this workshop and it was well worth the wait. The training has exceeded my expectations."
~ Shirley Chenault, Dean of Resource Development, Mountain View College, Dallas, TX
Educators from 4-year Colleges
"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
"Last year, the Computer Science department held an Open House event for prospective students. Although a few female high school students came, none of our female faculty members could attend and there weren't any women there representing the department.
After attending the workshop with IWITTS, I was committed to making sure that didn't happen again. At this year's Open House, the College of Sciences held a special Women in Technology event in partnership with the College of Engineering. The girls who came had a great experience, they learned a lot, and I'm confident that it strengthened their resolve to pursue careers in science and engineering. Our goal is to have enough female students in science and engineering majors so that the process can become self-reinforcing."
~ Fred Martin, Associate Dean of College of Sciences, University of Massachusetts Lowell
"Even though I've managed a women in science and engineering program for many years, I found the WomenTech Educators Workshop to be very valuable. It was comprehensive and focused, and was packed full of well-organized, specific, evidence-based, and actionable strategies.
I walked away with a detailed recruitment and retention plan that can be implemented immediately. I wish I had attended this workshop when I first started in my role. I highly recommend this workshop to anyone interested in increasing the number of women in their STEM programs, and especially anyone starting out in a women in STEM program."
~ Elena Nasim, Manager of Women's Advancement Office, University of Calgary, Canada
"This workshop really answered my questions on how to interest women in IT careers, and also how to retain them. I feel I have a bag of tricks to take back home."
~ Toni Black, Assistant Professor, University of New Mexico, Alburquerque, NM
"The proactive approach to recruitment and retention of women in technology programs not only helped me with solutions, it helped me better understand the problem."
~ Beth Jeffrey, Advisor/Recruiter, University of Washington, Tacoma, Institute of Technology, Tacoma, WA
"It is really fabulous to have collected statistics and quotes available to prove to others what I have experienced to be true. Engineers like numbers, so these are useful!"
~ Rebecca Bates, Integrated Engineering Professor, Minnesota State University
"This is an empowering workshop that gives you the tools to put ideas into practice to better the institution you work for."
~ Angela Fulkerson, Academic Advisor, Montana State University-Billings, Billings, MT
"We know that the campuses involved in our partnership in Massachusetts have low numbers of women in their computer and IT programs. Getting people together in a workshop gives them time and space that they don't have in their busy faculty lives to strategize about recruitment and retention. They get a lot of new ideas and an opportunity to talk with people from other schools and stimulate their thinking. Since the workshop, someone has already taken an idea that they had and created a specialized recruitment event for female students.
We're raising awareness among female students that this field and this department are welcoming, so female students can see themselves entering these careers."
~ Renee Fall, Project Manager, Commonwealth Alliance for Information Technology Education (CAITE), University of Massachusetts Amherst
"We received the information we needed to put our desire to attract females for Project Lead the Way (PLTW) into action. The ideas were realistic, workable and encouraging. Thanks!"
~ Joel Nobel, Teacher, East Denver High School, Denver, CO
"This workshop gave me ideas and great resources to use in my classroom to attract and retain female students in my technical education classes."
~ Tanya Flikka, Instructor, Discovery Junior High, Fargo, ND
"This workshop is about empowering people and providing opportunities. Don't miss it!"
~ Owen Takamori, Cisco Networking Academy Program Instructor, Mililani High School, Mililani, HI
"This was a great hands on and tangible workshop to help increase female recruitment in PLTW courses."
~ Collen McElvogue, Counselor, Coronado High School, Colorado Springs, CO
"Continue providing untapped information that not only builds confidence but is proven to help women, as well as minority women, excel in STEM related career fields. I appreciate having the opportunity to learn about this detailed information which was provided by IWITTS by way of Donna Milgram. Thank you."
~ Tara R. Nesbitt, Teacher, Roosevelt High School, St. Louis, MO
"This workshop increased my knowledge and comfort level for helping to recruit middle school girls to Gateway and PLTW."
~ Karen Roberts, Counselor, Irving Middle School, District II
"A great workshop to help educators remember how different subject areas can all be related to help students engage and learn, if we all work together."
~ Collen McElvogue, Counselor, Coronado High School, Colorado Springs, CO
"I have been very successful with recruiting more girls for my after school programs. Thanks for providing the class at ITEA in New Mexico; I really got a lot out of it."
~ John Singer, Technology Education Teacher, Hanby Middle School
"The data, methodology, and personal deportment of the presenter created a positive learning climate for participants in South Central Louisiana."
~ Doug Chance, Supervisor, Acadia Parish Schools, Crowley, LA
"Valuable information for anyone working with students/adults in career centers."
~ Miff Rosar, Vocational Director, Fort Smith Public Schools, Fort Smith, AR
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Female retention went from zero to 86% and male retention from 70% to 93% in required introductory programming courses after a WomenTech Educators Training |
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A computer programming professor finally found the tools she needed to improve enrollment and retention of women in STEM (male retention increased, too!) after taking a WomenTech Educators Training followed by six months of group telecalls on plan implementation. Associate Professor Barbara DuFrain increased her female enrollment by 62% and increased the retention of her female and male students by 45% in less than a year. |
Female STEM students at Del Mar College are joined by STEM faculty including Barbara DuFrain, |
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Barbara DuFrain, an associate professor in Computer Science, Engineering and Advanced Technology (CSE& AT) at Del Mar College, had tried in the past to increase the number of women in her required introductory programming courses, but the recruitment strategies weren't effective and the few female students that came on their own dropped out. These introductory programming courses are critical because students are required to complete them in order to get a certificate or Associate of Science degree in Computer Programming. |
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"Before [attending the WomenTech Educators training] I had a lot more success retaining women in my database class than in my introductory programming classes -- actually I wasn't retaining any women in my introductory programming classes. They were all dropping. That was a big win for me, that I had an increase in retention of females in my introductory programming courses." ~ Barbara DuFrain, Associate Professor, CS, Engineering and Advanced Technology, Del Mar College, TX |
| She left the Training with a Plan
Barbara DuFrain participated in a two-day, in-person WomenTech Educators training in July 2012, funded by the National Science Foundation. The training was enhanced by six months of follow-up support -- including group Support & Strategy calls on plan implementation and access to an online learning community with other training participants. After the training Professor DuFrain said: "I want to commend you [IWITTS] on the structure of the material and how when I walked out of the training I had a plan. If I had not had a plan, I would have gotten back and not done as much. Having a plan all laid out, when I walked in, gave me something I could work with." All participants at WomenTech Educators trainings develop step-by-step strategic recruitment and retention plans for increasing the number of female students in their STEM courses. |
Classroom Retention Strategies Worked Right Away
After losing a female student at the very beginning of the fall semester before she even had a chance to speak with her, Professor DuFrain realized she needed to make implementing the classroom retention strategies (from the WomenTech Educators training) a priority during the first critical weeks of the semester. So she started using the WomenTech Educators welcoming conversation talking points with her students. She retained all four of the remaining women in her introductory programming courses for the first time ever. A higher percentage of male students completed the courses as well. Completion rates for female students in the introductory programming courses went from a baseline of zero to 86% and male retention went from 70% at baseline to 93% for fall 2012. This means that retention of all students went from 61% to 88% – a 45% increase for all students on average. Professor DuFrain's strategies are working and she has the numbers to prove it.
The Three Main WomenTech Strategies that Professor DuFrain Employed Were:
- Icebreakers to engage and connect students early in the semester
- The welcoming conversation talking points from the WomenTech Educators training
- Teaming and pair programming
Barbara DuFrain used the welcoming conversation talking points in class lectures and one-on-one conversations with all of her students – both female and male. She saw the difference the talking points and other retention strategies made right away with one female student in particular. This female student was the only woman in one of Professor DuFrain's Fall 2012 programming courses, and she was feeling tentative and out of place in a class with all men.
Thanks to the training, Professor DuFrain recognized the warning signs for a woman about to drop a class. She immediately spoke with the student and connected her with three other women in another of her programming classes. Professor DuFrain also observed how the student was doing in teams and pairs with male students. The lone female student – who was tentative – didn't just successfully complete the course, "She ended up being a leader on her team," according to Professor DuFrain.
One of the many encouraging results of these retention strategies has been all the positive feedback from female and male the students. Professor DuFrain reported that, "Students have said that teaming has helped keep them in the class." Several of Professor DuFrain's female students have also showed their appreciation for her efforts to help women in STEM at Del Mar College by presenting her with flowers and a plaque at a Faculty Recognition Ceremony during a Del Mar College Board of Regents meeting.
Barbara DuFrain Accepts Flowers from her STEM Students at a Faculty Recognition Ceremony.
Smart, Wonderful Women Outreach Campaign
Barbara DuFrain began implementing the strategies from her recruitment plan when she returned from the WomenTech Educators training and started seeing results the next semester. Professor DuFrain discovered at the training that her previous recruitment efforts had been unsuccessful because she'd chosen the wrong target audience. Now she had a target audience that mapped to her enrollment goals and included the low hanging fruit. She came back from the training energized and ready to start implementing her new recruitment plan with the support of other training participants and IWITTS's Executive Director Donna Milgram during monthly group Support & Strategy calls. During one of the calls, Professor DuFrain realized she needed to create an innovative and engaging recruitment campaign after she heard about a colleague's recruitment email that flopped because it was dry and academic.
Spurred into action, she and a colleague came up with a Smart, Wonderful Women outreach campaign that uses real female role models to appeal to potential female students. Professor DuFrain has developed four YouTube videos featuring female role models in GIS and Computer Information Systems, and is in the process of rolling out a web strategy to more widely distribute the videos. So far she has worked with the college to get them posted on the homepage and shared them on the college's Facebook page. She says it was the support of her peers and colleagues that kept her going when she ran into challenges implementing the outreach campaign. "[During the support calls] I heard other people also encountered challenges," said Professor DuFrain. "It's something that is a problem and that will really take a change in how we recruit and talk about programs...I realized it's incremental. I'm having success. It's going to take time."
Increase in Female Enrollment from Baseline after WomenTech Educators Training
Her recruitment plan implementation started paying off in the spring semester when she had five women enroll in just one of her four programming courses. Female students made up an average of 21% of her introductory programming courses compared to a baseline of 13% female -- a 62% increase.
Female Role Model Events
What was one of Barbara DuFrain's most powerful recruitment strategies? According to Professor DuFrain:
"I decided to hold a Smart, Wonderful Women Meet and Greet for students in feeder courses. [...]The advanced students started telling the beginning students how great networking was or how much fun it was in GIS. Each one started selling their program to the other women. I just sat there and let them sell. [...] I had more women in my programming classes this spring than I've ever had."
To get women to the event, Professor DuFrain distributed glossy postcards and full page flyers featuring female role models to female students directly and to faculty to share with their students.
The WomenTech Educators training taught Barbara DuFrain how to put on a "Women in STEM" career event to recruit female students to her programs and the importance of female role models. Professor DuFrain started small with her own "Smart Wonderful Women Meet and Greet" and then scaled up her recruitment efforts by working with her college's Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) STEM Project to hold a half-day career event called "Encouraging Women in STEM". Close to 250 students from Del Mar College and the surrounding high schools attended. The career event featured talks by eight female role models working in STEM careers in the community and exhibit tables by seven Del Mar College STEM programs and five STEM companies from the college's career pathways. The keynote speaker was a female Commander in the Navy stationed locally who was both a chemical and civil engineer. Female role models are key to helping female students see themselves in STEM careers and the WomenTech Educators training teaches educators where to find them."
Postcard for Smart Wonderful Women Outreach Event (Click for Larger Image)
Flyer for "Encouraging Women in STEM" Event (Click for PDF)
Building on Early Successes
Barbara DuFrain successfully used the tools and strategies from the WomenTech Educators training to improve enrollment and retention of women in STEM, (and the retention of men as well,) in less than a year. She plans to continue to use the WomenTech retention strategies in the classroom and incrementally roll out her Smart, Wonderful Women outreach campaign with the help of others at Del Mar College. She created a new recruitment and retention plan in the spring with the larger goal of getting more of her college involved in this effort and she is using statistics she received from the WomenTech Educators training to convince key decision makers to come on board. In Professor DuFrain's own words:
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"I send all the IWITTS emails to my faculty and key people at the college that can make a difference. The point is that when people say something, I have numbers. I give them IWITTS's statistics. That's really helped…having the discrete data that IWITTS talks about helps when I'm talking with engineers and people that want numbers. Instead of saying 'my opinion' I say 'the strategy is this' and here are the numbers that explain why the strategy works." ~ Barbara DuFrain, Associate Professor, CS, Engineering and Advanced Technology, Del Mar College, TX |
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Find out More about the WomenTech Educators Training For more information on the WomenTech Educators Training developed by IWITTS's Executive Director Donna Milgram, based on proven strategies culled from IWITTS's four National Science Foundation (NSF) projects and over 18 years of success in assisting educational institutions in recruiting and retaining female students in STEM programs around the country, visit our "WomenTech Educators Training" page. |
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School: Del Mar College, TX Instructor: Barbara DuFrain Program Area: Computer Programming Challenge: Females accounted for 13% of enrollment and had never completed the required introductory program courses taught by Professor DuFrain. Solution: Apply strategies learned in a WomenTech Educators Training, followed by six months of group Support & Strategy calls. During this time she received help on implementing the recruitment and retention plan she developed during the training. The WomenTech Educators Training is offered by the Institute for Women in Trades, Technology & Science. Results: Barbara DuFrain attended the training in July 2012 and began implementing her retention plan early the following semester. She was so happy when she retained 4 women in her fall 2012 introductory programming courses for the first time ever. As one of the components of her plan, she started a Smart, Wonderful Women outreach campaign and within two semesters she saw a 62% increase in female enrollment. She expects to see significantly greater increases as the school-wide campaign continues to expand and gain momentum. Retention Increase: Completion rates for female students went from zero to 86% and male retention went from 70% at baseline to 93% for fall 2012. Recruitment Increase: Enrollment of female students increased from a baseline of 13% to 21% on average over the fall 2012 and spring 2013 semesters. Timeline: Barbara DuFrain saw improved retention of both female and male students the very next semester following the training. Quote: "That was a big win for me, that I had an increase in retention of females in my introductory programming courses, which is what I was working on doing. [...] I was not retaining women until I went to the training." |
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Increase the number of women in your technology, science and engineering classrooms with the strategies you'll learn through the WomenTech Educators Training.
Hotel/Travel Information:
The WomenTech Educators Training will be held on June 19 and 20, 2014. The training will take place at the beautiful Four Points Sheraton Hotel, with a panoramic view of the San Francisco city skyline. The hotel is conveniently located near both the Oakland and San Francisco airports. It is less than 10 miles from UC Berkeley, Downtown Oakland, Fisherman's Wharf, Union Square, SF Chinatown and Alcatraz. Shops and restaurants are available within walking distance.
Hotel Reservations
We have a LIMITED block of rooms at the Four Points Sheraton Hotel at a very special rate of only $119/night (plus tax and fees) for a standard single/double room. This special rate is available on a first-come, first-served basis until this block is filled. Reservations must be received on or before May 19, 2014 to receive the special rate.
To get the special rate follow this link to make your reservation online or call the reservations line at (800) 325-3535 and specify the "WomenTech Educators Training Group." The training takes place June 19 & 20, so you can reserve rooms in our room block for the nights of June 18-22.
Four Points Sheraton Hotel
1603 Powell Street
, Emeryville, CA 94608
(510) 547-7888
Visit hotel website
Event Schedule
Thursday, June 19
8:30 a.m. – 9:00 a.m. Workshop registration and free continental breakfast
9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. Training takes place
Friday, June 20
8:00 a.m. – 8:30 a.m. Free continental breakfast
8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. Training takes place
Transportation Information
Closest Airport
Both the San Francisco and Oakland airports are close to the hotel. The Oakland airport is an easier, less busy airport than SF International and is preferred by many local residents.
By Shuttle
From Oakland Airport: Shuttle service is available from Oakland International Airport via Bay Porter Express Shuttle or 1-415-467-1800 for approximately $25 each way.
From San Francisco International Airport: Those arriving from San Francisco International Airport can arrange for transportation through the Bay Porter Express Shuttle or 1-415-467-1800 for approximately $34 each way.
By Car
From Oakland Airport (12 miles) Take HWY 880 North/Oakland to 980. To 580 West. To 80 East/San Rafael-Berkeley. Take first exit, Powell Street. Turn right. Go to the first light and turn right on Christie -- the hotel is on your left.
From San Francisco Airport (16 miles) Take 101 North/San Francisco. Once in San Francisco, take 80 East to the Bay Bridge/Sacramento. Once you've crossed the Bay Bridge stay to left and remain on 80. Once through the inter-change go to far right lane to the first exit which is Powell. (You will see the blue IKEA building on your right before you exit). Turn right. Go to the first light and turn right on Christie -- hotel is on left.
Parking
Parking at the hotel is free.
Travel Details
Internet Access
- Free internet access is available throughout the hotel and in all guest rooms.
Meals
- Enjoy a free continental breakfast before the workshop begins.
- Numerous options are available for lunch. We will walk as a group to the nearby Emeryville Public Market, where participants can purchase lunch from the 20 unique food retailers representing the diversity of the San Francisco Bay Area. The Black Bear Diner is next door to the hotel.
What to bring
- Business cards if you have them—this is a great networking opportunity!
- A pen and notebook or a laptop to capture new ideas
What to wear
- Please dress comfortably in business casual.
- Dress in layers for comfort and fluctuating room temperatures. It is advised you bring a sweater or blazer with you, regardless of the outside weather.
Where to go in Emeryville and San Francisco (pdf)
Any questions? Get more information about the WomenTech Educators Training, or contact us.
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There are a limited number of WomenTech Educators Training spaces available.
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The CalWomenTech Scale Up Project is funded by the Advanced Technological Education Program and the Program for Research on Gender in Science and Engineering from The National Science Foundation - Grant no. 1102996
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Women in Construction Recruitment Starter Kit includes:
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For deans, department chairs, state-level administrators or other education leaders READY to make a bigger difference: Are you struggling to recruit and retain more women in your STEM programs?Watch the “How to Enroll Up to 25-50% Female Students in Your STEM Classes” video to discover how to achieve diversity at your institution...
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