Building community, providing scholarships, developing leaders: Recruiting and retaining underrepresented students in engineering and computer engineering departments (WIP)

Abstract

The underrepresentation of women and people of color in engineering is well documented in the literature [1]. Women constitute 47% of the overall workforce but only 28% of jobs in science and engineering belong to women. This deficit is particularly noticeable in the fields of computer science and engineering as women comprise just 26% of the computer science workforce and hold only 15% of engineering positions. This gender divide begins to emerge at the undergraduate level, as women earn only 19% and 18% of bachelor's degrees awarded in engineering and computer science, respectively [2]. It has been hypothesized that these deficits of women in engineering fields have resulted from social marginalization. Specifically, Flam [3] argued that women experience a chilly climate when entering male-dominated fields. In such a climate, women receive direct and indirect messaging that their gender could be an obstacle to success in the work environment, which causes them to feel unwelcome. In such a climate, women often doubt whether they will be fully included, valued, and respected in the field despite their abilities [4], [5]. Further, women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) majors report notable levels of gender bias and sexual harassment within the context of their work [6]. Among women in STEM majors, experiences of STEM-related gender bias have been found to be related negatively to their career aspiration and motivation to pursue vocational opportunities in STEM [6]. In addition to messages of being unwelcome in the field, women in STEM fields have also been shown to encounter benevolent sexism (e.g., protective paternalism or gender differentiation) from their male peers [7]. This form of sexism has been linked with lower grade point averages (GPAs) in STEM courses [7]. These findings highlight the impact the academic climate can have on underrepresented students pursuing careers in STEM fields. Because GPA represents a primary achievement measure that carries important implications for one's academic trajectory, efforts to enhance representation of women and people of color in STEM fields can be evaluated using GPA.