PGE/PG: Gender Composition and Engineering Team Processes

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Engineering and science fields increasingly demand the use of team decision-making in order to meet needs of a rapidly developing technological society. Although women historically have been limited in their participation during decision-making processes within these fields, this situation is changing. The Colorado School of Mines is currently investigating how gender composition of teams in the first and second years affects quality of their products and satisfaction of individual team members. The goal of the proposed collaborative effort is to build upon current research by investigating mixed gender teams in upper level undergraduate courses, graduate research efforts, and industrial settings.The purpose of this request for a Planning Grant is to refine the collaborative strategy and to secure essential partnerships to bid successfully for a Collaboration Grant. We have subdivided the effort into four work packages. Work package 1 validates the results of the Experimental Study and investigates the extension to upper division undergraduate courses as well as other universities. Work packages 2 and 3 expand the research effort to include graduate programs and industrial settings. Work package 4 examines how results of the previous three work packages can be used to improved both undergraduate and graduate curricula. We are not proposing four independent research efforts, but rather a strategy that supports continual exchange of information across work packages following a natural progress that students follow through their undergraduate education into either graduate school or industry.Results of this study are likely to suggest techniques, supporting strategies, and practices by which mixed-gender teams can make successful decisions.