GSE/RES: Investigating the Gender Component: Cultures that Promote Equity in Undergraduate Engineering

弗吉尼亚理工大学的一组研究人员正在对工程系和大学的文化进行实证(定量和定性)比较，这些学院的女性本科生毕业率高于和低于全国平均水平。文化被定义为机构领导人、教职员工和学生的态度、价值观、信仰和实践。实践包括教学方法、课程以及非正式和正式的警察。过去20年来，为招募和留住科学、工程和技术(SET)领域的妇女和女孩而启动的智力功绩计划总体上是成功的。一直缺乏的是将这些成功的计划制度化，以便能够持续进行大规模的变革。在商界和学术界，关于制度转型必要性的文献很多，但几乎无一例外地缺乏对以性别为重点的倡议的分析。该团队假设，工程系的文化存在细微但显著的差异，无论是在工程学院内部还是在不同机构的工程学院之间，这些差异都受到机构领导力和历史的影响。该团队进一步假设，本科生女工程师毕业记录最高的工程系将在开展旨在改善女性文化氛围的活动的学院和大学内运作，这些倡议位于拥有多个以性别为重点的倡议和相关支持结构的学院和大学内，如女性和科学项目。这项研究的知识将提高我们对教师和管理人员可以用来有效改善工程领域女性教育环境的策略的理解。这项研究将通过以下项目成果为政策和实践提供信息：1.确定部门和机构文化的要素，使各部门的工程专业女性毕业率高于或低于全国平均水平。2.自我评估指南和问卷，以评估部门和机构文化的关键要素。3.案例研究，说明在工程学中促进女性友好氛围的最佳做法或有效战略，这些研究将以印刷形式和在线形式提供。学生问卷和统计模型，其中包括预测女性对既定专业的兴趣和选择的个人、环境和结构因素。更广泛的影响作为对参与研究的大学的激励，该团队将提供两个小时的培训研讨会和教师发展模块，可以在线访问。这些模块包括案例研究和与教师如何作为变革推动者运作有关的资源。研究结果将为工程专业的学院和系领导如何设计和实施改善工程本科女生环境的项目提供具体建议。

A team of researchers at Virginia Tech is conducting an empirical (both quantitative and qualitative) comparison of the cultures of engineering departments and colleges with female undergraduate completion rates above and below the national average. Culture is defined as the attitudes, values, beliefs, and practices of institutional leaders, faculty, and students. Practices include pedagogy, curriculum, and informal and formal polices.Intellectual MeritPrograms initiated over the past two decades to recruit and retain women and girls in science, engineering, and technology (SET) fields have, on the whole, been successful. What has been lacking is the institutionalization of these successful programs so that large-scale change could be sustained. The body of literature about the need for institutional transformation, in both the business and academic worlds, is extensive but is, almost without exception, lacking in an analysis of gender-focused initiatives.The team hypothesizes that there are subtle but significant differences in the cultures of engineering departments, both within engineering colleges and across engineering colleges at different institutions, and that these differences are influenced by institutional leadership and history. The team further hypothesizes that engineering departments with the strongest record of graduating undergraduate women engineers will operate within colleges and universities that have activities intentionally targeted to improving the cultural climate for women and that these initiatives are located within colleges and universities that have multiple gender-focused initiatives and related supportive structures, like women and science programs. Knowledge resulting from this study will improve our understanding about strategies faculty and administrators can use to effectively improve the educational climate for women in engineering fields. The study will inform policy and practice through the following project outcomes:1. Identification of the elements of departmental and institutional cultures that distinguish departments with graduation rates of women in engineering that are above and below the national average. 2. A self-assessment guide and questionnaire to assess critical elements of departmental and institutional culture. 3. Case studies that illustrate best practices or effective strategies that promote a female friendly climate in engineering and which will be accessible in printed form and online.4. A student questionnaire and a statistical model that includes individual, environmental, and structural factors that predict women's interest and choice of SET majors. Broader ImpactsAs an incentive to the universities participating in the study, the team will provide a two-hour training workshops and faculty development modules that will be accessible online. The modules include case studies and resources related to how faculty can operate as change agents. Study findings will yield concrete suggestions for how college and departmental leaders in engineering can design and implement programs that improve the climate for women in undergraduate engineering.