Communication of What Mechanical Engineers Do: A Strategy for Recruiting Women

这一探索性项目将决定是否可以通过传播强调该学科如何帮助人们的宣传材料，在全国范围内对机械工程等学科招募妇女产生影响。宾夕法尼亚州立大学机械和核工程系将被用来测试增加女本科生数量的策略。该项目将创建机械工程学科的清晰形象，并通过材料传达这一形象，强调吸引妇女的活动。它将首先明确定义？机械工程？作为一门学科，收集机械工程师在该学科背景下帮助人们的例子。然后，它将创建交流材料，阐明什么是机械工程，重点是这门学科如何帮助人们。工程专业的女学生将参与一次互动演示，使用这些材料来评估材料的效果并进行修改。然后，这些材料将被分发给高中指导顾问、高中STEM教师和所有美国机械工程系的负责人。为了满足未来的工程劳动力需求，并提供通常由不同团队产生的创新解决方案，机械工程等工程学科增加女性的参与至关重要。许多进入大学并考虑主修专业的女学生对机械工程师是做什么的有误解。由于它的名字、历史和文化，机械工程面临着向女性和其他代表性不足的群体澄清自己的身份的挑战。该项目将创建和传播传播材料，以帮助减少这些误解。

This exploratory project will determine whether a national impact on recruitment of women into a discipline such as mechanical engineering can be made through the dissemination of communication materials which emphasize how the discipline helps people. The Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering Department at Penn State will be used to test strategies for increasing the number of female undergraduates. This project will create a clear image of the mechanical engineering discipline and communicating that image through materials emphasizing activities that appeal to women. It will first clearly define ?mechanical engineering? as a discipline and gather examples of mechanical engineers helping people in the context of the discipline. Then it will create communication materials to articulate what mechanical engineering is, with an emphasis on how the discipline helps people. Female engineering students will be engaged in an interactive presentation that uses the materials to assess the effect of the materials and make revisions. Then the materials will be disseminated to high school guidance counselors, high school STEM teachers, and to all U.S. mechanical engineering department heads.To meet the future engineering workforce needs and to provide innovative solutions which are generally derived through diverse teams it is crucial that engineering disciplines such as mechanical engineering increase the participation of women. Many female students entering college and contemplating a major have a misconception about what mechanical engineers do. Because of its name, history, and culture, mechanical engineering faces a challenge in clarifying its identity to females and other underrepresented groups. This project will create and disseminate communication materials to help reduce these misconceptions.