Those in search of an assessment tool focused on gender equity may be interested in the WomenTech Gender Equity Self-Assessment Tool, developed by the National Institute for Women in Trades, Technology, and Science to help schools see “the gap between their current practices and potential evidence-based strategies proven to broaden participation.”
The assessment is free, easy to complete in 20 minutes, and allows institutions to assess their "readiness to recruit and retain women in your STEM/CTE career pathways." Those interested in filling out the form gradually can also save their progress and return to complete it at a later time.
The EvaluATE center has also contributed to refining the assessment and is partnering to disseminate the tool.
Some big takeaways from the tool's evaluation results to date include:
- 93% of respondents have rated the assessment as “Excellent” or “Very Good”
- 80% have reported this tool raised their awareness of factors that affect gender equity in STEM/CTE programs and helped them understand what their school could do to improve
- 53% said that taking the assessment significantly helped them see the gap between what their schools are doing and what they could be doing to broaden female participation in STEM/CTE
Users have found the WomenTEch Gender Equity Self-Assessment Tool extremely useful, as the following quotes demonstrate:
"The Gender Equity Self-Assessment only takes a little time and in return you get a lot of value. It raised some important points about our program I hadn’t thought of and reminded me of recruitment AND retention strategies we need to get back to doing. This was a great refresher for me. I plan to make changes and take the assessment again to see how much our program’s score improves.”
- Greg Kepner, Chair/Director, ATE Midwest Photonics Education Center, Indian Hills Community College
"Most of us are open to being inclusive, fair to all minorities and helping everyone equally—thus unintentionally applying a 'one way fits all' approach. However, this Assessment opened my eyes to the need to systematically track and monitor the successes of each minority. I now realize each might require a different approach. The Assessment asked questions relevant to my electronics technology career pathway, so I didn’t have to answer generic questions. It proved that, for better results, we need to address minorities in a more targeted way. Thanks."
- Nina Jagaric, Professor, Electronics Engineering Technology, Centennial College
To learn more and use the tool for free, visit the assessment page.
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