From the Archive: Recruiting Female Students to STEM Fields

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Diversity and inclusivity are important goals of the ATE program; projects and centers--along with STEM educators, industry, and other community partners--work diligently to ensure the full participation of women, persons with disabilities, Veterans, underrepresented minorities, and others, as these groups pursue STEM education, workforce development training, and employment in STEM fields.

In this month’s From the Archive blog post, we highlight the work of three ATE projects and centers that are addressing the challenge of engaging female students in STEM disciplines. The resources below include one college’s plan to increase enrollment and retention of women in their engineering program, a best practices guide for recruiting and retaining girls, as well as a few case studies about successful strategies and practices. For additional resources about women in STEM, check out the ATE Central Resource Portal.

Plan for Recruitment and Retention of Women in Engineering and Engineering Technology

This report outlines how Norwalk Community College (NCC) plans to fulfill its mission "[t]o increase the enrollment and retention of women in Engineering Science and Technology Studies programs." An explanation of the need for more women in the fields of engineering and technology; baseline data about the recruitment, enrollment, and retention of women in NCC's Engineering Sciences (ES) and Technology Studies (TS) degree programs; and an outline of the college's goals and objectives for 2019, 2020, and 2021 are provided. Next, the report outlines the activities that the college plans to implement to meet these goals and a timeline for the implementation.

To learn more about Recruitment and Retention of Women in Engineering and Engineering Technology, visit the ATE Central resource portal.

Recruiting and Retaining Girls in STEM: A FLATE Best Practices Guide

This best practices guide from the Florida Advanced Technological Education Center of Excellence (FLATE) offers strategies for engaging and retaining girls in STEM education from elementary school all the way through entry into the workforce. The 28-page guide begins by describing the challenges and barriers girls and women face in both STEM education and the STEM workforce before outlining strategies to combat these issues. The guide includes information on improving exposure to positive images of STEM topics and careers, effective instructional techniques and curricula for improving retention, and providing career counseling to girls.

For more archived resources by FLATE, visit the ATE Central resource portal.

Recruiting and Retaining of Female Students: Selected Case Studies

Home to The CalWomenTech Scale Up Project, the National Institute for Women in Trades, Technology, and Science (IWITTS) “helps educators nationwide [to] close the gender gap for women and girls in male-dominated careers…” Among other tools and services, IWITTS offers a resource collection of journal articles, case studies, and presentations geared toward STEM educators who are looking to increase the recruitment and retention of female students. Below are a few selected case studies created by the IWITTS team.

  • This case study discusses the program coordinator at Techbridge and her efforts to teach 14 high school girls engineering and computer science principles.

  • This case study explains how El Camino College increased lab time for welding and electronics classes to increase female retention rates.

  • This case study highlights Louisiana Technical College's trucking program, centered at the Lafourche Campus.

For more archived resources from The CalWomenTech Scale Up Project’s Proven Practices Collection, visit the ATE Central resource portal. 

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Last Edited: December 19th, 2022 at 2:18pm by Jessica Behrman

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