Research Project
Women @ CENS
Education Research > Women @ CENS
Project Summary
National Science FoundationGender Diversity in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Education
Although we have seen progress over the last few decades, women still lag far behind their male counterparts, especially at the doctoral level, in the fields of engineering, computer science, and physical sciences. In an attempt to explain as well as counteract women’s persistent under-representation in the fields of engineering, computer science, and physical science, the pre-college and college experiences of women in science and engineering have been the focus of both intervention and research endeavors. There is one crucial educational component of a woman’s undergraduate experience that remains somewhat of a mystery: the undergraduate research experience.
This demonstration project proposes, “Women @ CENS: A Research System”, proposes to develop a demonstration model of an undergraduate research program that is designed to promote women’s longer-term commitment to science and engineering (e.g., pursuit of graduate education in engineering, computer science, and physical sciences). The intent of this project is to go beyond simply offering an undergraduate research experience and documenting the outcomes of such an experience.
Our goal is to use the demonstration model as a basis to identify the best practices and strategies inherent in successful undergraduate research programs across the country. From this, we will further refine and develop a model program and implement the program to evaluate the outcomes. CENS has chosen the disciplines of engineering, computer science, and the physical sciences to focus efforts because of the low representation of women in these three doctoral fields.
Evaluation of Program: Purposeful Assessment
An integrated evaluation approach employing both quantitative and qualitative methods was applied to the program. Assessment components consisted of:
- student surveys
- separate gender student focus groups
- faculty mentor interviews
- graduate student mentor focus groups
- observations of laboratory meetings and research activities
- student electronic journal entries
These activities served multiple purposes: to collect formative and summative feedback on the program, to further understanding of gender issues in engineering, and to provide students a structured opportunity to reflect on and share their experiences during the summer.
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