Expanding women in undergraduate engineering: A mixed-methods analysis of recruitment cultures, practices, and policies

A Comparative Analysis of Underrepresented Engineering Applicants Admission Practices and their Academic Performance at the University of Illinois at Chicago

“…This is discussed in a paper written through Virginia Tech. Our study highlights three themes consistent across the institutions: 1) institutional commitment and self-awareness, 2) strategic admissions policies and "high touch" efforts, and 3) integrated outreach programs 10 .…”

Design of an Interactive Multidisciplinary Residential Summer Program for Recruitment of High School Females to Engineering

“…Institutions with a history of commitment to diversity tend to be more successful in recruitment, 7 and institutions which have already established a critical mass of women have a much easier time maintaining a more balanced gender ratio since the presence of women creates the perception that women have the abilities and interests to succeed in engineering. 5 Female role models and special mentorships for women have also been helpful for increasing self-efficacy.…”

“…comprise over 50% of the overall undergraduate student body, while women represent only 18% of the student population in engineering. 7 Issues of recruitment and retention are caused by a complex combination of factors, but there is empirical support for the belief that high school context is a crucial factor in determining future plans to pursue STEM. 6,9 Currently, only 13% of high school females express interest in STEM, 16 and only 1%-4% express interest in engineering, 8 but the gender gap can be reduced by 25% or more in schools which support girls' interests in STEM.…”

“…9 Further, it has been shown that outreach programs targeting certain factors have been effective for the recruitment of women to STEM. 7 In literature, attempts to identify factors influencing recruitment and retention of women in STEM have converged to several themes. The first major issue is that of actual versus perceived ability in STEM.…”

Evaluation of Interactive Multidisciplinary Curricula in a Residential Summer Program (Evaluation)

“…The difficulty of recruiting and retaining women in engineering stems from a variety of factors which can be summarized by several themes: low self-efficacy in STEM 4,12 , differing expectations for male and female students 2 , curricula which do not emphasize real-world problem solving 7 , and a lack of institutional commitment to diversity 11 . Outreach efforts which address some or all of these factors have been effective for encouraging women to pursue engineering.…”