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this lower engineering self-confidence. However, in keeping with the positive aspects of the Rowan program, the engineering self-confidence of female students is strengthened over the course of the academic year for the first three years in the program. Male self- confidence, on the other hand, is scaled down over the course of the academic year, so that the program has the effect of reducing the gender gap in engineering self-confidence. Female participation in academic enrichment and counseling activities in engineering makes a strong contribution to their self-confidence at the end of the academic year, and lessens the importance of outside or background factors on their engineering self- confidence, and as the pressures of more traditional social norms once more gain influence. However, the gender gap in engineering self-confidence in the senior year is once again considerable, raising concern about whether female needs are being addressed as they face the outside world of employment and, perhaps, more traditional graduate schools. Possible reasons for this pattern are suggested by the female students’ perception of problems for women in science, engineering and math. Females tend to perceive more problems for women in these fields than do men, but female perception of problems tend to decrease over the course of the academic year in all years but the senior (just like engineering self-confidence increased every year but the senior, and expectations about engineering jobs rose every year except the senior). During the senior year, female perception of problems for women in SEM increased in terms of societal attitudes toward women in SEM, the conflict between feminine qualities and careers in these fields, and, especially, conflict between career and family responsibilities. III-284
It is important to note that having an internship or a paying job in engineering is associated with perceiving fewer problems for women in SEM. It is the women who do not have actual employment experiences who perceive greater problems for women in SEM. This finding reinforces the importance of real-world experiences in engineering for female undergraduate students. However, it also points to the importance of bringing the impact of gender into the discourse about the profession, as Henwood (1998) and Walker (2001), among others, suggest, to help women recognize the complex impact of their gender on their occupational choice and status, whether by their intention or not, and how this impact can be addressed and coped with. Women who seek to deny the gender impact often fear more about actual situations than women who confront the issues. SWE members seem to be aware of more kinds of problems for women, but less concerned about the conflict between career and family, perhaps because they have been more exposed to solutions to the conflict, just as women who have internships or employment activities have. Perhaps what is needed is increased attention to the concerns of women as they face employment, even if they are not members of SWE. Implications for the Women’s Future in Engineering How the lower engineering self-confidence of women as they graduate from Rowan is related to their future in engineering is not yet possible to determine, since so few cohorts have yet to graduate. However, if the recent MIT study is any indication, a higher proportion of females are expected to leave the field within ten years than are males. If their engineering self-confidence is a prediction of this phenomenon, it clearly needs to be addressed. Just as Rowan has found ways to reduce the gender gap in self- confidence and persistence in its first years of the program, creative energies can devise ways to mitigate the gender gap faced as their students prepare to leave the program. III-285
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A GENDER LENS ON ROWAN UNIVERSITY
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY BACKGROUND TO THE
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the program? In particular, how do
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various aspects of the program and
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However, the empowering effect of t
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with the delivery of lab work, team
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The perception of problems for wome
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• Have as high or higher academic
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These are important findings for an
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CHAPTER I-A INTRODUCTION The under-
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incorporate an inclusive pedagogica
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has specifically been advocated as
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affect intellectual identity and ac
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CLIMATE ISSUES DIFFICULT FOR WOMEN
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atmosphere separates students from
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successfully serve as a model for m
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uilt itself up into a full-fledged
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sensitive policy to sophomore year
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work together to continuously creat
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that students, in their exit interv
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presentations convincing to practic
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chapter on campus, which sponsors s
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academic year and their satisfactio
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Additional Information from Univers
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CHAPTER I-D THE ROWAN ENGINEERING S
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The rest of this chapter is based o
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TABLE ID-3 COHORT BY MAJOR (%’s)
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TABLE 1D-4 PERCENTAGE FEMALE IN MAJ
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Academic Achievement The level of a
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TABLE ID-6 PRE-COLLEGE ACADEMIC ACH
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London, 1992). Almost a third of th
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Parental occupations of male studen
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As we have mentioned above, about h
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All of the support items were recod
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science field. Males and females sh
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5) pre-college academic preparation
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program. Other students may opt to
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confidence at the beginning of each
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STUDENT INPUT Family and Socio- Dem
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CHAPTER II-B THE RELATIONSHIP BETWE
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making up this factor, while 22.4%
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(CONF STAY ENG) as the dependent va
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contrary to our expectations, it is
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students is .568, and for all stude
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However, the importance of backgrou
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TABLE IIB-4 MULTIPLE REGRESSION ANA
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oth that they will stay with engine
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The main gender differences through
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CHAPTER II-C ENGINEERING BEHAVIOR A
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grades is statistically significant
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shows us that the impact of both fa
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men’s and their mean GPA in engin
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TABLE IIC-4 ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE BY
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(1) The first type of involvement r
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participation in enrichment activit
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Having a sibling who went to colleg
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These background characteristics ha
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In sum, in terms of enrichment acti
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Table IIC-11 SUPPORT BY FACULTY BY
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For males, living with other scienc
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TABLE IIC-14 PARTICIPATION IN HELP
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primarily the male’s career couns
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Finally, involvement in non-enginee
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The Rowan engineering females fall
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members to have slightly higher GPA
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CHAPTER II-D CHANGES IN ENGINEERING
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However, there is a gender differen
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Considering the possibility that no
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achievement. Academic self-confiden
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While the four self-confidence fact
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We separated our analysis by year i
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Similarly, for junior females, a hi
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In summary, we can see that over th
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in their computer skills and in the
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TABLE IID-3 CHANGE IN SELF-CONFIDEN
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engineering as the right major for
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TABLE IID-5 MEAN GRADE POINT AVERAG
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the senior year, we find the larges
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The programmatic elements of most i
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elated to satisfaction at the end o
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The second indicator of satisfactio
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of classroom hours”, “are frien
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Satisfaction Item TABLE IIE-2 SATIS
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Considering high school background
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TABLE IIE-5 MULTIPLE CORRELATIONS R
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TABLE IIE-6 MULTIPLE REGRESSION ANA
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with team work is lowest in the jun
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High School Background High school
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teams are also more likely to join
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Satisfaction Item TABLE IIE-12 SATI
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TABLE IIE-14 SATISFACTION WITH INTE
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TABLE IIE-16 MULTIPLE REGRESSION AN
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course of the academic year. It cou
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gender difference are female studen
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a. Labwork (SATLAB) There is no gen
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TABLE IIE-22 SATISFACTION WITH ENGI
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indicated that there does not seem
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I. Programmatic Elements a-b. Satis
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II. Satisfaction with Applied Aspec
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administered during the different y
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higher among seniors. For both male
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TABLE IIE-26 MEAN SATISFACTION WITH
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engineering self-confidence was sim
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previous research, which suggests t
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WOMEN’S PARTICIPATION IN SWE AND
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ole models for engineering in the f
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difference in satisfaction with the
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program do not exhibit poorer pre-c
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Cohort beginning year: TABLE IIF-1
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Looking at gender differences in re
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from the university, or if they had
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TABLE IIF-5 ENGINEERING “STAYERS
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Leavers were less involved in engin
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TABLE IIF-9 ENGINEERING SELF-CONFID
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TABLE IIF-11 ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT O
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TABLE IIF-13 PARTICIPATION IN ENGIN
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TABLE IIF-14 ENGINEERING SELF-CONFI
Page 235 and 236: TABLE IIF-15 SATISFACTION WITH ROWA
Page 237 and 238: Previous research has suggested tha
Page 239 and 240: expected women’s perception of pr
Page 241 and 242: (4) We also expected the perception
Page 243 and 244: I’ll get hired somewhere.” Whil
Page 245 and 246: Remember that Rowan students were a
Page 247 and 248: As standardized factor scores, the
Page 249 and 250: We also could analyze the perceptio
Page 251 and 252: TABLE IIG-5 PERCEPTION OF PROBLEMS
Page 253 and 254: TABLE IIG-7 CHANGE IN PERCEPTION OF
Page 255 and 256: presumably with an understanding th
Page 257 and 258: correlations of each of the factors
Page 259 and 260: the junior female students to perce
Page 261 and 262: CHANGE IN PERCEPTION OF PROBLEMS OV
Page 263 and 264: TABLE IIG-13 CHANGE IN PERCEPTION O
Page 265 and 266: Issue TABLE IIG-14 CHANGE IN PERCEP
Page 267 and 268: TABLE IIG-17 PERCEPTIONS OF PROBLEM
Page 269 and 270: CHAPTER II-H COMPARISONS TO OTHER S
Page 271 and 272: TABLE IIH-1 ENGINEERING SELF-CONFID
Page 273 and 274: Rowan females are also more involve
Page 275 and 276: TABLE IIH-3 PARTICIPATION IN SELECT
Page 277 and 278: females agreed or strongly agreed t
Page 279 and 280: males vs. 50.0% females); at Rowan,
Page 281 and 282: Purpose of the Study PART III SUMMA
Page 283 and 284: Evidence that Rowan’s Program is
Page 285: tend to be more satisfied with the
Page 289 and 290: new program, many changes were inst
Page 291 and 292: Cunningham, Christine M., Cathy Lac
Page 293 and 294: Marchese, A. J., Schmalzel, J. L, M
Page 295 and 296: Tinto, V. 1993. Leaving College: Re
Page 297 and 298: ENGINEERING STUDENT SURVEY I Dear S
Page 299 and 300: Family Background 11.What was the h
Page 301 and 302: 29a. Did you ever have a female tea
Page 303 and 304: 40. The statements listed below hav
Page 305 and 306: Name__________________ Social Secur
Page 307 and 308: 7. During this academic year, how f
Page 309 and 310: 26. From your experience, engineeri
Page 311 and 312: 37. The statements listed below hav
Page 313 and 314: 1. Your background, how long at Row
Page 315: APPENDIX B ENGINEERING SELF-CONFIDE
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