Retaining Undergraduate Women in Science, Engineering, and Technology: A Survey of a Student Organization

Abstract

National Council for Research on Women finds that much of the progress that women have made in science, engineering, and technology has stalled or eroded. As we enter the new millennium, there will be an increasing need for a scientifically and technologically literate workforce. A student organization, Women in Technology, was formed at Purdue University—West Lafayette in 1998 in response to data indicating that there had been no increase in the number of women enrolled in the University's School of Technology over the past five years. Such data were consistent with those produced by national studies indicating that the trend of increasing numbers of women enrolling in engineering, science, and technology programs in American colleges and universities, established in the preceding two decades, had ceased. The aim of Women in Technology was to attract more women to the School, and reduce the attrition rate of women already in the program by serving as a well-recognized, formal context in which they could receive mentoring and in which they could find stable social support to help them achieve their academic and career objectives. This article discusses an overview of the organization, the results of a survey of members' undergraduate classroom experiences, student-generated strategies for addressing the concerns revealed in the survey, and the implementation of those strategies.