a community college approach to increasing women in technological fields
TRANSCRIPT
A Community College Approach To Increasing Women In Technological Fields
About GHSPFirst cohort gathered in 2003 on
Essex Campus
Currently 74 women have passed through the program
Now on all three CCBC campuses
Funded through an NSF-ATE grant
Uniqueness of GHSPInitial Project Team
Mathematics/Computer Science/IMMTWomen’s Studies
CCBC’s first attempt at targeting specifically women for technological career paths
Not much research on women and technology within the Community College
RecruitmentIn class recruitment for all CLM
classes
Mailings
Faculty Referrals
Accuplacer test scores
Application ProcessStreamlined over the years
One letter of recommendation required
An essay about their strengths and why they want to be part of the program
Signed participant contract
Demographic information
About our ScholarsAges from teens to 40’s
Multicultural
Single, Married, Divorced
Some have children and grandchildren
Both full-time and part-time students
MentoringEach student is assigned a mentor
Mentor/Mentee pairings based on career paths or common interest.
Each mentor has training through Maryland State Mentoring Resource Center
Mentor Directory available to all scholars
Contact MUST occur at least twice a semester
TutoringSchedules of scholars and multi-campus format
required alternate forms of tutoring
Online tutoring available in ALL math courses related to degrees and certificates in technology
Faculty tutor higher level courses
Faculty NOT paid, but it is part of their “Service to College”
Winter Bridge ProgramLearn History of Web
HTML
Create web pages about themselves and their mentors
After first bridge, scholars monitored discussion board
Due to scholars experience, no longer a requirement.
Summer Bridge ProgramChanges each summer
Technology related project
Learning Styles Assessment
Interviewing Workshops
Resume Writing Workshop
More Summer FunLunch with mentors
Roundtable sessions from industry professionals
Meet Math and IT faculty at CCBC
ResultsWe didn’t increase the overall numbers of women
in Technological majors of study
Undecided majors at CCBC tend to major in Nursing, Pharmacology and Business
Approximately 10% of students went to any given planned social activity
Accuplacer test scores not successful for recruitment
More Positive ResultsDecline in enrollment went from 52% in 2003
to only 7% in 2006
Support structure in place for women that were interested in technological careers
34% transfer to four-year schools (approx. 10% higher than the CCBC average)
Life after CCBC"The University of Maryland, Baltimore County
(UMBC) encourages Grace Hopper Scholars to consider transferring to UMBC, as they actively represent the best qualities of academic excellence. In particular, the Center for Women and Information Technology (CWIT) at UMBC welcomes women who have demonstrated leadership in the Grace Hopper Scholars program. Through CWIT, Scholars can access additional doorways that lead to internships, study groups, and leadership opportunities at UMBC.”
(C. Morrell, Executive Director of CWIT at UMBC)
What a Girl Wants …A peer group they can belong to
Social Interaction
Information on success of former scholars
Money
Things We LearnedFaculty within the Sciences greatly helped in
recruitment
Connecting with CSEMS program also helped
More scholarship money is needed for part-time students
Thank you to NSFThis material is based upon work supported
in part by the National Science Foundation under DUE-0302845. Opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the NSF.
