Increasing Retention of Women in Engineering at WSU: A Model for a Women's Mentoring Program

Concerns with the retention of women in engineering have led to the implementation of numerous programs to improve retention, including mentoring programs. The college of engineering at Washington State University (WSU) started a novel women's mentoring program in 2008, using professional engineers who graduated from WSU as mentors. The program is purely voluntary, and has grown from 30 mentors and 38 mentees in 2008 to 61 mentors and 90 mentees in 2011 (many mentors are willing to be paired up with more than one student). Preliminary results indicate that participants in the mentoring program are retained at a higher rate than students that do not participate; of the 42 freshmen entering WSU in the fall of 2010 and participating in the program, 74% have stayed in engineering compared to 68% for all 54 female freshman students. In past years (2003-2009), an average of 51% of female students are still in engineering at the end of their freshman year. This paper presents a model for a self-sustaining, effective women's mentoring program that has the potential to improve retention rates of women in engineering. The Need for a Women's Mentoring Program Enrollment of women in engineering programs has increased only by approximately 5% over the last 15 years (NCES, 2000). Retention is imperative; we must encourage the few women who choose engineering as a major in college to pursue it as a career. According to the Engineering Manpower Commission (1987), more women (35.6%) drop out of engineering before completing their sophomore year than men (16%). A study at the University of Washington showed that 30% of women leave engineering by their sophomore year and only 55% finish their degree (Brainard and Carlin, 1997), and Schaer et al (1991) found that only 44% of women who start engineering finish a degree compared to 54% of men. A more recent study found that gender is a predictor of retention (Zhang et al, 2002). To increase retention numbers for women in engineering, a program that helps retain freshman and gives them a sense of belonging is necessary. Many studies have looked at why women leave engineering, and what can be done to improve retention. In a survey by Graham (1997), women who stayed in engineering made decisions based on encouragement and structured opportunities, and those who left cited feeling intimidated, isolated, and had a lack of self-confidence. Women have reported lower confidence and less self-efficacy than males, and need more encouragement and mentoring (Vogt et al, 1997). A University of California at Davis study showed that women leave engineering due to isolation, not seeing the relevance of courses, a "chilly" classroom environment, and a lack of role models and mentors (Henes et al, 1995). Cohoon (2002) observed that without adequate support, women are likely to leave a program at higher rates than men, and recommended providing female role models to mentor undergraduate students. A seminal research study on attrition of students from engineering and the sciences found that women leave engineering in part because of the need to develop a sense of self-worth and identity, and the corresponding lack of opportunities for this in engineering disciplines (Seymour et al., 1997). Specifically, "... the socialization of most young women ... encourages the development of a more extrinsic sense of identity", and further that "the consequences of these patterns of socialization were clearly embedded in most women's accounts ..." (Seymour, et al., 1997, pg. 266). In their discussion of the need for support to develop a strong sense of identity, the authors indicate that finding alternative sources when faculty are not available and supportive is critical to retention, "... [female students] had learned to need the teacher-pupil relationship less, and/or had actively sought alternative sources of support ..." (Seymour, et al., 1997, pg. 268). These studies show that mentoring programs can help improve retention of women in engineering by providing an encouraging, supportive environment that helps them identify with the engineering field. …