Increasing the Participation and Completion of Women in Project Lead the Way

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Increasing the Participation and Completion of
Women in Project Lead the Way

• Mimi Lufkin
• National Alliance for
• Partnerships in Equity

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Workshop Goals

• Identify root causes for why women are not
  choosing to participate and complete
• Identify strategies for recruiting and retaining
  women
• Explore recruitment and retention resources
• Identify methods and resources needed to
  incorporate gender equity into the STIs

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Workshop Agenda

• Root causes for participation
• Strategies for recruitment
• Small group session
• Root causes for completion
• Strategies for retention
• Small group session

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Perkins Accountability Measure

• Increase the participation and completion of
  students in nontraditional training and
  employment programs
• Occupations or fields of work, including careers
  in computer science, technology, and other
  emerging high skill occupations, for which
  individuals from one gender comprise less than 25
  percent of the individuals employed in each
  such occupation or field of work.

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Root Causes for Participation

• Career guidance materials and practices
• Access to and participation in math, science, and
  technology
• Instructional strategies
• Nontraditional role models
• Early exposure

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Root Causes for Participation

• Curriculum materials
• Occupational choice
• Self-efficacy
• School climate
• Student attitudes

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Root Causes for Participation

• Family demographic characteristics
• Peer influence
• Media representation
• Wage potential
• Social attitudes

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Root Causes Activity

• Place a sticker on the poster identifying the two
  most common root causes that you have observed
  for women entering Project Lead the Way programs.
• Write any additional root causes that have not
  been identified and place it on the other root
  causes poster

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Strategies for Recruitment

• Review career guidance materials and practices
  for gender bias and nontraditional exposure and
  support
• Am I a Fair Counselor
• Destination Success, MAVCC
• Guidelines for Identifying Bias in Curriculum and
  Materials
• Safe Schools Coalition

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Strategies for Recruitment

• Invite, involve and educate parents
• Talented Girls Bright Futures
• Publication by Project Lead the Way

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Strategies for Recruitment

• Conduct middle school programs
• Minot Public Schools
• Minot, North Dakota
• Programs and Practices That Work
• 2005 Award Winner

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Strategies for Recruitment

• Provide role models and mentors
• Girls E-Mentoring in Science, Engineering and
  Technology GEM-SET
• USDOL, Womens Bureau
• Engineer Girl
• National Academy of Engineering

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Strategies for Recruitment

• Conduct targeted recruitment activities
• Summer Camps
• Cisco Gender Initiative Strategies
• I am an Engineer
• Cisco Systems, Inc.

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Strategies for Recruitment

• Conduct pre-technical training programs
• Rosies Girls
• Northern New England Tradeswomen

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Strategies for Recruitment

• Collaborate with community-based organizations
• Operation SMART
• Girls, Inc.

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Strategies for Recruitment

• Conduct professional development with teachers at
  all levels
• Generating Expectations for Student Achievement
• Graymill

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Strategies for Recruitment

• Implement and model gender-fair institutional
  strategies
• Checking Your School for Sexism
• Destination Success, MAVCC

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Morning Breakout Session

• Breakout by your master teacher course group into
  groups of 5-8.
• Use the worksheet provided
• Identify a recorder
• Identify strategies and resources needed for
  integrating gender equity into the Summer
  Institutes to help build the capacity of
  PLTW instructors to increase the participation
  of women in PLTW programs

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Root Causes for Completion

• Classroom climate
• Support services
• Student isolation based on gender
• Role models
• Instructional strategies
• Self-efficacy
• Spousal/significant-other/parental support

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Root Causes Activity

• In groups of 5
• Identify any additional root causes your group
  thinks are missing on a blank card
• Rank the root causes by your groups sense of
  their prevalence in PLTW programs
• Post the cards on the wall in that order

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Strategies for Retention

• Evaluate all school materials for gender bias and
  positive nontraditional images
• Gender Equity Tip Sheets

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Strategies for Retention

• Increase teacher and administrator quality and
  equity-capacity through professional development
• The Equity Principal
• Graymill
• NAPE Professional Development Institute
• May 1-4, 2006
• Washington, DC

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Strategies for Retention

• Increase competence in diversity and sexual
  harassment prevention
• Gender Equity Tip Sheets
• Tolerance.org
• Southern Poverty Law Center

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Strategies for Retention

• Conduct nontraditional student support groups and
  peer counseling
• Computer Clubhouse
• Bostons Museum of Science

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Strategies for Retention

• Provide nontraditional role models, mentors, and
  job shadowing
• MentorNet
• How to Plan and Facilitate a Job Shadowing
  Experience
• Destination Success, MAVCC

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Strategies for Retention

• Invite, involve and educate parents
• Ways for Parents to Support Expanded Occupational
  Options
• Destination Success, MAVCC

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Strategies for Retention

• Provide a continuum of support services
• Tutoring
• Child care
• Transportation
• Financial Aid
• Books, Equipment, Tools, Clothing
• Tuition
• Modification of Curriculum, Equipment
• Student/Teacher Aides
• More

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Strategies for Retention

• Invite, involve, and educate business
• Cisco Systems, Inc. Gender Initiative
• Cisco Systems, Inc.
• Society of Women Engineers

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Additional Resources

• Women in Engineering Organization
• Women in Engineering Programs and Advocates
  Network
• Womens Engineering Society (UK)
• Groups Relating to Women in Science and
  Engineering

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Additional Resources

• National Alliance for Partnerships in Equity
• P.O. Box 369
• Cochranville, PA 19330
• 610-345-9246 phone
• 610-869-4380 fax
• www.napequity.org

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Afternoon Breakout Session

• Complete your work from the morning breakout
  session
• Report out STI strategies
• Turn in small group worksheets to facilitator
• Complete post-evaluation
• Volunteer to participate in the Master
  Teacher Trainers Group

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