Begell House Inc.
Journal of Women and Minorities in Science and Engineering
JWM
1072-8325
13
1
2007
Graduating Underrepresented African American, Latino, and American Indian Students in Science
1-22
10.1615/JWomenMinorScienEng.v13.i1.10
Angela C.
Johnson
St. Mary's College of Maryland
African American, Latino, and American Indian students are less likely to graduate in science than comparable White and Asian students (Gándara & Maxwell-Jolly, 1999; Huang, Taddese, & Walter, 2000). After controlling for preparation and need (p < .05), logistic regression modeling of data from the University of Colorado, Boulder, confirmed this. However, students in the University of Colorado Minority Arts and Sciences Program (MASP) were more likely to graduate in science than White and Asian students (p < .05). MASP students valued the program's financial support, academic community, and relationships with professors, but not, notably, academic enrichment workshops. This finding provides insight into factors that increase retention of well prepared African American, Latino, and American Indian students and calls for further research and theory.
Racial and Ethnic Differences in Students' Selection of a Doctoral Program to Attend From Those Offering Admission: The Case of Biomedical Sciences
23-36
10.1615/JWomenMinorScienEng.v13.i1.20
Donald A.
Bar
Stanford University, USA
Stan
Wanat
Stanford University, USA
Mariaelena
Gonzalez
Stanford University, USA
Most graduate training programs in the biomedical sciences try to attract qualified candidates from underrepresented racial and ethnic groups; however, some universities have more success than others in enrolling students to whom admission is offered. In order to better understand how students select the school they will attend from those offering admission, we studied the experience of two cohorts of applicants to a doctoral program in the biomedical sciences at Stanford University. Based on interviews with 59 students, we conclude that students use different criteria in deciding the schools to which they will apply than they do in selecting the school they will attend from those offering admission. While we found striking consistency across racial and ethnic groups in the criteria used in selecting schools for application, we found clear differences in the factors affecting the choice of school to attend. Especially for Latino and African American students, the perceived quality of the interpersonal environment and a sense of inclusion were key determinants in selecting the school to attend. In this regard, Latino students found the environment at Stanford more welcoming than African American students did.
What Works for Women in Undergraduate Physics and What We Can Learn from Women's Colleges
37-76
10.1615/JWomenMinorScienEng.v13.i1.30
Barbara L.
Whitten
Physics Department, Feminist and Gender Studies Program & Environmental Program, Colorado College, 14 E. Cache la Poudre, Colorado Springs, Colorado 80903, USA
Shannon R.
Dorato
Colorado College, USA
Margaret L.
Duncombe
Colorado College, USA
Patricia E.
Allen
Appalachian State University, USA
Cynthia A.
Blaha
Carleton College, USA
Heather Z.
Butler
Lakeside School, USA
Kimberly A.
Shaw
Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville, USA
Beverley A. P.
Taylor
Miami University, USA
Barbara A.
Williams
University of Delaware, USA
We are studying the recruitment and retention of women in undergraduate physics by conducting site visits to physics departments. In this second phase of the project, we visited six physics departments in women's colleges. We compared these departments to each other and to the nine departments in coeducational schools that we visited in phase 1 of the project (Whitten, Foster, & Duncombe, 2003a; Whitten et al., 2003b; Whitten et al., 2004). We learned that women's colleges, much more than coed schools, try to recruit students into the physics major. This has led us to criticize the "leaky pipeline" metaphor often used to describe women in physics and to call attention to women dropping in to the physics pipeline. We discuss our results for students and pedagogy and for faculty and institutions, and we offer some advice on how to make a physics department more female friendly.
Speaking Out on Gender: Reflections on Women's Advancement in the STEM Disciplines
77-94
10.1615/JWomenMinorScienEng.v13.i1.40
Faye Linda
Wachs
Cal Poly Pomona, USA
Jill
Nemiro
Cal Poly Pomona, USA
Faculty at Cal Poly Pomona initiated a campus-wide study to assess the experiences of women in the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) disciplines and to explore what factors were perceived as critical to advancement by successful women on campus. Focus groups with female faculty and administrators at various stages in their career were conducted to address questions of retention, tenure, promotion, and overall job satisfaction. Workload, work-family conflict, and climate emerge as key factors in faculty satisfaction and attributions of success. Ironically, the type of mentoring relationships and professional development cited as key by senior women were rendered improbable for junior female faculty by increasing workloads and work-family conflict. Gender schemas (Valian, 2004) continue to play a role in the increase in workloads and the type of work women are more likely to be asked to do. Women in departments that recognized and accommodated faculty needs, and included faculty in the decision making process, reported much higher levels of satisfaction and productivity than those in inflexible departments. Understanding these issues is critical to overcoming the effects of discrimination such as the continuing shortage of female faculty, especially at the top ranks. Addressing how gender schemas shape the type of work women do within departments and the relative valuation of that work in the RTP (retention, tenure, promotion) process is critical to creating an institutional climate in which female faculty can succeed.