University of Puerto Rico Mayagüez Campus Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering UPRM: Achieving High Percentages of Women Engineering Students Sandra Cruz Pol, Ph.D. and José Colom, Ph.D. Associate Professors "Engineering for ALL Women: Exploring Perspectives" National Conference San Juan, PR June 2002
Presentation Outline UPRM Overview Campus Engineering School ECE Department Women Statistics Survey Results IAP Program Background % women in IAP
UPRM Background Mayagüez is a Land-Grant, Sea- Grant, and Space-Grant College Founded 1911 Student Population Around 14,000 Over 4,600 Engineering Students Approximately 1,500 students at the ECE Department General Library
UPRM-ECE Research Infrastructure Approximately $4M/year in sponsored research NSF, NASA, DoD, DoE, Government, Industry High Caliber Faculty 1 Presidential Early Career Award Recipient 4 NSF CAREER Program Recipients 2 NSF MRI Grant 1 NSF NGS Award 1 NSF CISE Award 2 NSF ERC Award - (CenSSIS & CPES) 1 NASA FAR Award
Research Centers Center for Computing Research and Development (CECORD) Tropical Center for Earth and Space Studies(TCESS) Laboratory for Applied Remote Sensing and Image Processing (LARSIP) Center for Subsurface Sensing and Imaging Systems (CenSSIS) Center for Power Electronics Systems (CPES) Radiation Laboratory Capstone Labs (Control, Robotics, Networking, Electric Power Systems, Software Engineering Lab, Integrated Circuit Design Lab) CLoud Microwave Measurements of ATmospheric Events (CLiMMATE) Center
Largest Engineering Colleges Largest Engineering Colleges according (ASEE to enrollment 98) 1997-98 Penn State Texas A&M Purdue Georgia Institute of Technology Illinois-Urbana Champaign Virginia Polytechnic Institute North Carolina State ***University of Puerto Rico University of Michigan Iow a State University of Texas-Austin California Polytechnic Institute University of Florida California State-Sacramento University of Maryland Ohio State 0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000 7000 8000
Number of Engineering Degrees NUMBER OF ENGINEERING DEGREES Granted 1999-2000 1999-2000 STUDENTS 0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 14 PENN STATE UNIVERSTY GEORGIA TECH. UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS PURDUE UNIVERSITY TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY VIRGINIA TECH NORTH CAROLINA STATE UNIVERSITY UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA CALIFORNIA POLYTECHNIC STATE UNIV. MICHIGAN TECHNOLOGICAL UNIV MASSACHUSETTS INST. OF TECH IOWA STATE UNIV. OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY CORNELL UNIV UNIVERSITY OF PUERTO RICO
What Characterizes our UPRM Undergraduate Education A five year program ( EE & CE: 168 Credits) A capstone design experience Bilingual Program (Spanish /English) R & D opportunities (IAP, AMP, PASCOR, Tren Urbano, CenSSiS, CPES, TCESS) Hands on experience Solution of real world problems
Undergraduate Engineering Hispanic Full-time Student Enrollment: Top 10 Institutions, Fall 1997 4500 4360 4000 3500 3000 2500 2444 2000 1500 1000 500 1224 1072 713 482 469 466 442 425 0 University of Puerto Rico Poly. Univ. of Puerto Rico Florida Intl.Univ. Univ. of Texas El Paso Texas A&M New Mexico State Univ. Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo Cal Poly- Ponoma CCNY(City College- CUNY) Univ. of Florida
Women in Engineering Enrollment: Top 10 Colleges, Fall 1997 1800 1600 1400 1200 1000 800 1671 1601 1379 1244 1237 1236 995 934 868 786 600 400 200 0 UNIVERSITY OF PUERTO RICO P URDUE UNIVERSITY TEXAS A&M GEORGIA INST. OF TECH. U. MICHIGAN PENN STATE UNIV U. ILLINOIS NC STATE UNIV MICHIGAN STATE UNIV UNIV. OF TEXAS AUSTIN
1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 Percentage 45.0 40.0 35.0 30.0 25.0 20.0 15.0 10.0 5.0 0.0 Percentage of Women in UPRM Engineering College Engineering Female S tudents atup RM %Undergrads Women in all engineering (except Agrim-surveying/Top) %Degrees Granted to Women in Engineering (except AgrSurveyingTop) Year
70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 % Women amongst UPRM Engineering % Women Departments Engineering Departments COMPUTER CHEMICAL MECANICAL INDUSTRIAL ELECTRICAL CIVIL
Results from Survey In the Spring of 2002, a small group (36) of UPRM students where asked to answer a questionnaire to try to identify reasons for UPRM high percentages in women. 100% were Hispanic, MARITAL STATUS: all single, except one AGE: 25 were from 21-24 years old ten (10) from 18-20 years old
advanced training Some college College graduate MS degree PhD degree HS graduate 16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0 Mother Father Parents Education Parents' Education not HS graduate
Family Annual income Family Annual Income 16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0 < $10,000 $10,000 - $20,000 $20,000- $30,000 $30,000 - $50,000 > $50,000
When started to think about Engineering When first think majoring in Engineering? 25 20 15 10 5 0 Elementary school HS First 2 years of college
Factors Contributing to High % of women in Engineering* Career image as empowering (engineering viewed as a great professional opportunity for women) HS program, non-traditional Encouraged by teachers Hi peer support from males Attended career day activity Financial Aid readily available Good grades in S&M in HS Cultural *Morel, L., 38% of Women in Engineering! Why so many, submitted to Journal of Engineering Education, 2002.
35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 Factors Contributing to High % of women in Engineering It is a Prestigious career Participated in PEP To be economically independent Participated in S&E Fairs HS counselor suggested eng Have role models For financial reasons HS teachers motivated me Other Did w ell in SAT exams Was good in M&S in HS It is an empow ering career Parents/relatives motivated me
Support from Classmates Support from Classmates 16 14 12 10 8 6 Males Females 4 2 0 generally supportive sometimes supportive not supportive Neutral sometimes hostile quite hostile other
Encountered Resistance? Encountered Resistance? *47% women did not encountered resistance 18 16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0 No* Yes: only for men Yes, too difficult yes, stereotypes
encouraged by profs 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 Why High % in UPRM women in Eng? Students' Perception Why High % of women, according to students? Motivation in HS encouraged in S&E fairs studying environ. (not hostil) encouraged PEP encouraged by HS teachers HS counseling Economic reasons Encoraged by parents. Role models Cultural reasons
IAP Program Unique educational experience for students Acquire knowledge, skills, and expertise not possible through the traditional classroom Undergraduate Research and Development State of the art technologies Highly attractive for employment Link Industry, ECE students, and Faculty Promote joint projects between ECE faculty and IAP companies. Enhance ECE Department Infrastructure
Percentage Female Participation in Undergraduate Research Programs compared to %women in ECE 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 Year 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 %Female in IAP % Female in ECE
Conclusions & Future Work Small measures like Awareness can make a big difference Career decision made late in HS Mothers had a post-college degree, =>role model Non-hostile environment Support from classmates Cultural reasons were a key factor Geographycal location of PR - effect? Economic conditions effects?