Engineering STEM Messages for a New Generation Jennifer Groh WIEP Associate Director

About WIEP The Women in Engineering Program was started in 1969! We have 6 professional staff and lots of student assistants. We do K-12 outreach activities, recruitment activities, and programs for current students.

Why does WIEP exist?

Another way of looking at what we are up against… Verizon 2014 commercial

What does WIEP do about it? Talk about STEM in terms of career motivators and impact (output) vs. the typical math/science message (inputs) Counter and address stereotypes and bias Encourage women to embrace a growth mindset – to help boost confidence Expose to appropriate female engineering role models and like-minded peers Educate - don’t have to love or excel at math/science but should be competent Inform influential adults about research-based messages for encouraging girls to consider STEM

Why Should EVERYONE* Care? The Business Case for Diversity –Workforce Availability vs. US Demographics –Relate to Customers –Competitive Advantage Homogenous team vs. heterogeneous team The Human Case for Diversity –Airbags in cars… *Men and women, parents, aunts/uncles, teachers, etc.

QUIZ Time!

Before ____th grade is when research shows girls begin to lose interest in math and science compared to male peers Open answer

Typical messages about engineers/engineering and images of engineers/engineering align with what girls want in a career True/False

Expectations that our culture/society has for boys fit better with what we think of engineers than compared with our expectations for girls True/False

Expectations for boys fit better with what we think engineers are BoysGirls CompetentNurturing/Caring Do well in mathDo well in English LeadersFollowers Like thingsLike people Focus on task (solve problems) Focus on process (involve everyone) Not emotionalEmotional As a result, we unconsciously provide more encouragement to boys to be engineers

Fill in the blanks It is important to encourage students to have a ______ vs. a _______ mindset. Choose from growth and fixed

Girls are better than boys at spatial visualization skills (visual spatial) True/False

Why so Few? (A summary…) Limited knowledge or inaccurate perceptions about STEM careers Lower confidence than boys, even when actually achievement levels are similar Negative stereotypes/unconscious bias about girls’ and women’s abilities in math and science persist Resources: NCWIT and AAUW.org

An engineer is born…

FUN hands-on activities relating to broad audiences WIEP Water scarcity Natural Disasters Alternative Energy Food production Health & Medicine New frontiers

Engineering in Action! The Engineering Design Process Hands-on engineering activity

Manufacturing Design Prototyping Product testing Customer Service Marketing Research & Product Development Evaluation Fixes Sales Marketing Logistics and Distribution Management & Leadership Product Life Cycle Type of Engineers =Product and Role

Career benefits Discipline Group2010 Avg Start 2011 Avg Start Business$46,378$48,144 Communications$38,450$39,577 Computer Science$58,229$60,594 Education$37,040$37,830 Engineering$60,971$61,872 Health Sciences$44,451$44,955 Humanities & Social Sciences $34,856$35,503 Math & Sciences$39,749$40,204 Source:

Once we have shared a message about how creative engineering is and what engineers do for society (OUTPUTS), then we can fill them in about the requirements (INPUTS). But remember to put it into the right context & realize students are already getting the math/science message from elsewhere. So…what about the math and science?

What can you do? (in summary) Talk about STEM in terms of career motivators Counter and address stereotypes and set backs Embrace a growth mindset – to help boost confidence Expose to appropriate female engineering role models and like-minded peers Don’t have to love or excel at math/science but should be competent

challenge dreams realities travel inspiring people give back “Engineering will challenge you to turn dreams into realities, while giving you the chance to travel, work with inspiring people and give back to your community.”

Engineers Shape Our World designingcreating modifying “Engineers have a hand in designing, creating, or modifying nearly everything we touch, wear, eat, see, and hear in our daily lives.” American Society of Engineering Education

Why Engineering? Love your work, AND live your life. Be creative. Work with great people. Solve problems Design things that matter. Never be bored. Make a big salary. Enjoy job flexibility. Travel. Make a difference. Change the World. Questions? Jennifer Groh