Research: Gender Diversity in Engineering

I was involved with the University of Illinois section of the Society of Women Engineers for more than half a decade and served as their Staff Advisor from 2008 to 2009 as they entered their 50th anniversary as a founding chapter of the national society. I also served as co-lead and special advisor to their diversity and historical initiatives, as well as helping to plan their 50th anniversary and 2010 regional conference.

• Diversity Initiative. Under the leadership of UIUC Section President and Diversity Lead Jessica Wood, SWE launched an ambitious diversity initiative beginning in 2007 that conducted two surveys of the gender diversity climate in the University of Illinois College of Engineering, involved reaching out to student organizations, faculty, and sponsors across the campus and College, and a final report and proposal that was presented to the Dean of the College. The College is now launching a series of diversity initiatives to address the findings of the report and working towards several of the recommendations of the proposal.
• History Initiative. In the addition to the Diversity Initiative, we also launched a History Initiative in advance of UIUC SWE's 50th anniversary in 2010. Illinois was the 4th Collegiate Section founded and thus has a rich history that had largely been lost to time. Numerous historical documents were scanned and made available online with a historical narrative tracing the section's 50 years on campus, and the resulting site was honored as the only student section to be recognized by the 2009 National SWE History Award.
• SWE Source. In 2005 I produced a draft working paper outlining a proposed national-scope initiative that would develop a website and associated databases of information, curriculum, and other materials for K-12 and post-secondary recruitment and retention of women in the engineering disciplines. The national society has since begun to implement some of the recommendations outlined in this proposal as part of a larger educational initiative.

We published two articles in the National SWE magazine, one outlining the Diversity Initiative, and the other a how-to guide for other Collegiate SWE sections on how to research their section's history.

• Diversity from the Ground Up. With Jessica Wood. SWE: Magazine of the Society of Women Engineers. Society of Women Engineers. Conference 2008 issue, pp. 40-46. Read an overview of UIUC's student-led Diversity Initiative.
• Your Collegiate Section History is Waiting to be Discovered. With Jessica Wood. SWE: Magazine of the Society of Women Engineers. Society of Women Engineers. Fall 2008 issue, pp. 62-64. Read an overview of UIUC's history initiative, along with tips on how to research your own student organization's history.

For those interested in the diversity summary report that we submitted to the College of Engineering, or our final recommendations that we proposed to the Dean, both are available below.

• Status and Summary of Gender Diversity in the College of Engineering. With Jessica Wood. Presented to the College of Engineering at the University of Illinois. (June 20, 2008).
• Pathways To Progress: Proposal and Recommendations for Improving Gender Diversity in the College of Engineering. With Jessica Wood. Presented to the College of Engineering at the University of Illinois. (Novermber 18, 2008).
• Letter Presenting Original Survey Results to Dean of College of Engineering. With Jessica Wood. Presented to the College of Engineering at the University of Illinois. (February 21, 2008).

This is the working paper I wrote in 2005 presenting the concept of "SWE Source":

• A Brief Proposal and Executive Summary for SWESource. Working paper dated February 5, 2005 outlining a proposed national-scope initiative that would develop a website and associated databases of information, curriculum, and other materials for K-12 and post-secondary recruitment and retention of women in the engineering disciplines.