climate for women students at wpi diversity & women’s programs

Climate for Women Climate for Women

Students at WPIStudents at WPI

Diversity & Women’s Programs

Diversity & Women’s Diversity & Women’s ProgramsPrograms

Diversity & Women’s Programs Diversity & Women’s Programs MissionMissionTo support diversity on the WPI

campus by:

Providing leadership in campus efforts on issues of diversity and pluralismProviding support and advocacy to women studentsProviding pipeline programs aimed at achieving greater diversity at WPI


Do Women at WPI Need Do Women at WPI Need Support and Advocacy?Support and Advocacy?


Highest Percentage of Highest Percentage of Women by DepartmentWomen by Department

Biology/Biotech 69% (151)

Biomedical Engineering 51% (58)

Biochemistry 51% (29)


Lowest Percentage of Lowest Percentage of Women by Department Women by Department

Manufacturing 20% (3)Management 19% (27)Humanities 18% (2)Mechanical 18% (99)Physics 15% (8)Electrical Engineering 9% (44)Computer Science 8% (44)


Quality of Life Survey Quality of Life Survey ResponsesResponses

Student Life initiative using ACT standardized instrument in Jan, 2003Administered to 1,895 studentsStratified sample, women and minorities over-represented39% return rate (better than expected)264 women, 411 men responded


Satisfaction with this College in General

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

Satisfied Neutral Dissatisfied

Pe

rce

nta

ge

(%

)

Males

Females


Satisfaction with General Admissions Procedures

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90


Pe

rce

nta

ge

(%

)

Males

Females


Satisfaction with Availability of Financial Aid Information Prior to Enrolling

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70


Pe

rce

nta

ge

Males

Females


Satisfaction with Concern for You an an Individual

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70


Pe

rce

nta

ge

(%

)

Males

Females


Satisfaction with the Attitude of the Faculty Towards Students

0102030405060708090


Pe

rce

nta

ge

(%

)

Males

Females


Satisfaction with Out-of-Class Availability of Your Instructors

0102030405060708090


Pe

rce

nta

ge

(%

)

Males

Females


Use of College-Sponsored Tutorial Services

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

Have UsedService

Have NotUsed Service

Pe

rce

nta

ge

(%

)

Males

Females


Satisfaction with Opportunities for Personal Involvement in Campus Activities

0102030405060708090


Pe

rce

nta

ge

Males

Females


Use of Recreational and Intramural Programs and Services

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

Have UsedService

Have NotUsed Service

Pe

rce

nta

ge

(%

)

Males

Females


Satisfaction with Recreational and Intramural Programs and Services

0102030405060708090


Pe

rce

nta

ge

(%

)

Males

Females


Satisfaction with Athletic Facilities

05

101520253035404550


Pe

rce

nta

ge

(%

)

Males

Females


Satisfaction with Student Government

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45


Pe

rce

nta

ge

(%

)

Males

Females


Satisfaction with Career Planning Services

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70


Pe

rce

nta

ge

(%

)

Males

Females


Satisfaction with Student Health Services

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80


Pe

rce

nta

ge

(%

)

Males

Females


Satisfaction with Personal Security/Safety on Campus

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80


Pe

rce

nta

ge

(%

)

Males

Females


Quality of Life Survey Quality of Life Survey SummarySummary

In general, women are happy with their quality of life at WPIThere appear to be some issues around career planning, probably due to the number of women in bio-related majorsThere appear to be some issues around health care provisions for women


Issues not identified by Issues not identified by surveysurvey

Perception of different admissions criteria for womenBitterness regarding different financial assistance for womenAssumption that women at WPI are all bio majors (and that bio is less demanding than other majors)“RIBS” SyndromeTokenism in the classroom


ODAWP Efforts to Support ODAWP Efforts to Support Women StudentsWomen Students

Mailing to prospective students with welcome and “Woman to Woman: Your First Year at WPI”Development of women’s brochure in progressProspective student overnight programsReception for incoming women students and parents during orientation



Girls’ Night Out (GNO)- Series of social events- Planned by a committee of women students- Intended to help women build same-sex friendships



Fall speaker on sexual assaultWomen’s History Month programmingProfessional development workshops (e.g. soldering, computer confidence workshops)Conduit of relevant information (e.g. aerobics, job fairs, RAD classes)



Women’s Industry Network (WIN)- Cluster networking program between women students and professionals- Industry sponsored (CISCO Systems, Compaq/HP, GE, Turner Construction, Gillette)- Dinner and topic one night each term- Clusters meet independently



Society of Women Engineers AdvisorWomen in Electrical and Computer Engineering AdvisorAthena Project Steering CommitteeCommunity CouncilSororities (as needed)Advocacy and support on an individual basis



Training initiatives:- Diversity training for student leaders (e.g. resident advisors, orientation leaders, peer learning assistants)- Inter-cultural gender communication workshop for TAs- Sexual harassment workshop for faculty and graduate students



Computer Science – Unlocking the ClubhousePhysics – Sheila TobiasPromotion of faculty postings in Faculty for the Future and other Outlets


ConclusionConclusion

Women are generally happy with their experience at WPISome women shun special programs targeted at womenODAWP efforts focus on identified needs including opportunities to make female friends and career transition issues

climate for women students at wpi diversity & women’s programs

Documents

wpi slide

classroom slide

orientation slide

wpi diversity womens

committee of women students

women bitterness

women assumption

number of women