Making it stick…

what I have learned (often the hard way) about sustaining women in engineering activities

Elizabeth Croft, Mechanical Engineering, UBCecroft@mech.ubc.cawww.mech.ubc.ca/~ecroft

Outline

Lessons Learned Case Studies

Trimentoring• http://www.cpsd.apsc.ubc.ca/mentoring/

NEW@ubc -> WIE@ubc• http://wie.apsc.ubc.ca/

Building Communities Symposium 2007

• http://www.mech.ubc.ca/~wesymposium/

Research your project

Know the “space” Other projects Other players/potential partners Funding sources

Know your audience Investors-read their strategic plan (MVG) Clients

Survey Before you start For every activity (PDQ)

• Assign this activity to a person who is NOT running the event

Strategic Alignment

Your Institution Strategic Plan Best practices

Other groups Resource sharing Event co-ordination

Industry Needs Fit

Documentation Strategic Plan

• Vision• Mission• Values• Goals and Objectives• Strategic Initiatives

Great marketing tool – put on website, show to audience

It’s a roadmap! Implementation tracking (operations manual, post event

debriefing sessions) Survey tracking Writing papers about your activities legitimizes it to the

academic establishment TAKE PICTURES – assign the task to someone who is

NOT running the event

Champions

Advisors From both client groups Provides directions (strategic plan) and

builds credibility Implementers

Seconded staff if possible Workstudy is a great UBC opportunity Students with passion

Marketers – students who spread the word!

Marketing - I To audience

Good title, and logo is very important! Mailing lists

• – your own – opt in• - institution – to advertise your list

Website Inside women’s washrooms (back of door so

not removed by custodial staff) Classes Via other groups

Marketing - II

To Institution BHD meetings

• Alignment with their interests• Improve institution’s image

Institution Marketing Personnel To Supporting organizations

Deadlines Targeted to their goals Personal contacts Personalized letters with follow up calls Short and to the point! Make it easy to fund

you.

Succession Planning

Starts with the beginning of the project Included in the strategic plan – allows

a transition period Incorporates your institutions goals High visibility of project (marketing) Natural hand-off as possible LET GO…. Pass on ownership!

Case 1 - Trimentoring

Started in Nov 2003 with 2 Graduate Students as a woman only pilot

Good timing in terms of funding from Career Services

Applied for funding support from Dean’s office (PAF)

Expanded program (men and women) ~120 participants

“Mainstreamed” in 2006 to Dean’s office

What we did right

Clearly defined need Started small Aligned with institution need Lobbied almost from outset for staff support and

transfer to applied science Website, mailing list, operation manual Surveys (administered by career services) Marketed well

Industry (APEGBC) Administration and Marketing personnel (invited Dean

to events, got his picture with students) Students – made it a valuable program

Case 2: NEW@ubc

Started in 2005 with Seed funding from Jade

Initial goals were to find out “what women (in UBC engineering) want”

Focus groups, Survey, Report, Strategy meetings, lunches

2006 continuation added activities based on survey results – brownbags, keynotes.

Transferred to dean’s office in 2007 through a grant application to EEF

What we did right

Surveys and documentation Alignment to Institutional goals

Recruitment Image for WIE

Marketing to Institution BHD meeting EEF application

Alignment with other groups – DAWEG and SCWIST

Case 3: Building Communities Symposium

Started in 2006-18 months of planning Implemented in September 2007 Over 100 participant women

engineers Industry funded, 2 day event Future event in the works…

What we did right

Great Champion – Anja –Workstudy student

Marketing Alignment with DAWEG Surveys Had a really fantastic event! Working on succession

Things we did wrong

NEW@ubc name didn’t work! Burned out too many people – support

support support!!! Should have collaborated more – ownership

sharing and communication Made it too easy for institution… they

needed to take ownership sooner Did not get enough recognition from

institution for efforts (will we ever???) Lots of other stuff too, but I try not to worry

about it too much…

Biggest Challenges

Time People Money

In that order