University of Puerto RicoMayagüez Campus

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

UPRM: Achieving High Percentagesof Women Engineering Students

Sandra Cruz Pol, Ph.D. and José Colom, Ph.D.Associate Professors

National ConferenceNational ConferenceSan Juan, PRSan Juan, PR

June 2002June 2002"Engineering for ALL Women: Exploring Perspectives"

Presentation OutlinePresentation Outline

■ UPRM Overview◆ Campus◆ Engineering School◆ ECE Department◆ Women Statistics

■ Survey Results■ IAP Program

◆ Background◆ % women in IAP

UPRM BackgroundUPRM Background

■ Mayagüez is a Land-Grant, Sea-Grant, and Space-Grant CollegeFounded 1911

■ Student Population Around 14,000

■ Over 4,600 Engineering Students

■ Approximately 1,500 studentsat the ECE Department

General Library

UPRM-ECE ResearchUPRM-ECE ResearchInfrastructureInfrastructure

■ 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 CentersResearch Centers

■ Center for Computing Research andDevelopment (CECORD)

■ Tropical Center for Earth and SpaceStudies(TCESS)

■ Laboratory for Applied Remote Sensing andImage Processing (LARSIP)

■ Center for Subsurface Sensing and ImagingSystems (CenSSIS)

■ Center for Power Electronics Systems(CPES)

■ Radiation Laboratory■ Capstone Labs (Control, Robotics,

Networking, Electric Power Systems,Software Engineering Lab, Integrated CircuitDesign Lab)

■ CLoud Microwave Measurements ofATmospheric Events (CLiMMATE) Center

Largest Engineering Colleges according to enrollment 1997-98

0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000 7000 8000

Ohio State

University of Maryland

California State-Sacramento

University of Florida

California Polytechnic Institute

University of Texas-Austin

Iow a State

University of Michigan

***University of Puerto Rico

North Carolina State

Virginia Polytechnic Institute

Illinois-Urbana Champaign

Georgia Institute of Technology

Purdue

Texas A&M

Penn State

Largest Engineering CollegesLargest Engineering Colleges(ASEE 98)(ASEE 98)

NUMBER OF ENGINEERING DEGREES 1999-2000

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

STUDENTS

Number of Engineering DegreesNumber of Engineering DegreesGranted 1999-2000Granted 1999-2000

What Characterizes ourWhat Characterizes ourUPRM Undergraduate EducationUPRM Undergraduate Education

■ A five year program ( EE & CE: 168Credits)

■ 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 EngineeringUndergraduate EngineeringHispanicHispanic Full-time Student Enrollment: Full-time Student Enrollment:

Top 10 Institutions, Fall 1997Top 10 Institutions, Fall 1997

4360

2444

12241072

713482 469 466 442 425

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

3500

4000

4500

University ofPuerto Rico

Poly. Univ. ofPuerto Rico

FloridaIntl.Univ.

Univ. of TexasEl Paso

Texas A&M New MexicoState Univ.

Cal Poly-SanLuis Obispo

Cal Poly-Ponoma

CCNY(CityCollege-CUNY)

Univ. ofFlorida

Women in EngineeringWomen in EngineeringEnrollment: Top 10 Colleges, FallEnrollment: Top 10 Colleges, Fall

19971997

16711601

13791244 1237 1236

995 934868

786

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

1600

1800

UNIVERSITY OFPUERTO RICO

PURDUEUNIVERSITY

TEXAS A&M GEORGIA INST. OFTECH.

U. MICHIGAN PENN STATE UNIV U. ILLINOIS NC STATE UNIV MICHIGAN STATEUNIV

UNIV. OF TEXASAUSTIN

Engineering Female S tudents at UPRM

0.05.0

10.015.020.025.030.035.040.045.0

1993

1994

1995

1996

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

Year

Perc

enta

ge

%Undergrads Women in all engineering(except Agrim-surveying/Top)

%Degrees Granted to Women inEngineering (except AgrSurveyingTop)

Percentage of Women in UPRM Engineering CollegePercentage of Women in UPRM Engineering College

% Women

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

CIVIL

ELECTRICAL

INDUSTRIAL

MECANICAL

CHEMICAL

COMPUTER

% Women amongst UPRM% Women amongst UPRMEngineering DepartmentsEngineering Departments

Results from SurveyResults from Survey

■ In the Spring of 2002, a small group (36) ofUPRM students where asked to answer aquestionnaire to try to identify reasons forUPRM 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

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

not HS graduate

HS graduate

Some college

College graduate

MS degre

e

PhD degree

advanced training

Parents' Education

Mother

Father

Parents’ EducationParents’ Education

Family Annual Income

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

< $10,000 $10,000 -$20,000

$20,000-$30,000

$30,000 -$50,000

> $50,000

Family Annual incomeFamily Annual income

0

5

10

15

20

25

Elementary school HS First 2 years ofcollege

When first think majoring in Engineering?

When started to think aboutWhen started to think aboutEngineeringEngineering

Factors Contributing to HighFactors Contributing to High% of women in Engineering*% of women in Engineering*

■ Career image as empowering(engineering viewed as a greatprofessional opportunity forwomen)

■ 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.

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

Was

goo

d in

M&S

in HS

It is

an e

mpow

ering

car

eer

Pare

nts/

relat

ives

motiv

ated

me

Did

well

in S

AT e

xams

It is

a Pr

estig

ious

care

erPa

rticip

ated

in P

EP

To b

e ec

onom

ically

inde

pend

ent

Parti

cipat

ed in

S&E

Fair

s

HS c

ouns

elor s

ugge

sted

eng

Have

role

mode

ls

For f

inanc

ial re

ason

s

HS te

ache

rs m

otiva

ted

meOt

her

Factors Contributing to HighFactors Contributing to High% of women in Engineering% of women in Engineering

Support from Classmates

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

generallysupportive

sometimessupportive

notsupportive

Neutral sometimeshostile

quitehostile

other

MalesFemales

Support from ClassmatesSupport from Classmates

Encountered Resistance?

02468

1012141618

No*

Yes:

only

for m

en

Yes,

too di

fficult

yes,

stere

otype

s

*47% women did not

encountered resistance

Encountered Resistance?Encountered Resistance?

Why High % in UPRM women in Eng?Students' Perception

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

Cultural re

asons

Role models

Encoraged by p

arents.

Motivatio

n in HS

encouraged in

S&E fairs

studyin

g environ. (n

ot hostil

)

encouraged PEP

encouraged by H

S teach

ers

HS counse

ling

Economic r

easons

encouraged by p

rofs

Why High % of women,Why High % of women,according to students?according to students?

IAP ProgramIAP 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 Participationin Undergraduate Research Programs compared

to %women in ECE

05

101520253035

1991

1992

1993

1994

1995

1996

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

Year

%Female in IAP% Female in ECE

Conclusions & Future WorkConclusions & Future Work

■ Small measures like Awareness can make a bigdifference

■ 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?