ICEE 2010

Attracting and Retaining Women and Attracting and Retaining Women and

Underrepresented Groups in Underrepresented Groups in

Engineering, Science, and Related Engineering, Science, and Related

ProgramsPrograms

ICEE 2010 – Gliwice, PolandICEE 2010 – Gliwice, Poland

July 18-22, 2010July 18-22, 2010

The Community College of Baltimore The Community College of Baltimore

County County

Sylvia Sorkin, Sylvia Sorkin, Mathematics Dept. Mathematics Dept.

Mary Elizabeth Gore, Mary Elizabeth Gore, Mathematics Dept. Mathematics Dept.

Community College of Baltimore County

Public, two-year college system with 3 campuses

Fall 2009 credit enrollment: 23,584 students

– 36% were full-time

– 62% Female

– 25% Pell recipients

– 31% African-American

– 1,578 Associate degrees awarded FY09

What groups are under-represented?

In 2003, women were 46% of the total U.S. workforce, but just 26% of the college educated science and engineering workforce.

Under-represented minorities include African-Americans, Hispanics, and other non-Asian ethnic groups including Native Americans.

These under-represented minorities comprised 24% of U.S. population, but just 10% of the college-educated science and engineering workforce in 2003.

NSF S-STEM 4-Year Project

Funded by U.S National Science Foundation (NSF).

Project goal to increase the enrollment, graduation, and transfer of students in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) programs at CCBC.

Scholarship awardees must be:U.S. CitizensPermanent Resident AliensRefugee Aliens

What Interventions Were Used?

Two-day summer career program for awardees focusing on STEM programs

Need-based scholarship program

Mentoring of all awardees by 7 STEM faculty

Internship assistance for awardees

Scholarship Criteria

Minimum 2.8 Grade Point Average

Eligible for Intermediate Algebra, or higher Register for 12 credits and maintain 2.8

GPA in one of these 7 transfer programs:

Biology Chemistry Computer Science Engineering Environmental Science Mathematics Physics

STEM Scholarship Awardees

Each has a faculty mentor in a STEM field

Use monthly Mentoring Logs to record meetings

Complete an Annual Student Attitude Questionnaire to track attitudes toward STEM fields

ccbcmd.edu/stem/sstem.html

NSF STEM Funding at CCBC

From Fall 2008 through Spring 2010,From Fall 2008 through Spring 2010,

57 students received scholarships57 students received scholarships

Average award was for 2 semestersAverage award was for 2 semesters

Scholarship up to $10,000 per year, Scholarship up to $10,000 per year,

depends on financial needdepends on financial need

Faculty Mentoring

Aimed at increasing retentionAimed at increasing retention

7 faculty mentors meet at least monthly 7 faculty mentors meet at least monthly

with their 3-4 student menteeswith their 3-4 student mentees

Monthly mentoring logs submitted by Monthly mentoring logs submitted by

faculty and studentsfaculty and students

Mentor creates an individual academic plan Mentor creates an individual academic plan

with each awardeewith each awardee

Efforts to Increase Transfer Rate

Awardees encouraged to complete Awardees encouraged to complete

bachelor’s degrees in STEM fields.bachelor’s degrees in STEM fields.

Up to 20% of scholarship funds designated Up to 20% of scholarship funds designated

to “follow” awardees who transfer.to “follow” awardees who transfer.

After transfer, students can receive up to 2 After transfer, students can receive up to 2

semesters of scholarship funding.semesters of scholarship funding.

CCBC faculty continue to mentor awardees CCBC faculty continue to mentor awardees

after transfer.after transfer.

Where are the 57 awardees?

As of Fall 2010,As of Fall 2010, 26 26 have transferred to 4-year colleges have transferred to 4-year colleges

University of Maryland Baltimore County (10) University of Maryland Baltimore County (10)

University of Maryland College Park (6) University of Maryland College Park (6)

Towson University (2)Towson University (2)

Brigham Young University Idaho (1)Brigham Young University Idaho (1)

University of Maryland Baltimore (1)University of Maryland Baltimore (1)

George Washington University (1)George Washington University (1)

University of Baltimore (1)University of Baltimore (1)

University of Delaware (1) University of Delaware (1)

Swarthmore College (1)Swarthmore College (1)

Hampton University (1)Hampton University (1)

University of Miami (1)University of Miami (1)

CCBC STEM Awardees F08 – S10 by Racial/Ethnic Group

S-STEM AwardeesS-STEM Awardees F F 08 - S1008 - S10

Racial/Ethnic Group

% of CCBCFall 2009

CreditEnrollment

Number ofS-STEM

Awardeesthrough

Spring 2010

% ofS-STEM

Awardees

White 53% 20 35%

AfricanAmerican

34% 19 33%

Asian 5% 12 21%

Hispanic 3% 4 7%

Other 5% 2 4%

TOTAL: 100% 57 100%

Full-Time Students by Major Fall 07 – Fall 09

Full-Time CCBC StudentsFull-Time CCBC Students 

 

Program Number of Full-Time Program Majors

Fall 2007 Fall 2008 Fall 2009

ENGR 115 111 189

CMSC 97 106 143

Other Science 177 254 294

Total S-STEM: 389 471 626

% S-STEM: 5.8 % 6.6 % 7.3 %

All CreditPrograms 6,660 7,172 8,558

Percent of Female Students in Majors Fall 07 – Fall 09

Female Students in CCBC MajorsFemale Students in CCBC Majors 

 

Program Female Enrollment (Percent)

Fall 2007 Fall 2008 Fall 2009

ENGR 16 % 13 % 10 %

CMSC 23 % 17 % 19 %

Other Science 62 % 55 % 59 %

All Credit Programs 63 % 62 % 63 %

In the State of Maryland

Over 14,000 Over 14,000 Full-Time Freshmen entered Full-Time Freshmen entered the 16 community colleges in MD in 2004the 16 community colleges in MD in 2004

Over 2,000 Over 2,000 Full-Time entered CCBC in 2004Full-Time entered CCBC in 2004

““Success” Success” isis defined as:defined as:

TransferTransfer to a 4-year institution to a 4-year institution

or or

GraduationGraduation with Associate’s degree or with Associate’s degree or certificatecertificate

Transferred

Graduated but did not transfer

Still at community college

Dropped out

MD state cohort of 14,527 full-time public community college freshman 4 years after 2004 entry

26%

12%

53%

9%

Transfer, Graduation, RetentionTransfer, Graduation, Retention

35% Success Rate

Transferred

Graduated but did not transfer

Still at community college

Dropped out

MD state cohort of 14,527 full-time public community college freshman 4 years after 2004 entry

26%

12%

53%

9%

Transfer, Graduation, RetentionTransfer, Graduation, Retention

57 CCBC S-STEM awardees 2 years after first awards made

46%

5%

47%

48% Success Rate2%

S-STEM Scholars - Program & GenderS-STEM Scholars - Program & Gender

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

BIOL CHEM CMSC ENGR ENVS MATH PHYS

Female

MaleNu

mb

er

57 S-STEM Awardees Fall 08 - Spring 10

57 S-STEM Awardees Fall 08 - Spring 10

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

African-American

Asian White Hispanic Other

Racial/Ethnic

Num

ber

Female

Male

33% 21% 35% 7% 4%

S-STEM Scholars - Race & EthnicityS-STEM Scholars - Race & Ethnicity

Scholarship Awardee OutcomesScholarship Awardee Outcomes

30% of S-STEM awardees female

(17/57)

40% of S-STEM awardees African American or Hispanic (23/57)

Attitude Assessment QuestionnaireAttitude Assessment Questionnaire

24 questions administered to awardees

at the start of each semester

To determine what factors influence awardees to select and persist in STEM fields

Responses to Selected Statements

30% of awardees were femaleI feel

enthusiastic about my

STEM major

I intend to pursue a

career in STEM area

Having a mentor is vital to my success

STEM role models have

had a positive effect on me

Agree or

Strongly Agree

Agree or

Strongly Agree

Agree or

Strongly Agree

Agree or

Strongly Agree

August 2008N=19

100 % 85 % 74 % 63 %

January 2009N=25

100 % 87 % 76 % 64 %

August 2009N=29

97 % 94 % 78 % 82 %

Gender of S-STEM Awardees

30% of awardees were female

Percent of Female Awardees by Program

PHYS CMSC ENGR CHEM MATH BIOL ENVS

25% 25% 26% 27% 33% 36% 50%

The Community College of Baltimore The Community College of Baltimore County, Maryland, USACounty, Maryland, USA

ssorkin@ccbcmd.edussorkin@ccbcmd.edu

mgore@ccbcmd.edumgore@ccbcmd.edu

Acknowledgement

This project was supported in part by the

National Science Foundation under S-

STEM award DUE-0806664. Opinions

expressed are those of the authors and

do not necessarily reflect the views of the

NSF.