System Fix: Transforming recruitment and education of engineers by the experience of WiE advocacy and experiment

Background

How the question of women’s low participation in engineering education, in faculties and in the workforce is a legitimate subject with which to

• engage engineering students and• build their capacity to participate and contribute to workplace

reforms as future professionals

Opportunity for a ‘system approach’ to gender diversity in engineering• significant policy reforms by federal government; • diversity innovation in many companies and public sector organizations; and • action arising from commitments made by some universities

Policy developments towards gender equity

National Paid Parental Leave

Right to request flexible working conditions by parents of children under 5 and children under 16 with disabilities

Reform and increased funding of the Equal Opportunity in the Workplace Agency (EOWA)

ASX Australian Stock Exchange Gender Diversity Reporting obligations

Challenge for University engineering faculties

Strategy to redress the participation by women at all levels for equity; workforce planning; academic leadership and national labour force

UTS Women in Engineering & IT

Recognised for model of outreach, support and partnering with industry and professional and non-profit organisations

to communicate opportunities of engineering & IT as choices of study and career to girls and young women; to support students; to engage and exchange with organisations which share these objectives

Godfrey & King attribute an additional 5% of female enrolment to such initiatives and credit them with

• Engaging women students in outreach, mentoring, peer support and leadership which builds confidence

• (Being)major contributors to recruitment • Attracting diverse stakeholders who bring valuable resources to universities. • Should be sustainably funded, and ‘embedded’ in faculty culture and

business (2011 p183).

http://www.utswomeninengineeringandit.blogspot.com

Outreach, support, partnering

Women in Engineering & IT Program (WiE&IT)

• Hands on Days for Years 8-10 and 11 & 12

• Lucy Mentoring in IT and engineering

• SWIEIT Speakers

• Year 8 Lab Days

• Scholarships

• Lunch meetings and seminars

Women in the engineering workforce and in academia

Poor retention in engineering workforce (<10%) (Mills et al 2008)

Rate of women in engineering academia is low and virtually unchanged since 1995 (WISE cited in Bell 2009)

King recommended the profession should address shortages by • addressing diversity in engineering workplaces supported by engineering

education programs and • revitalising the best of the Women in Engineering Programs(2008 p.111)

Opportunity

To use current developments for systemic culture change in engineering education towards valuing and including women (Godfrey & King 2011 p189)

and to transform aspects of structure, processes, work practices and mental models (ADVANCE Khare 2011)

Gender diversity ‘in practice’

Practice Based Engineering UTS• Integrates two industry internships and with preview and review coursework

subjects are recognized by the award of a Diploma of Engineering Practice.

Taking system approach to diversity by gender in engineering, based on a mandate from government and with current research means there is an

• opportunity to find sites in the curriculum in which to engage students about diversity in the workplace and the ‘business’ and equity case for reforms that will be of general benefit.

Gender Inclusive Curriculum

Mills, Ayre & Gill in Guidelines explain that this is grounded in a

Constructivist model of learning in which it is understood to be

Influenced by prior experiences and involves

Social activity which occurs through discussion and interactions where ways of thinking, of defining and solving problems and professional attributes and behaviours are modelled.

and that curriculum involves choices not only about knowledge and theories students learn but about the language, problems and examples used; the design of teaching and learning activities; the learning environment and mode of delivery, assessment and more.

(Mills, Ayer& Gill 2010 p1)

www.altc.edu.au/system/files/news/Guidelines_for_the_design_of_inclusive_

engineering_education_programs.pdf

Alternate experiences

For a female engineering student …

the lack of gender diversity in engineering would have been repeatedly flagged in her investigation of choices for study and career

It is unlikely to have been raised as an important consideration for her fellow male students in their decision-making.

This is a difference that can be exploited in teaching and learning by making gender diversity in the engineering course, and by field, and in the workforce generally, a subject of investigation and debate.

This would contribute to capacity building for engineers required to demonstrate newly published Stage 1 Competency Standards

Knowledge and Skill Base: Professional Engineer

Competency 1.5 Knowledge of contextual factors impacting the engineering discipline

Indicators of attainment include:

d) Identifies the structure, roles and capabilities of the engineering workforce, and

e) Appreciates the issues associated with international engineering practices and global operating contexts

Competency 3.6 Effective Team Member and team leadership

Indicators of attainment include:

a) Understand the fundamentals of team dynamics and leadership

b) Functions as an effective team member or leader of diverse teams, including those with multi-level, multi-disciplinary and multi-cultural dimensions (Engineers Australia 2011)

Mandate for WISE action

Gender Inclusive Curriculum

Promoted as a measure for increasing the recruitment and retention of women by Godfrey & King 2011 and

Endorsed by the Vice-Chancellors of the ATN universities as one of five recommended actions arising from the national Women in Science and Engineering Summit this year.

ATN VC’s WISE Recommendations

 1. The ATN work with a committee, that includes a Faculty Head/Dean and a senior female academic in STE, from each university to address:

a. Greater focus on girls participation in the pathways provided into maths, science and engineering study;

b. Sharing lessons and experiences in the recruitment and retention of female students in STE and investigating the development of some national programs across the ATN based on best practice at individual universities;

c. Reviewing with Faculty Heads/Deans the number of female academics in science, engineering and technology, with those targets to meet or exceed at all academic levels the proportion of women employed across STE industries in Australia;

d. Ensuring STE classes are conducive to women’s participation including through adoption of gender inclusive curriculum in engineering

 2. The ATN adopt the UN ‘Women’s Empowerment Principles: Equality Means Business’ and that universities also individually consider their adoption

Outlook

Policy developments give rise to the opportunity for a system approach in engineering faculties to redress the low participation of women at all levels.

Conditional on leadership and resources

Guidance by recommendations on women in engineering by Godfrey & King and draw on the work of Mills, Ayre & Gill on gender inclusive curriculum to engage male as well as female students on gender diversity

In this way students can value new diversity initiatives in their faculty and graduate with an increased literacy in diversity and equal opportunity and be able to take an active role in making their organizations more diverse, more inclusive and thereby more productive and better places to work.

 

Thanks!and to WIE&IT team: Laura Waibel, Karen Belista

and to Amy Burrows

Program Dir Women in Engineering & IT,

Lecturer, School of Systems, Management & Leadership

Faculty of Engineering & IT

University of Technology, Sydney

tel: +61 2 9514 2601

fax: +61 2 9514 1266

bronwyn.holland@uts.edu.au

ReferencesBell, S. (2009) Women in Science in Australia: Maximising Productivity, Diversity and Innovation, FASTS

Godfrey, E. and King, R. (2011) Curriculum specification and support for engineering education: understanding attrition, academic support, revised competencies, pathways and access, UTS, ALTC Viewed 13 July 2011

http://www.altc.edu.au/resource-engineering-qualification-curriculum-uts-2011

 

King, R. (2008) Addressing the supply and quality of engineering graduates, ALTC .Viewed 13 July 2011

http://www.altc.edu.au/resource-addressing-supply-quality-engineering-graduates-uts-2008

 

Mills, J., Mehrtens, V., Smith, E., Adams, V., 2008 CREW Revisited in 2007 The Year of Women in Engineering, An update on women’s progress in the Australian engineering workforce. Canberra

 Mills, J., Ayre, M. and Gill, J. (2010) Gender Inclusive Curriculum in Engineering, Routledge

Mills, J., Ayre, M. and Gill, J. (2010) Guidelines for the design of inclusive engineering education programs, ALTC

www.altc.edu.au/system/files/news/Guidelines_for_the_design_of_inclusive_engineering_education_programs.pdf

Payne, A-M.(ed.) (2004) Women in Non-traditional Fields at UTS, UTS Equity & Diversity Unit

Pond, S. and Holland, B. (2010) Australia needs women in the corner offices, FOCUS, FASTS , December pp26-28

 Ross-Smith, A. (2009) Review of UTS Gender Strategy, UTS Equity & Diversity Unit

 Shoemark, L. (2007) The Gender Jigsaw: Participation in non-traditional fields of study. UTS Sydney