Imperial and the female student Alison Ahearn and Esat Alpay Faculty of Engineering – EnVision .
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Transcript of Imperial and the female student Alison Ahearn and Esat Alpay Faculty of Engineering – EnVision .
Imperial and the female student
Alison Ahearn and Esat Alpay
Faculty of Engineering – EnVision
www.imperial.ac.uk/envision
Imperial recruits more women students than average in SET. Nationally, < 33% of science-trained women stay in science.
Imperial has various initiatives in gender and SET.
Imperial has a formal action plan.
Imperial has no central co-ordinator re students and gender.
Is one needed? Or are we ok?
From Joint Council for Qualifications via UK Resource Centre for Women in SET: HE Stats webpage www.ukrc.ac.uk
STEM at GCE: 130,500 boys 101,200 girls. (Total GCE exams: 828,000)
Is there really any problem? A grade at A-levels: if girl does exam, slightly more likely to get A-grade than a boy (but more boys sit the exams).
Imperial and the female student?
• Key (incidental) findings from some research into PhD student experience
• Outline of a workshop run with PhD students as an intervention
• College formal Gender Equality Plan
• Independent initiatives by staff, by students
The Skills Perception Inventory (SKIPI)
• 4 skills areas:group workcommunicationplanning and project management
personal awareness
• value and benefits of skills training?
• internal reliability; control questions
Procedure
• paired-samples study
pre- and post-course differences
follow-up study after ~5-6 weeks
• administered on 10 courses in 2005/6 (32 students per course)
Pre- and Post-Course Differences?
postprepostprepostprepostpre
5
4
3
2
1
(a) (b) (c) (d)
[3.60] [4.06] [3.54] [3.94] [3.34] [3.71] [3.41] [3.89]sd=0.52 sd=0.52 sd=0.53 sd=0.52 sd=0.60 sd=0.54 sd=0.54 sd=0.54
p < 0.001 for all cases
control questions:
no differences
group work
communication
planning
awareness
Gender Differences?
gender differences most obvious in group work and communication areas, especially before the course
(f<m; p<0.02 )
group work means…“working with others on an interdisciplinary group project” “having my ideas listened to by other group members” “coordinating a group”
communication means…“being able to give constructive feedback to peers and other students”
“dealing with conflict with my supervisor”
…hence focus group studies…
Outcomes of focus groups:Imperial College / Institute of Education study (2007) on female PhDs at Imperial
• lack of effective female role models
• perceived disadvantages in some networking situations
• serious concerns about managing a family and an academic career
• some self-esteem issues
Grad Schools Gender Workshop: Topics Covered
• your feelings, experiences and views on some gender issues in the research environment
• stereotyping and its potential problems
• forms of differential treatment
• some facts / realities about gender issues
• male vs. female priorities?
• things we can do…
Activity 1: stereotyping…
internal (self-imposed):• stereotype threat• self-fulfilling prophecy• impostor syndrome (“phoneyism”) • self-effacing / diffident behaviour
external (imposed on you):• fundamental attribution error• differential treatment
Activity 2:
Do you feel that male and female workers in your research group are treated equally, e.g. by technicians, supervisors, external academics and professionals?
Activity 3:
What are your experiences / knowledge of subtle forms of gender-based discrimination?
Differential treatment
exclusion
back-lashbody language
invisibility
sexual innuendo
hostility
tokenism
role stereotyping
condescension
devaluation
Activity 4:
Communication style and decision making: issues?
Myers-Briggs gender differences?Empathising vs. Systemising? (Simon Baron-Cohen, 2004)
Activity 5:
work-life balance
Activity 6:
actions
Some equality activities in College
Equalities team Christine Yates,
Kalpna Mistry and associates & committees
Outreach: widening participation
Recruiting students, summer schools,
student first contact with College?
Kids’Creative futures
Imperial as One
(staff & race)
Grad school workshop: potential staff
Academic Opps
Committee
SWANScientific Women’s Academic Network
RCS good practice guide
Inst. of PhysicsStats women HE
Student Women in SET society
Student-led outreach
open days for girls
FACULTY SUPPORT
Eng
Science
ICUCGCU
Student Socs
Imperial Volunteer Centre
Inspiration PhD &
Postdocs170QG events
Depts
RAEng Future ofEngineering Research
GESGender Equality Scheme
Tutor for female
students: civil eng
Staff ambassadors
Student-led equality efforts
Equalities team Christine Yates,
Kalpna Mistry and associates & committees
Grad school workshop: data from students
Student Women in SET society
Student-led outreach
open days for girls
ICUCGCU
Student Socs
Imperial Volunteer Centre
Inspiration PhD &
Postdocs170QG events
Examples of student society activities:
Open-days for girls (involves male student input but mostly by women for girls)
International site visit: first woman guide.
Railsoc gets first women student members (not wife or girlfriend)
“Bottle match” extends to women
Actions by College for students
Equalities team and equality committees
e.g. Eng
e.g. Science
Imperial Volunteer Centre:
incidental infrastructure support: advertising increases women’s
participation?
STAFF
Students
DEPT action
e.g. females’ tutor
Registry
Outreach
To potential students
Admission tutors training?
Fac MedAdmission
tests (fairer?)
Gender Gender Equality Equality SchemeScheme
?
Ambassadors
FACULTY SUPPORT (ad hoc)
College Female Ambassadors for staff
Professor Maria Petrou
Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering
Professor Lesley CohenDepartment of Physics
Professor Maria Belvisi
National Heart and Lung Institute
College Gender Equality Plan:
Imperial as a Provider of Education - Objectives and Outcomes44. Our objectives and outcomes are as follows:Objective 9
achieving greater gender equality for students via our policies and proceduresObjective 10 achieving a greater gender balance on engineering and natural science degreesObjective 11
undergraduate and postgraduate programme content, and learning and teaching methods, tackle stereotyping of male and female roles
Objective 12 eliminating harassment, including sexual harassment, bullying and victimisation of current or potential students
Objective 13 eliminating discrimination against, and harassment of, transsexual students or potential students
College’s Gender Equality Scheme
ACTION PLAN (April 2008) (does this capture all we are doing?) EXAMPLE: ITEM 17:
Objective: more females in engineering and natural science Action: “Outreach programme is extensive and expanded”
Objective: Fair admissions procedures and proper training for Admissions Tutors
Action: Funding bid re training of Admissions Tutors for 08/09; Action: Rector’s “Away Day” concentrated on recruiting best students:
“an entrance exam, to assist in removing subjective judgements over selection, is being developed, and consideration is being given to whether applicants must be interviewed”
LEADERS: Head of Outreach and Academic Registrar
Thus, we could say that we have….
many activities, many champions, many levels
with clear initiatives for staff
but we have an ad hoc and incomplete picture regarding students?
Does it matter?Do we care?What next? Who to do it?