Joyce B. Main

The Impact of Letter Grades on Student Effort, Course Selection, and Major Choice: A Regression-Discontinuity Analysis

The authors apply a regression-discontinuity design to identify the causal impact of letter grades on student effort within a course, subsequent credit hours taken, and the probability of majoring in economics. Their methodology addresses key issues in identifying the causal impact of letter grades: correlation with unobservable factors, such as motivation, and direction of causation. They find no evidence that letter grades influence undergraduate students’ course-taking behavior or decision to major in economics. They find that, within a course, the first exam letter grade can affect student performance on the second exam.

Gender Homophily, Ph.D. Completion, and Time to Degree in the Humanities and Humanistic Social Sciences

Doctoral programs in the humanities and humanistic social sciences contend with relatively lower graduation rates and longer duration to degree. While reforming graduate education can include changes to financial aid awards and program requirements, enhancements in the area of advising can also improve student educational experiences and outcomes within existing institutional structures. The frequency of advisor-advisee communications during the dissertation process, as well as the advisor’s attitude toward dissertation completion, influences program duration. Moreover, gender homophily, or same-gender mentorship, is associated with higher graduation probabilities for women doctoral students.

Academic predictors of cooperative education participation

Cooperative education (co-op) programs in engineering provide students with relevant professional experience before they finish their undergraduate degree. Most programs and employers have academic eligibility requirements that make it difficult to infer whether successful employment outcomes are due to the selection of higher performing students or the causal effect of co-op participation. The goal of this study is to determine factors that are associated with participation in engineering cooperative education programs, controlling for eligibility. Longitudinal and multivariate data from six different institutions, each with large engineering programs where co-op participation is not mandatory, were studied with stepwise logistic regression. Results show that cumulative GPA at the end of the second semester is the strongest predictor of co-op participation. While institutional differences, year of matriculation, ethnicity, major discipline, and high school variables are also significant, gender is not related to co-op participation. The results from this paper will provide useful information for colleges, co-op administrators, and employers about who participates in co-op programs.

The Underrepresentation of Women in Computing Fields: A Synthesis of Literature Using a Life Course Perspective

Using a life course perspective, this literature review synthesizes research on women’s underrepresentation in computing fields across four life stages: 1) pre-high school; 2) high school; 3) college major choice and persistence; and 4) post-baccalaureate employment. Issues associated with access to, and use of, computing resources at the pre-high school and high school levels are associated with gender differences in interest and attitudes toward computing. At the college level, environmental context (classroom design, interactions with peers and role models, signals from stereotypical images) contribute to whether students will major in computing, whereas psychosocial factors (e.g., sense of belonging and self-efficacy) and departmental culture play a role in persistence in computing fields. As in other fields, issues associated with work-life conflict, occupational culture, and mentoring/networking opportunities play a role in women’s participation in the computing workforce. Several initiatives and programs have been implemented to address women’s underrepresentation in computing fields. While great strides have been made in making computing more accessible, the life course perspective highlights the importance of longitudinal studies in identifying students’ pathways to and through computing fields, as well as how interventions across life stages may intersect or cumulate to generate trends in computing participation.

The factors affecting the persistence of Latina faculty: A literature review using the intersectionality of race, gender, and class

This literature review explores the state of research on the factors affecting the persistence of Latina faculty. Although its focus is on engineering, it also draws from research on Latina faculty in other areas of science. The results are analyzed through Intersectionality Theory, which considers overlapping identities related to gender, race and class and their interactions to promote or hinder the advancements of Latinas in academia. The synthesized research identifies the influence of factors such as group identity, familismo, value of community, resilience, availability of role models and mentors, financial barriers, as factors most affecting Latina faculty during their education and academic careers. Although current literature explores factors and paradoxes surrounding strategies for and barriers to Latina success in STEM careers, this synthesis finds a lack of literature examining the multiple identities of Latina women, and few reports considering the intersectionality of identities as it pertains to Latina underrepresentation in Engineering. This critical literature review concludes with opportunity areas for future research to be conducted.

Exploring the intersection of veteran status, age, and engineering study

Student veterans have become an increasing presence in higher education. We seek to understand the role of the military as a pathway into engineering for student veteran engineers as well as investigate the character and content of their educational experiences. The results of seven focus groups with 29 student veterans indicate that the decision to major in engineering is often, but not always, related to their service. Veteran students are often open with faculty about their veteran status, however they are less likely to reveal it to other students. Veterans believe that their status as a veteran is a significant asset in engineering studies but that their age is less so.

Student evaluations of team members: Is there gender bias?

The ability to work effectively in teams is a critical learning outcome for engineering students. It is among the ABET requirements and a skill desired by employers for it is integral to innovation, product development, and to a positive working environment. Many engineering courses provide students with opportunities to develop their team skills through projects, in-class activities, and other assignments. Peer assessment of team skills increases student accountability to teammates, helps students gauge what is expected from them, and assists instructors in assigning course grades. However, there are few studies examining whether gender bias occurs during peer assessment. This work aims to address this gap. Using a randomized experiment, this study examines whether there are differences in how students evaluate the performance of male and female team members. The survey participants include 590 first-year engineering students at a research institution in the Midwest. Each participant rated and evaluated the skills and qualities of a fictional team member. The description of the fictional team member is exactly the same, except the name assigned to the fictional member was randomly depicted as female or male. The results indicate that there is no difference in how students evaluate male and female fictional team members. The female team members, however, received higher ratings related to their contributions and punctuality. These findings are consistent with previous research on gender bias on teaming evaluations at the undergraduate level, and suggest that peer assessments may be a useful method to provide students with additional feedback regarding their team skills.

Have you ever wondered why? Qualitative research methods to investigate engineering education

This session will engage participants in how to apply multiple qualitative research methods to examine emerging issues in engineering education. The focus will be on using qualitative methods — grounded theory, thematic analysis, and content analysis — across multiple data collection methods (individual interviews, focus groups, key informant interviews, and policy/programmatic artifacts) and across several institutions. Benefits and challenges associated with data collection, synthesis, analysis, and triangulation across multiple research sites will be discussed, as well as the important role of theoretical frameworks in designing engineering education inquiry. It is expected that participants will gain a greater appreciation of qualitative methods that can be used to answer important questions in engineering education.

Transitioning from military service to engineering education

According to the National Science Foundation, increasing the proportion of veterans pursuing engineering degrees will help meet USAs need for more engineers. The USA offers benefits to military veterans to pay for higher education and they bring valuable assets from their service experience to their engineering education. More research is needed to improve institutional efforts to help veterans integrate these assets into their engineering education. In this paper, we draw on focus group data to explore transition issues faced by student veterans as they move from the military to higher education to pursue their undergraduate engineering degrees. We consider transition from the military and transition to the university, focusing on institutional policies and practices, co-curricular supports, and the relationship between service experiences and engineering study.

Using life course theory to frame women and girls' trajectories toward (or away) from computing: Pre high-school through college years

In this study, life course theory was used to synthesize research on womens underrepresentation in computing across 4 stages of their academic trajectory: pre high-school, high-school, college recruitment, and college retention. The Association for Computing Machinery and IEEE Explore databases, as well as select journals that publish on women in computing, were searched for relevant work. The synthesis reveals issues of use and access at early ages; several efforts at interventions at the pre high-school and high-school stage; the influence of stereotypical images of computing at the college recruitment stage; and exclusionary behavior and womens computing self efficacy as important issues at the retention stage. Similarities and differences across these stages are discussed, and recommendations are made for future work based on the synthesis and life course framework.