Laura Bottomley

Women in engineering at North Carolina State University: an effort in recruitment, retention, and encouragement

This paper describes the approaches the authors are taking in the Women in Engineering Program at North Carolina State University (USA) to ensure the success of women students. The Women in Engineering Program is dedicated to an umbrella approach to success for all women. The efforts of the program start at the elementary/middle school level, with school visits designed to encourage girls to view math and science as fun disciplines for which they have ability and to continue through high school with more overt recruiting. Summer and early freshman year experiences are designed to bridge from high school to college. Mentoring and other support-oriented programs and career fairs aim to effect a bridge to post-undergraduate work experiences. Many of these programs either parallel or are directly connected to similar efforts aimed at minority engineers.

Longitudinal assessment of a freshman engineering orientation course

The authors describe how an engineering orientation course, pilot-tested in 1996, has improved the freshman engineering students introduction to disciplinary thinking and problem solving. They detail, however, that it has not yet resulted in improved matriculation rates.