Introduce a Girl To Engineering Day: Assessment and Future Directions

Final Paper pdf 260KB

Each year, the Citadel student chapter of the Society of Women Engineers (SWE), the
Lowcountry Branch of SWE, and the Girl Scouts of Eastern South Carolina coordinate to plan
and facilitate “Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day,” a three-hour outreach event designed to
excite middle-school-aged females about engineering. A survey, adapted from the Middle and
High School STEM-Student Survey developed by the Friday Institute for Educational
Innovation, was administered before and after the Spring 2016 outreach event. Participants
were asked to indicate their level of agreement with nine statements related to their interest in
and motivation to pursue an engineering degree. Statistical analyses indicated that engagement
in the event led to positive changes in participants’ engineering attitudes, perhaps most notably
their belief that they could “be successful in a career in engineering.”

Author(s):

Mary Katherine Watson    
Civil and Environmental Engineering
The Citadel
United States

Laura Russo    
Civil and Environmental Engineering
The Citadel
United States

Dimitra Michalaka    
Civil and Environmental Engineering
The Citadel
United States