Previous Research and Evaluation
The Center for Workforce Development has developed or administrated a wide variety of activities and programs aimed at improving the recruitment, retention and advancement of underrepresented groups in both the university and workplace setting. Activities have included:
UW / Ford Email Mentoring Program
CWD administrated the University of Washington/Ford Motor Company Engineering and Computer Science E-Mentoring Program.This successful program promoted e-mentoring relationships for UW students. Professional mentors and student mentees were matched based on similar fields of interest and preferences as stated in their applications. Once matched, mentoring pairs contacted each other and got acquainted via e-mail. By having a professional mentor from Ford, the student mentee had the opportunity to learn about the life and experience of a professional, gain knowledge of their field of interest, and become familiar with Ford Motor Company. Professional mentors also benefited from encouraging student mentees to succeed in engineering and computer science.
The goals of the program were to:
- Encourage female and minority students to pursue engineering and computer science disciplines
- Provide students with access to the professional community and with realistic viewpoints of the industry
- Provide students with personal and career guidance, and engage students with positive role models
- Enhance professional development of students at early stages
- Introduce Ford Motor Company and its culture to students
- Developed and pilot tested a professional business skills curriculum for community college students in science and engineering
- Evaluated the effectiveness and quality of DOE's Internship program in the Laboratories for college students in science and engineering
- Evaluated eight national WEPAN conferences
- Hosted Forum of Women Engineers for the World Congress of Engineers at EXPO 2000 in Hannover, Germany; expanded Global Alliance website; and planned for the UN World Congress of Engineers in 2005 in China.
Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE),
Department of Education
- Offered two national training seminars (40 institutions) to provide skills in recruiting and retaining women in science and engineering
- Designed and pilot tested a professional business skills curriculum for entry level engineers and scientists
- Designed, evaluated and disseminated a Curriculum for Training Mentors and Mentees in Science and Engineering (targeted at students, faculty and professionals scientists and engineers)
- Conducted and evaluated a national conference for untenured, tenure-track female faculty and graduate students in engineering, Achieving Success in Academe, and determined the need for further conferences.
- Designed, evaluated and disseminated a Curriculum for Training Mentors and Mentees in Science and Engineering (targeted at students, faculty and professionals scientists and engineers).
- Conducted a national evaluation of the effectiveness of women in engineering and science university programs.
- Provided technical assistance and training to universities in implementing and evaluating recruitment and retention programs for women in science and engineering.
- Conducted an 8-year assessment of the climate in engineering at the University of Washington to evaluate male and female students' perceptions of the quality of their engineering.
National Park Service, US Department of the Interior
- Created a mentoring program and mentor training curriculum customized for the retention and advancement of the National Park Service (NPS) employees.
- Developed a tracking system to evaluate the effectiveness of the program and training over time and the impact on the careers of NPS employees.
Engineering Information Foundation
- Expanded the Global Alliance web-site to meet the recruitment, retention, and advancement needs of women students in science and engineering in the three African nations of Mali, Egypt, and Nigeria.
- Designed and implemented a WEPAN national climate survey at 29 institutions to assess the climate for male and female students in engineering.
- Conducted 10-year longitudinal study tracking female engineering and science students from the point of entry in college through graduation to examine persistence and attrition factors.
- Designed, delivered and evaluated nine WEPAN Training Seminars for the recruitment and retention of women in engineering and the sciences.
- Created a website for WEPAN for the Global Alliance for Diversifying the Science and Engineering Workforce.