Achieving Parity of the Sexes at the Undergraduate Level: A Study of Success |
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| Authors: | Teri J. Murphy Randa L. Shehab Teri Reed‐Rhoads Cindy E. Foor Betty J. Harris Deborah A. Trytten Susan E. Walden Mary Besterfield‐Sacre M. Susan Hallbeck William C. Moor |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Department of Mathematics University of Oklahoma;2. Teri J. Murphy is an associate professor of Mathematics at the University of Oklahoma. Her B.S. in Mathematics is from Kent State University. She received her M.S. degrees in Mathematics and Applied Mathematics and her Ph.D. in Mathematics Education from the University of Illinois at Urbana‐Champaign. Her research area is undergraduate mathematics education.;3. School of Industrial Engineering University of Oklahoma;4. Randa L. Shehab is the interim director and an associate professor of Industrial Engineering at the University of Oklahoma. She received her B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering from the University of Oklahoma. Her research areas include equity and diversity in engineering education, human factors, and performance assessment of special populations.;5. College of Engineering and Department of Engineering Education Purdue University;6. Teri Reed‐Rhoads is an assistant dean of Engineering and an associate professor of Engineering Education at Purdue University. Her B.S. in Petroleum Engineering is from the University of Oklahoma. She received her M.B.A. from the University of Texas of the Permian Basin and her Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering from Arizona State University. Her research areas include statistics education, concept inventory development, assessment and evaluation of learning and programs, recruitment and retention topics, diversity, equity, and P‐12 engineering education outreach.;7. K20 Center for Education and Community Renewal University of Oklahoma;8. Cindy E. Foor is a research associate in the K20 Center for Education and Community Renewal and the Assistant Director of the Research Institute for STEM Education at the University of Oklahoma. She received her B.A. in Anthropology from the University of Oklahoma and her M.A. in Cultural Anthropology from Western Michigan University. Her research interests include ethnography of marginalized populations, cultural theory, issues of gender and underrepresented populations in STEM education and the construction of women's cultural identities and roles in past and present societies, with special focus on emerging nationalist projects.;9. Women's Studies Program and Department of Anthropology University of Oklahoma;10. Betty J. Harris is a professor of Anthropology and Director of Women's Studies at the University of Oklahoma. She received her A.M. and Ph.D. degrees from Brown University. Her research interests include women in science and in higher education in general, political economy, and feminist pedagogy.;11. School of Computer Science University of Oklahoma;12. Deborah A. Trytten is the interim director and an associate professor of Computer Science at the University of Oklahoma. Her B.A. in Physics and Mathematics is from Albion College. She received her M.S. degrees in Applied Mathematics and Computer Science and her Ph.D. in Computer Science from Michigan State University. Her current research interests include lower division software engineering education, collaborative learning, assessment, diversity issues, educational gaming, and K‐12 outreach.;13. Susan E. Walden is a research scientist in the K20 Center for Educational and Community Renewal and the founding Director of the Research Institute for STEM Education at the University of Oklahoma. She received her M.S. and Ph.D. in Computational Organic Chemistry from the University of Oklahoma. Her research interests include undergraduate science and engineering education and university‐K‐12 partnerships in education.;14. Department of Industrial Engineering University of Pittsburgh;15. Mary Besterfield‐Sacre is an associate professor in Industrial Engineering and a Fulton C. Noss Faculty Fellow at the University of Pittsburgh. She received her B.S. in Engineering Management from the University of Missouri‐Rolla, her M.S. in Industrial Engineering from Purdue University, and a Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering at the University of Pittsburgh. Her principal research interests are in empirical modeling applications for quality improvement in manufacturing and service organizations and in engineering education evaluation methodologies.;16. Department of Industrial and Management Systems Engineering University of Nebraska ‐ Lincoln;17. M. Susan Hallbeck is a professor of Industrial and Management Systems Engineering at the University of Nebraska‐Lincoln. She received her bachelor's degree in Industrial Engineering from Iowa State University, her master's degree in Industrial Engineering from Texas Tech University, and her Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering and Operations Research from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. Her research areas include ergonomics and product design.;18. Ira A. Fulton School of Engineering Arizona State University;19. William C. Moor is professor emeritus in the Ira A. Fulton School of Engineering at Arizona State University. Moor received his B.S.I.E. and M.S.I.E. in industrial engineering from Washington University in 1963 and 1965, respectively. He received his Ph.D. from Northwestern University in 1968. |
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| Abstract: | Most research about women in engineering focuses on reasons for their under‐representation. In contrast, we capitalized on an opportunity to study success: the School of Industrial Engineering at the University of Oklahoma had organically achieved parity of the sexes at the undergraduate level. To investigate this success, we adopted an ethnographic perspective, interviewing 185 students who represented four fields and four institutions as well as 12 faculty in Industrial Engineering at the University of Oklahoma. These data pointed to a combination of aspects of the discipline and the department culture as explanatory variables. Emerging from the data was a third explanatory variable: a high number of students, disproportionately many women, who relocated into Industrial Engineering from another major, underscoring the impact of broad recruiting activities. This paper emphasizes ideas that other departments can consider adapting to their own efforts to increase diversity. |
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| Keywords: | industrial engineering sex parity success |
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