Faculty members Shihui Shen and Jennifer Adam met with students at the
SWE faculty tea.
Most of us would like to solve the most critical and challenging problems of our time in energy, the environment and health. We’d like to improve lives, make money and find jobs even in a difficult economic climate.
But mention a field of study in which many graduates actually accomplish these things, and half the population runs the other way. Engineering remains one of the most gender-segregated fields. WSU, for instance, is in line with national statistics showing that approximately 15 percent of certified engineering students are women.
“We are underutilizing half of the population – at a time when we particularly need engineers to address the critical issues of our time,” said Candis Claiborn, dean of the College of Engineering and Architecture (CEA).
Working to attract and keep students – especially women – in engineering, the college has begun a mentoring program.
The program matches freshmen engineering students with a practicing engineer who is a woman from their hometown. The aim is for the two to keep in touch throughout the student’s college years, said Cara Poor, assistant professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and adviser for the WSU Chapter of the Society for Women Engineers (SWE).
The mentor’s role is to provide support and answer questions about the engineering field, as well as to help the student see how her class work relates to what she may want to do in her career. Mostly, she Poor said, mentors serve as a way for students to connect with the engineering community.
Mentors and students communicate via e-mail throughout the year. During school breaks, the students and their mentor meet. The student may do a job shadow for a day, tour a facility or simply meet with her mentor for coffee. Last year, 38 students participated in the program.
Is it making a difference?
“Well
I wouldn’t have the future career path I’m on right now without the mentorship program,” said Samantha Damiano, a junior in electrical engineering. Damiano met her mentor, Marla Greenlund – an analyst at Lee & Hayes, a law firm specializing in patent law – through the mentorship program.
“When I went to the mentor luncheon, I had never heard of patent law before,” Damiano said. “The idea of combining my interest in English as well as engineering and law was fascinating to me. After Dr. Poor paired me with Marla, I had a great source of information on the possibilities of patent law and how to go about becoming an agent.”
In addition, Damiano said she has received critical support and encouragement from Greenlund as she has navigated being one of just a few women in several difficult classes.
The program is supported through a gift from Gary (’68, ME) and Sandy (’69, ME) Fryer. Sandy Fryer has been active in the CEA for a number of years, and she serves as a member on advisory boards both for the college and for the School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering. When she was a student attending WSU, Fryer recalls that several mechanical engineering professors served as mentors for her, and she is now participating in the program as a mentor.
“I don’t believe I would have made it through the program without their encouragement,” she said. “I would like all engineering students, but particularly women, to have the support of a mentor.
“I hate to see young women miss out on all the potential benefits of having an engineering degree because of stereotypes that make it seem uninteresting to them,” she added. “The range of opportunities for engineers is so diverse that there is a job out there that would interest almost every woman entering college this year.”
The program came about with the unique opportunity presented when Claiborn became dean, one of just a few women deans of engineering colleges in the U.S. While encouragement of students needs to start in middle school and continue through college, starting the mentoring program at WSU was the best way to provide an immediate difference in helping to retain students, Poor said.
The WSU student chapter of the SWE participated in planning the project, and a letter was mailed to engineering alumni asking for volunteer mentors. The response was “tremendous,” Fryer said.
The program is among a number of efforts that the college has undertaken to attract and retain students, especially women.
Earlier this month, the college held a tea where students, particularly female students, were invited to meet with women faculty members in engineering.
And a luncheon is planned on Saturday, Oct. 24, at the Miraubeau Park Hotel in Spokane. A fee of $100 is requested from each mentor; students get in free. Those who wish to attend may contact Poor via e-mail at cpoor@wsu.edu.
These efforts are starting to pay off. Since 2004, the number of women in the college has increased by 54 percent, and the number of underrepresented minorities has increased by 28 percent.
The program continues to look for mentors and students. For more information, see www.cea.wsu.edu/mentorprogram.
