IA’s leading role in the STEM Equity Pipeline Project April 22, 2011 Des Moines, IA

1. IA’s leading role in the STEM Equity Pipeline Project April 22, 2011 Des Moines, IA Courtney Reed Jenkins National Alliance for Partnerships in Equity Education Foundation 608/886-0728 creedjenkins@napequity.org

2. Overview • What would you like as a take-away? • What does the data tell us? • What are we doing in IA? • What can we take back to our communities? • Please join us!

3. Girls and women in science, technology, engineering, and math What the Data Tell Us

4. Girls’ performance and participation in math and science subjects in high school has improved over time and, in some cases, has surpassed that of boys.

5. In high school, both boys and girls are earning more credits in math and science over time, and girls earn more credits than boys do. High School Credits Earned in Math and Science, by Gender, 1990–2005 Source: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 2007, The Nation's Report Card: America's high school graduates. Results from the 2005 NAEP High School Transcript Study, by C. Shettle et al. (NCES 2007-467) (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office).

6. Female high school graduates now also earn higher GPAs, on average, in math and science, than their male peers do. Grade Point Average in High School Mathematics and Science (Combined), by Gender, 1990–2005 Source: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 2007, The Nation's Report Card: America's high school graduates: Results from the 2005 NAEP High School Transcript Study, by C. Shettle et al. (NCES 2007-467) (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office).

7. Two ongoing concerns: These trends are absent in career and technical education The equitable participation and performance erode further at every post-secondary transition

8. STEM career and technical education is stubbornly sex-segregated

9. Despite the positive trends in high school, the transition from high school to college is a critical time for young women in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics).

10. We lose women at every post-secondary transition in STEM classes and careers

11. Women are less likely than men are to declare a STEM major in college. Source: Commission on Professionals in Science and Technology. Data derived from Cooperative Institutional Research Program, Higher Education Research Institute, Graduate School of Education and Information Studies, University of California, Los Angeles, The American Freshman: National Norms for Fall 1990 through Fall 2006, www.gseis.ucla.edu/heri/heri.htm.

12. Women’s representation among STEM doctorates has also increased dramatically over time, although it varies by field. Doctorates Earned by Women in Selected STEM Fields, 1966–2006 Source: National Science Foundation, Division of Science Resources Statistics, 2008, Science and engineering degrees: 1966–2006 (Detailed Statistical Tables) (NSF 08-321) (Arlington, VA), Table 25, Author's analysis of Tables 34, 35, 38, & 39.

13. Women are underrepresented in many science and engineering occupations. Percentage of Employed STEM Professionals Who Are Women, Selected Professions, 2008 Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2009, Women in the labor force: A databook (Report 1018) (Washington, DC), Table 11.

14. What the STEM Equity Pipeline Project is doing to recruit and retain women and girls in STEM

15. STEM Equity Pipeline Project: Goals • Build the capacity of the formal education community • Institutionalize the implemented strategies by connecting the outcomes to existing accountability systems • Broaden the commitment to gender equity in STEM education

16. STEM Equity Pipeline Project: Model

17. STEM Equity Pipeline Project: Intellectual Specialization • Accountability – Using Data to Drive Program Improvement • The Five Step Process • Professional Development - Implementing Effective Extension Services in the Formal Education Community

18. STEM Equity Pipeline Project: Methods • Professional Development • Teacher Training • Consulting and Technical Assistance • Virtual Web-based Professional Learning Community (www.stemequitypipeline.org) • Best Practices Handbook

19. State Teams • 11 states • California • Missouri • Illinois • Oklahoma • Wisconsin • Iowa • Minnesota • New Hampshire • Ohio • Texas • Georgia • Secondary/Postsecondary collaboration • Led by the agencies that administer career and technical education in the state

20. Virtual Learning Communitywww.stemequitypipeline.org • Public portal for the STEM equity pipeline community • Listserv • Links • Articles, Resources, Reports and Research • Calendar of Events in STEM • Webcasts, Webinars, Video, Podcasts, Power Points • Online courses and Tutorials • Performance Data on Women & Girls in STEM • Professional Development Needs Assessment • Project Evaluation Instruments and Surveys • Suggestion Box • More!

21. How can I be involved? • Visit the Virtual Learning Community • Register for the listserv • Complete the professional development needs assessment • Access resources and best practices • Participate in a webinar/webcast/online course • Share your successful strategies

22. The Five Step Process

24. Data analysis • Look at the entire STEM pipeline: where are the leaks? • Compare between “academic” and CTE STEM programs for participation and performance • Benchmark with other programs in the state, country • Sex-segregated? Nontraditional?

26. Why Search for Root Causes? Keep from fixating on the “silver bullet” strategy • Identify the conditions or factors that cause or permit a performance gap to occur • Direct cause (i.e. instructional practice) • Indirect cause (i.e. teacher training)

27. Phase 1: Identify Potential Causes • Analyzing Student Data • Reviewing Research Literature • Reviewing Program/Institutional Evaluations and Effectiveness Reviews • Conducting Focus Groups • Brainstorming • Peer Benchmarking • Interviews • Surveys

28. Phase 2: Analyze and Evaluate Potential Causes Review research summaries • Improving Performance on Perkins III Core Indicators: Summary of Research on Causes and Improvement Strategies • http://www.napequity.org/pdf/Improving_Performance_of_Perkins_III.pdf • Nontraditional Career Preparation: Root Causes and Strategies • http://www.stemequitypipeline.org/_documents/Root.causes.strategies9.18.09.09[1].pdf

29. Root causes:Top IA “a-has” • Gendered differences in career interest/exploration • Attribution theory • Peers

30. Phase 3: Test and Evaluate Potential Causes Within Your Control Select root causes that: • Have the strongest theory and evidence to support them • Focus on direct causes of performance gaps • Address the most critical needs • Provide the best opportunity to have high impact on performance • Are supported by stakeholders who will help develop and implement solutions (See page 17 of the OVAE Guidebook)

31. Resources available at www.stemequitypipeline.org • Survey Instruments • How to Conduct Interviews • How to Conduct Focus Groups

32. The Five Step Process

33. Identify Root Causes (Step 2)Select Best Solutions (Step 3) • Education: Academic/Technical Proficiency • Successful programs: • Rosie’s Girls, Northern New England Tradeswomen http://www.vtworksforwomen.org/programs_for_girls/rosies_girls.html • Technical Opportunities Program, Chicago Women in the Trades http://www.chicagowomenintrades.org/artman/publish/article_206.shtml

34. Proficiency • Introduction to 3-D Spatial Visualization, Sheryl Sorby, http://www.delmarlearning.com

35. Identify Root Causes (Step 2)Select Best Solutions (Step 3) • Education: Access to and participation in math, science, and technology • Successful programs: • Minot Public Schools, Minot, North Dakota, Programs and Practices That Work, 2005 Award Winner http://pages.minot.k12.nd.us/votech/File/fair.htm#2009 • Summer Camps http://www.stemequitypipeline.org/Resources/OnlineResources/Programs/default.aspx

36. Access • Computer programming for middle school girls, http://www.rapunsel.org • Tech team: manuals to coordinate teams on computer programming, http://www.knowitall.org/techteam

37. Identify Root Causes (Step 2)Select Best Solutions (Step 3) • Education: School/Classroom climate • Successful programs: • Checking Your School for Sexism http://02b47b1.netsolhost.com/foundation/e107_images/custom/(10h)%20CheckingforSexism.pdf • Destination Success, MAVCChttp://www.mavcc.org/ • Gender Equity Item Bank, Midwest Equity Assistance Center http://www.meac.org/Resources/pdf/assessment.pdf

38. Identify Root Causes (Step 2)Select Best Solutions (Step 3) • Education: Support Services • Successful programs: • Informal support groups (HCC) • Support groups (Tools for Tomorrow, Madison Area Technical College; IA State – Women in Science and Engineering) • Child care • Tools, books, resources

39. Identify Root Causes (Step 2)Select Best Solutions (Step 3) • Career information: Materials and Practices • Examples of programs: • Michigan’s Breaking Traditions Award • Cisco’s Gender Initiative marketing materials • Changing College Freshmen’s Attitudes toward Women in STEM (NTAW2, p. 38) • U of O IT Program (NFAW2, p. 44, and NTAW, p. 39) • WOMENTECH at Community Colleges (NFAW, p. 195): • Community College of Rhode Island • College of Alameda • NASA

40. Career info, cont. • Guidelines for Identifying Bias in Curriculum and Materials, Safe Schools Coalition http://www.safeschoolscoalition.org/guidelinesonbiasscreen.pdf • Careers for Men in Early Childhood Education, National Association for the Education of Young Children http://sales.naeyc.org/Itemdetail.aspx?Stock_No=594&Category=CBrochure&SText=

41. Career info, cont. • American Careers • Am I a Fair Counselor, Destination Success, MAVCC http://02b47b1.netsolhost.com/foundation/e107_images/custom/(10i)%20FairCounselor.pdf • Could This Be Your Life, New Jersey Nontraditional Career, Resource Center, Rutgers Univ.

42. Career info, cont. • • Gender Equity Tip Sheets http://02b47b1.netsolhost.com/foundation/page.php?14 • Bias Evaluation Instrument, Nova Scotia Department of Education http://www.ednet.ns.ca/pdfdocs/studentsvcs/bias_evaluation/bias_eval_ss.pdf • Are You Man Enough to Be a Nurse, Oregon Center for Nursing http://www.oregoncenterfornursing.org/documents/poster_67k.jpg

43. Identify Root Causes (Step 2)Select Best Solutions (Step 3) • Career Information: Early Intervention • Successful programs: • Girls Redesigning and Excelling in Advanced Technology, http://www.miamisci.org/great/index.html • Go-Girl: Gaining Options – girls investigate real life, http://www.smartgirl.org

44. Identify Root Causes (Step 2)Select Best Solutions (Step 3) • Career information: Characteristics of an occupation • Successful programs: • Beyond the Beakers: Smart Advice on Entering Graduate Programs in the Science and Engineering, http://www.bcm.edu/smart/?PMID=2993 • Think again…girls can! Videos, http://www.girlscan.org

45. Identify Root Causes (Step 2)Select Best Solutions (Step 3) • Family: Family Characteristics and Engagement • Successful programs: • Talented Girls Bright Futures, Publication by Project Lead the Way http://www.pltw.org/inforeq.shtml • American Careers Parent Magazine, Nontraditional Careers Edition, http://www.napequity.org/page.php?18 • Tech Savvy Girls Video and Resource Guide, http://www.aauw.org/research/all.cfm

46. Family, cont. • FIRST (Female Involvement in Real Science Technology), http://www.chabotspace.org/visit/programs/first.asp • Explanatoids, http://www.explanatoids.com

47. Identify Root Causes (Step 2)Select Best Solutions (Step 3) • Internal/Individual: Self-efficacy • Successful programs: • Carol Dweck, Mindset • National Science Partnership for Girl Scouts and Science Museums, http://www.fi.edu/tfi/programs/nsp.html • Improving Girls’ Self-Efficacy with Virtual Peers, http://www.create.usu.edu/mathgirls.html

48. Identify Root Causes (Step 2)Select Best Solutions (Step 3) • Internal/Individual: Attribution • Successful programs: • Gaining Confidence in Math: Intelligent Tutors with Custom Design for Girls, http://k12.usc.edu/AW/index.html

49. Identify Root Causes (Step 2)Select Best Solutions (Step 3) • Internal/Individual: Stereotype threat • Successful programs: • Girls Creating Games, http://programservices.etr.org/gcgweb/ • Imagination Place!, http://www.edc.org/CCT/imagination_place/ • Challenging gender stereotypes with computer-based social models, http://ritl.fsu.edu/_Website/projectsPals.asp

50. Stereotype threat, cont. • Engineering, Science, and Math Increase Job Aspirations (Es Mija), http://www.idra.org