“If These Women Can Do It, I Can Do It, Too”: Building Women Engineering Leaders through Graduate Peer Mentoring

There certainly have been improvements over the last $15\text{years}$ in the number of women entering engineering. In 1995, only 17% of all engineering bachelor’s degrees were awarded to women (Hill 1997). During the same year, 11% of all engineering graduate students were women. Sixteen percent of all engineering master’s degrees awarded in 1995 went to women, and women earned 12% of doctorate degrees in engineering (National Science Foundation [NSF] 1998). Even with the increase in the number of women obtaining engineering degrees, the percentage of women has declined at each level of education, a phenomenon frequently referred to as the “leaky pipeline.”

The leaky pipeline becomes even more apparent in the percentage of engineering faculty who are women. Women in tenured or tenure-track faculty positions in civil and environmental engineering are below the 25% mark (see Table 1). In a 2000 survey administered to Association of American Universities members, only 2.7% of engineering chairs were women (Niemeier and Gonzalez 2004). Of the current 377 Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology accredited programs, only thirty-nine had women deans. Of those thirty-nine, only six were in the field of civil and/or environmental engineering.

Data comparing the percentages of women who receive doctorate degrees and those who obtain a tenure-track faculty position reveal an average 10% dropoff rate (Niemeier and Gonzalez 2004). The dropoff rate is particularly high in the areas in which more women are obtaining degrees, such as environmental, chemical, and biomedical engineering. Of the four traditional areas of engineering—chemical, mechanical, electrical, and civil—women were more often drawn to chemical and civil engineering because of the common perception that these areas offered greater opportunities to have a positive social impact. In contrast, mechanical and electrical engineering have been, and continue to be, heavily dominated by men. Although engineers in these fields can certainly contribute to the social good, the general perception is that these areas are not as readily primed to allow professionals to contribute to positive social consequences. In the last few decades, engineering has broken up into more subdisciplines, adding specialized engineering fields such as environmental, biomedical, and aerospace. As detailed in Table 1, the percentages of women remain highest in those areas in which the ability to have a positive societal impact is most obvious, such as environmental, chemical, and biomedical engineering, and lowest in aerospace, mechanical, and electrical engineering.

While there are more women in certain fields of engineering, the numbers remain low overall. Since women are more likely to choose professions that they believe will provide social good (Muller 2003), the dearth of women in civil and environmental engineering is particularly surprising. Civil and environmental engineers have a great deal of capacity to address social issues through research focused on environmental health, environmental protection, and improved quality of life. Yet women do not flock to these disciplines the way they do to many of the social sciences, such as psychology or sociology. What are the barriers that continue the trend of the underrepresentation of women?

Contrary to previous arguments, there are no substantial differences in women’s and men’s aptitudes that can explain the low number of women in engineering (Muller 2003; Seymour and Hewitt 1997). Valian (2006) argued that any difference between genders in interest in math and science is due not to innate interest or abilities, but rather to the difference in the degree to which men and women receive support. Gender stereotypes about who would make a good engineer remain prominent at all levels of education (Muller 2003). According to Valian, gender schemas, or social attitudes regarding what it means to be a man or woman, keep women out of engineering. These attitudes influence how people interact with others and what they expect from others based on their gender. Because of gender schemas, men are more likely to be encouraged to enter the engineering disciplines, while women are more likely to be told that these are not appropriate fields to pursue. The encouragement toward math and science for men and discouragement for women begin early in elementary school and are carried on throughout all levels of college. The lack of support continues for women who pursue careers in engineering. Even many women who have received a Ph.D. in engineering and became tenure-track faculty typically received little to no support in their academic and research endeavors (Goodman Research Group 2002; Jenks and Maninder 2005; Rosser 2003).

Another reason for the low representation of women in engineering, including civil and environmental engineering, is the lack of female role models and mentors (Goodman Research Group 2002; Jenks and Maninder 2005; National Research Council 2009; Rosser 2003; Rosser and Taylor 2009). Because of the lack of women at all levels of education and careers in engineering, there are too few female role models for junior female members of the engineering community. Engineering is a particularly taxing field. Without support and guidance from other women, at both the junior and senior levels, women may find engineering to be an inhospitable discipline and may choose to focus their education and career goals toward other fields where they can find more support.

Taken together, the gender schema bias against women and the limited number of women role models in engineering create a general lack of community and social support for women in engineering. Where a strong support network with other women does not exist, marginalization and isolation of women continue to propagate (Dominici et al. 2009). One of the primary ways to address limited support for women is through formal and informal mentoring programs. Mentoring programs are an effective method for addressing the accumulated disadvantages women in science and engineering face (Chesler et al. 2003). Mentoring provides women much-needed support and encouragement in their academic and career endeavors. In addition to the support benefits, mentoring has been shown to improve women’s confidence in their skills and abilities (MentorNet 2010; Rosser and Taylor 2009). In sum, mentoring programs for women in engineering provide them with role models, support networks, encouragement, and confidence in their academic and career endeavors.

Although having senior position mentors can have positive influences on women in engineering (Gutner 2008), peer mentoring is particularly important because it gives women support networks with other women who are going through similar experiences, either in their education or in their careers. According to Chesler and Chesler (2002), peer mentoring is more likely to meet the support needs of women in engineering than hierarchical mentoring relationships. Peer mentoring programs provide a way for women in engineering to overcome isolation by developing relationships and building support networks with other women at similar stages in their careers. Research has suggested that peer mentoring provides role models for women faculty in engineering and has positive impacts on their career advancement (Chesler et al. 2003). Similarly, women graduate students benefit from developing peer mentorship relationships.

A number of initiatives and programs incorporate mentoring programs to address barriers to women in engineering in elementary and high school and at the undergraduate and faculty levels. For example, the Carnegie Science Center’s Girls, Math and Science Partnership provides mentoring for elementary and high school students. The National Science Foundation ADVANCE program provides support for universities to increase the number of women in STEM in academia. NSF encourages mentoring programs for faculty and now requires a mentoring program for postdocs for all grant recipients. There are also a variety of mentoring programs for women undergraduates studying engineering and science, including the Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) Program and Distributed Research Experiences for Undergraduates (DREU). NSF ADVANCE supports women postdocs and faculty by providing multiyear funding to faculty-focused programs, such as the Network for Women Faculty and Women in Engineering Leadership Institute (WELI), in which faculty mentoring is a primary component. Some programs are aimed at mentoring women at all levels in engineering, math, and science, such as the Women in Engineering ProActive Network (WEPAN). MentorNet, an online mentoring network, provides e-mentoring for women and other underrepresented groups at all levels in science and engineering.

Yet there are surprisingly few mentoring programs that focus specifically on the graduate student level. Most programs are aimed at undergraduate students or faculty or have a multilevel focus. It is particularly important for students at the graduate level to have a strong social support network. While mentoring relationships for women in engineering at all levels have been shown to have positive influences (Gutner 2008), mentoring at the graduate student level is important for women to make strong connections early in their career development. Many women graduate students in engineering have few, if any, other women graduate students in their home department. Unlike undergraduate students, who are required to take courses outside their own discipline and interact with a variety of students across campus in their dorms, extracurricular activities, and classrooms, graduate students are often plugged into their own specialized studies and have little contact with others outside their department. With limited numbers of women in engineering departments at both the graduate student and faculty level, women graduate students can be very isolated (Belden et al. 2002; Committees on Women Faculty in the School of Science 1999; Congressional Commission on the Advancement of Women and Minorities in Science, Engineering and Technology Development 2000; Lord and Cohoon 2006; Rosser 2004; Sargent 2001). They have less access to social networks than their male peers (Lord and Cohoon 2006). Both faculty and peer mentoring are retention strategies for women graduate students in engineering (Committee on the Guide to Recruiting 2006).

The experiences graduate students have in their specific disciplines are strongly influenced by how well they feel connected to their research team, department, and the wider university campus. These experiences have an effect on whether they remain in school until the completion of their degree and the types of jobs they will seek on graduation. Creating a positive community for graduate women is much needed, especially since they are often bereft of senior women mentors and role models to whom they can turn for support (Rosser and Taylor 2009). Further, research suggests that peer support networks help reduce women’s decisions to leave their graduate programs (Lord and Cohoon 2006).

In sum, a lack of social support can lead to dissatisfaction in academic and career experiences for women graduate students in engineering. To address the need for specific programs that provide this type of support, the Women in Science and Engineering program at Syracuse University led a collaborative effort to create a professional development and academic support program specifically designed for women graduate students in the sciences, math, and engineering departments known as the Women in Science and Engineering Future Professional Program.

WiSE was developed at Syracuse University in 1999 by two senior faculty, the department chairs of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences, in collaboration with the deans of the College of Arts and Science and the College of Engineering and Computer Science. The overarching goal was to improve the academic climate for women in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields at Syracuse University via three main objectives: (1) to recognize the dynamic presence of women in STEM at Syracuse University at all levels; (2) to promote new scholarship initiatives in learning, mentoring, and advising approaches in STEM to maximize women’s educational and career success; and (3) to change the university climate to nurture women’s participation in STEM fields.

WiSE was established as a collaborative and interdisciplinary program to promote knowledge sharing and facilitate communication across disciplines. Interdisciplinary approaches have been shown to provide programs with greater success in innovation and collaboration (Building Engineering and Science Talent 2004). Through the collaboration of multiple colleges, a greater number of faculty and administrators became involved to help get the program off the ground. The need for collaboration is particularly salient for women in STEM, who have few other women colleagues in their own departments.

At its inception in 1999, WiSE included a mentoring program and a campuswide lecture series. The mentoring program offered role models and peer support to help undergraduate women in science and engineering engage in their education and career development. The program paired the undergraduate women with professionals in academia and industry who provided the students with mentoring and academic and professional training. In 2003, WiSE extended its programming to include a Learning Community (WiSE-LC) for women undergraduate students in science and engineering. WiSE-LC offered students an opportunity to live together on one floor of a dorm on campus as a way to develop peer mentoring relationships. Residential learning communities provide students with a nexus for academic, career, and social experiences. WiSE-LC residents developed study groups, ate meals together, and engaged in extracurricular activities together.

Seven years after its inception, WiSE embraced women graduate students in science and engineering with the Women in Science and Engineering—Future Professionals Program (WiSE-FPP). The primary objective of WiSE-FPP was to prepare women graduate students in STEM for leadership roles in their prospective fields by providing opportunities and guidance for developing peer and faculty mentoring relationships, establishing goals and timelines for the successful completion of their degrees, and proactively engaging in their career planning.

Assessment findings from WiSE-FPP reveal the importance of peer mentoring for graduate women in engineering. Overall, the associates reported that building social networks was important to them as they progressed in their academic and career development. Although some associates had support from women outside of WiSE-FPP, they all agreed that it was valuable to have women peers during their graduate education from whom they could receive guidance, support, and self-confidence.

Because isolation, lack of encouragement, and limited female role models are major barriers to women in engineering, it is necessary for women to develop support networks with other women at their level. As anticipated, we found that the WiSE-FPP peer mentoring provided this support for women graduate students. In addition, the WiSE-FPP associates noted two additional benefits that we had not predicted.

First, associates cited the program’s importance as a way to help build their confidence in their abilities to handle the stresses associated with balancing the multiple roles of teacher, scholar, wife, and mother. Empowerment was the overarching theme of the interviews: The associates reported that by hearing stories about how other women overcame challenges, they felt empowered to deal with their own struggles in managing multiple roles.

Second, WiSE-FPP offered a way for international students to become culturally assimilated into university life as a graduate student in the United States. Many of the international associates had attended college in their home country and had learned the norms at those institutions, but they had to adapt to a whole new set of cultural norms as graduate students in the United States. The peer mentoring they received from other WiSE-FPP associates helped them learn those norms and handle the stresses associated with adapting to cultural differences.

The development of women leaders in engineering involves more than just technical skill development. Equally important to obtaining and succeeding in leadership roles is developing support networks with peers. Such networks are important for women to develop early in their graduate careers to help build their confidence, provide them with personal and professional support, and prevent them from “leaking” from the engineering pipeline. Having opportunities to develop peer support was a principal aspect of WiSE-FPP for the associates. The associates were able to hear about personal experiences and learn from other graduate women in academic STEM programs. Because women in engineering are so often isolated, being able to meet and build relationships with other women graduate students is an important aspect in building successful women engineering leaders.

The lack of female role models remains a barrier to women advancing in their engineering careers, and peer support networks have been shown to contribute to the academic and career success of women (Chesler and Chesler 2002). Peer mentoring programs like WiSE-FPP provide women with positive role models early in their careers and offer them a chance to interact and learn from successful women at the same level. We found that peer support networks can also improve women graduate students’ general optimism and confidence levels. Through hearing other women graduate students talk about their own challenges and strategies for dealing with teaching, research, and negotiating multiple roles, the WiSE-FPP associates felt more prepared to meet their own challenges.

The portfolio is self-directed and tailored to your specific academic and career goals. The portfolio should function as your individual “road map” for successfully completing your degree and for conducting career planning either for faculty research positions or careers in industry. In that sense, every portfolio (completed in your second year with WiSE-FPP) will be individualized to reflect your road map.

Components of the portfolio are as follows: