Imperial and the female student

Alison Ahearn and Esat Alpay

Faculty of Engineering – EnVision

www.imperial.ac.uk/envision

Imperial recruits more women students than average in SET. Nationally, < 33% of science-trained women stay in science.

Imperial has various initiatives in gender and SET.

Imperial has a formal action plan.

Imperial has no central co-ordinator re students and gender.

Is one needed? Or are we ok?

From Joint Council for Qualifications via UK Resource Centre for Women in SET: HE Stats webpage www.ukrc.ac.uk

STEM at GCE: 130,500 boys 101,200 girls. (Total GCE exams: 828,000)

Is there really any problem? A grade at A-levels: if girl does exam, slightly more likely to get A-grade than a boy (but more boys sit the exams).

Imperial and the female student?

• Key (incidental) findings from some research into PhD student experience

• Outline of a workshop run with PhD students as an intervention

• College formal Gender Equality Plan

• Independent initiatives by staff, by students

The Skills Perception Inventory (SKIPI)

• 4 skills areas:group workcommunicationplanning and project management

personal awareness

• value and benefits of skills training?

• internal reliability; control questions

Procedure

• paired-samples study

pre- and post-course differences

follow-up study after ~5-6 weeks

• administered on 10 courses in 2005/6 (32 students per course)

Pre- and Post-Course Differences?

postprepostprepostprepostpre

5

4

3

2

1

(a) (b) (c) (d)

[3.60] [4.06] [3.54] [3.94] [3.34] [3.71] [3.41] [3.89]sd=0.52 sd=0.52 sd=0.53 sd=0.52 sd=0.60 sd=0.54 sd=0.54 sd=0.54

p < 0.001 for all cases

control questions:

no differences

group work

communication

planning

awareness

Gender Differences?

gender differences most obvious in group work and communication areas, especially before the course

(f<m; p<0.02 )

group work means…“working with others on an interdisciplinary group project” “having my ideas listened to by other group members” “coordinating a group”

communication means…“being able to give constructive feedback to peers and other students”

“dealing with conflict with my supervisor”

…hence focus group studies…

Outcomes of focus groups:Imperial College / Institute of Education study (2007) on female PhDs at Imperial

• lack of effective female role models

• perceived disadvantages in some networking situations

• serious concerns about managing a family and an academic career

• some self-esteem issues

Grad Schools Gender Workshop: Topics Covered

• your feelings, experiences and views on some gender issues in the research environment

• stereotyping and its potential problems

• forms of differential treatment

• some facts / realities about gender issues

• male vs. female priorities?

• things we can do…

Activity 1: stereotyping…

internal (self-imposed):• stereotype threat• self-fulfilling prophecy• impostor syndrome (“phoneyism”) • self-effacing / diffident behaviour

external (imposed on you):• fundamental attribution error• differential treatment

Activity 2:

Do you feel that male and female workers in your research group are treated equally, e.g. by technicians, supervisors, external academics and professionals?

Activity 3:

What are your experiences / knowledge of subtle forms of gender-based discrimination?

Differential treatment

exclusion

back-lashbody language

invisibility

sexual innuendo

hostility

tokenism

role stereotyping

condescension

devaluation

Activity 4:

Communication style and decision making: issues?

Myers-Briggs gender differences?Empathising vs. Systemising? (Simon Baron-Cohen, 2004)

Activity 5:

work-life balance

Activity 6:

actions

Some equality activities in College

Equalities team Christine Yates,

Kalpna Mistry and associates & committees

Outreach: widening participation

Recruiting students, summer schools,

student first contact with College?

Kids’Creative futures

Imperial as One

(staff & race)

Grad school workshop: potential staff

Academic Opps

Committee

SWANScientific Women’s Academic Network

RCS good practice guide

Inst. of PhysicsStats women HE

Student Women in SET society

Student-led outreach

open days for girls

FACULTY SUPPORT

Eng

Science

ICUCGCU

Student Socs

Imperial Volunteer Centre

Inspiration PhD &

Postdocs170QG events

Depts

RAEng Future ofEngineering Research

GESGender Equality Scheme

Tutor for female

students: civil eng

Staff ambassadors

Student-led equality efforts

Equalities team Christine Yates,

Kalpna Mistry and associates & committees

Grad school workshop: data from students

Student Women in SET society

Student-led outreach

open days for girls

ICUCGCU

Student Socs

Imperial Volunteer Centre

Inspiration PhD &

Postdocs170QG events

Examples of student society activities:

Open-days for girls (involves male student input but mostly by women for girls)

International site visit: first woman guide.

Railsoc gets first women student members (not wife or girlfriend)

“Bottle match” extends to women

Actions by College for students

Equalities team and equality committees

e.g. Eng

e.g. Science

Imperial Volunteer Centre:

incidental infrastructure support: advertising increases women’s

participation?

STAFF

Students

DEPT action

e.g. females’ tutor

Registry

Outreach

To potential students

Admission tutors training?

Fac MedAdmission

tests (fairer?)

Gender Gender Equality Equality SchemeScheme

?

Ambassadors

FACULTY SUPPORT (ad hoc)

College Female Ambassadors for staff

Professor Maria Petrou

Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering

Professor Lesley CohenDepartment of Physics

Professor Maria Belvisi

National Heart and Lung Institute

 

College Gender Equality Plan:

Imperial as a Provider of Education - Objectives and Outcomes44.  Our objectives and outcomes are as follows:Objective 9

achieving greater gender equality for students via our policies and proceduresObjective 10   achieving a greater gender balance on engineering and natural science degreesObjective 11

undergraduate and postgraduate programme content, and learning and teaching methods, tackle stereotyping of male and female roles

Objective 12 eliminating harassment, including sexual harassment, bullying and victimisation of current or potential students

Objective 13 eliminating discrimination against, and harassment of, transsexual students or potential students

College’s Gender Equality Scheme

ACTION PLAN (April 2008) (does this capture all we are doing?) EXAMPLE: ITEM 17:

Objective: more females in engineering and natural science Action: “Outreach programme is extensive and expanded”

Objective: Fair admissions procedures and proper training for Admissions Tutors

Action: Funding bid re training of Admissions Tutors for 08/09; Action: Rector’s “Away Day” concentrated on recruiting best students:

“an entrance exam, to assist in removing subjective judgements over selection, is being developed, and consideration is being given to whether applicants must be interviewed”

LEADERS: Head of Outreach and Academic Registrar

Thus, we could say that we have….

many activities, many champions, many levels

with clear initiatives for staff

but we have an ad hoc and incomplete picture regarding students?

Does it matter?Do we care?What next? Who to do it?