Second-Year Follow-Up of the Effectiveness of Single-Gender Engineering Enrichment Programs

• In Event: Poster Session 4
  In Poster Session: Contemporary Topics in Engineering Education Research

Abstract

Research comparing aspects of single-gender enrichment programs to equivalent mixed-gender programs found female-only programs to be effective in educating young girls about engineering, positively influencing their perceptions of engineers and attitudes toward engineering. Gains in content knowledge, self-efficacy, beliefs about gender equity and qualitative perceptions of engineers for students in equivalent post-4th grade summer programs found females in a single-gender program showed greater improvement in engineering content knowledge than females in a mixed-gender program. A one-year follow-up with girls who returned after 5th grade found; the positive gains in content knowledge and perceptions of engineers were sustained; and a greater impact for the girls participating for a second year. An additional follow-up was conducted post 6th grade.

Author

• Linda S. Hirsch, New Jersey Institute of Technology