ASEE’s 2018 NSTA STEM Forum panelists Karen Davis, Karen Johnsen, and Andrew Reid.

When Karen Davis, director of career services at Syracuse University’s College of Engineering and Computer Science, started out, the profession was dominated by “a bunch of white guys” and her engineering school had something like 14 males for every female student.

“It’s not like that anymore,” she assured educators attending the American Society for Engineering Education’s panel discussion at the National Science Teachers Association’s 2018 STEM Forum in Philadelphia, Pa., July 11 to 13. In some engineering schools, Davis noted, the ratio of men to women is 50-50 at the undergraduate level.

Joining her to discuss “Recruiting and Retaining Minorities and Women in Engineering” were two other professionals who have successfully inspired women and minorities to pursue engineering and stick with it: Karen Johnsen, manager of talent development for GE Healthcare in Milwaukee, and Andrew Reid, senior planning analyst at New York’s Consolidated Edison.

The panelists engaged in a lively give-and-take with the audience, and shared ideas about what teachers can do to keep their students interested in a STEM career – and their lasting impact on students.

To be successful, students must have some background in math and science, but also “a certain attitude and mindset,” Davis explained. Study skills also are a must. “I can’t say that enough!”

Students also need mentors, to know there are people out there to whom they can go… and who will firmly but lovingly rein in the party going and hold them to higher standards.

The panel also tackled the subject of failure, which is part of the engineering culture. “Failure is a natural thing,” noted Johnsen, who likened it to testing out a model and “failing to improve.” Classrooms should make failure safe for students, so they’ll understand it as part of the learning process and develop skills to troubleshoot and fix problems.

For more on this, please see Perspectives on Failure in the Classroom by Elementary Teachers New to Engineering, by Towson University STEM Education researcher Pamela Lotter0-Pedue and former North Carolina State University engineering Elizabeth A. Parry.

The sessions concluded with the panel thanking the teachers. “I can’t say how much your work means to us,” Johnsen, the moderator, said.”You’re educating the engineers of the future!”

Filed under: K-12 Outreach Programs, Special Features

Tags: ASEE, minorities in engineering, NSTA STEM Forum 2018, STEM equity, Women in Engineering