MENU
  • ASEE Logo
  • Give
    Give
    ASEE Donations...
    Classified Volunteer
    Login Join
  • Join Login Volunteer Classified Give
    Give
    ASEE Donations...



About
  • Overview
    • Mission, Vision, Goals
    • Public Policy Statements
    • Constitution
    • Bylaws
    • Organizational Structure
    • Investment Policy
    • Financial Policy
  • Our History
  • Staff Contacts
  • Leadership
    • Board Of Directors
    • Academy Of Fellows
    • Past Board Members
    • Advisory Committees
    • Representatives to External Organizations
    • Executive Director's Message
    • Meeting Minutes
  • Volunteer
  • Careers at ASEE
  • Privacy Statement
I Am A...
  • Member
      Login Required
    • Your Member Page
    • Membership Directory
    • Financials
    • No Login Required
    • Awards
    • Divisions, Fellows, and Campus Reps
    • Sections and Zones
    • Resources
  • Prospective Individual/Organizational Member
    • About ASEE
    • Individual Membership
    • Institutional Membership
    • Major Activities
  • Donor
  • Prospective Partner or Sponsor
  • Advertiser
  • Fellowship Seeker
    • About Fellowships
    • High School
    • Undergraduate
    • Graduate
    • Post-Doctoral
    • Other Programs
Events
  • Conferences and Meetings
    • 2021 Annual Conference & Exposition
    • 2020 Virtual Annual Conference & Exposition
    • Section & Zone Meetings
  • Council Events
    • Conference for Industry and
      Education Collaboration (CIEC)
    • CMC Workforce Summit
    • Engineering Deans Institute (EDI)
    • Research Leadership Institute (RLI) (Formerly ERC)
    • Engineering Technology Leaders Institute (ETLI)
    • EDC Public Policy Colloquium (PPC)
  • Featured Events
    • Frontiers in Education
    • NETI
    • CoNECD
    • First Year Engineering Experience
    • Workforce Summit
  • Future Conference Dates
Publications
  • News
    • Newsletters
    • eGFI
    • Division Publications
  • Journals and Conference Papers
    • Overview
    • Journal of Engineering Education
    • Advances in Engineering Education
    • Conference Proceedings
    • Section Proceedings
    • Zone Proceedings
    • PEER
    • Plagiarism
  • Monographs and Reports
  • Prism Magazine
  • Data
    • Profiles of E&ET Colleges
    • Case Study Series: Engineering-Enhanced Liberal Education
Impact
  • Public Policy Statements
  • Data Analysis
  • Annual Reports
  • Diversity
Education & Careers
  • Academic Job Opportunities
  • Course Catalog
  • Engineering Education Research and Innovation
    • Engineering Education Community Resource
  • PreK-12
    • eGFI Teachers
    • eGFI Students
  • Engineering Teacher PD Endorsement
Calendar
2020 Annual Conference
The ASEE 2020 Virtual Annual Conference content is available.
See More....
  • International Forum
    • Past Forums
  • 2020 Research Leadership Institute(RLI) (Formerly ERC)
    • Overview
    • Registration
    • Housing
    • Program Schedule
    • ERC Past Conferences
  • 2018 Engineering Technology Leaders Institute (ETLI)
    • Engineering Technology Leaders Institute (ETLI)
    • Registration
    • Housing
    • Program Schedule
    • ETLI Sponsorship Options
  • 2017 Global Colloquium
  • Pre K-12 Workshop
    • Call for Proposals
    • Registration
    • Housing
    • Sponsors
    • Program Schedule
    • Past Conferences
  • STEP Grantees Meeting
  • Annual Conference
    • Past Conferences
  • International Forum
    • Past Forums
  • 2020 Research Leadership Institute(RLI) (Formerly ERC)
    • Overview
    • Registration
    • Housing
    • Program Schedule
    • ERC Past Conferences
  • 2018 Engineering Technology Leaders Institute (ETLI)
    • Engineering Technology Leaders Institute (ETLI)
    • Registration
    • Housing
    • Program Schedule
    • ETLI Sponsorship Options
  • 2017 Global Colloquium
  • Pre K-12 Workshop
    • Call for Proposals
    • Registration
    • Housing
    • Sponsors
    • Program Schedule
    • Past Conferences
  • STEP Grantees Meeting
  • Annual Conference
    • Past Conferences

2017 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Board # 98 : STILAS: STEM Intercultural Leadership Ambassador Scholars in Biology, Marine Biology, and Engineering

Presented at NSF Grantees Poster Session

Women and minorities continue to be underrepresented in engineering, both nationally and at Roger Williams University. In 2012, women constituted just 12% of engineering graduates at the university, while minorities constituted just 4%. In an effort to boost the enrollment, performance, and persistence of underrepresented students, the university applied for and received an NSF S-STEM grant to integrate engineering, biology, and marine biology students into an existing program supporting underrepresented students on campus. The combined program, known as STILAS, provides participants with a $10,000 NSF scholarship, supplemented by the university, as well as dedicated tutoring and advising, and co-curricular activities such as field trips and guest speakers.

Midway through the final year of the 5-year grant, the results are impressive. Nine of the ten engineering student participants have either graduated in four years in engineering or are on track to do so (the tenth changed major to mathematics), compared to just 57% of women and 25% of underrepresented minorities entering the engineering program in 2011 or 2012. The STILAS engineering students’ combined GPA is 3.60, compared to 3.31 for all women and 2.56 for all underrepresented minorities currently enrolled in engineering.

The program has benefited non-participants as well: persistence of women in engineering has increased from 54% of those entering in 2011 to 92% of those entering in 2013 or after. Women made up 31% of the graduating class of 2016, 2.5 times greater than the proportion in 2012. Persistence of underrepresented minorities has increased from 29% for those entering in 2011 to 50% for those entering in 2013 or after. Unfortunately, total enrollment of underrepresented minorities has not grown. The recruitment of underrepresented students has proven more challenging than their retention. Future work will focus on recruitment, including outreach to local high schools and the development of bridge and/or transfer programs.

Authors
  1. Dr. William J. Palm IV Roger Williams University [biography]

    William Palm is Associate Professor of Engineering at Roger Williams University, where he teaches Machine Design, Materials Science, Manufacturing and Assembly, Biomechanics, and Capstone Design. He previously worked as a product design engineer and consultant and taught at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy and Boston University. He holds a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from MIT and is licensed as a Professional Engineer in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

  2. Dr. Nicole Martino Roger Williams University [biography]

    Dr. Nicole Martino is an assistant professor of engineering at Roger Williams University. Her area of expertise is civil engineering, more specifically structural engineering. Dr. Martino's current research areas include developing innovative tools to improve the learnability of topics in heavy analytical courses, and developing rapid, accurate and efficient bridge deck condition assessment models using ground penetrating radar.

  3. Dr. Benjamin D McPheron Roger Williams University [biography]

    Benjamin D. McPheron is Chair of the Department of Physical Sciences & Engineering and Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering at Anderson University. Dr. McPheron received his B.S.E.E. in Electrical Engineering at Ohio Northern University in 2010, and his Ph.D, in Electrical Engineering from the Department of Electrical Engineering at The Pennsylvania State University in 2014. Dr. McPheron teaches Freshman Engineering and various courses in Electrical Engineering including Circuit Theory, Electronics, Controls, and Mechatronics. His research interests include Engineering Education, Control Systems, Mechatronics, and Signal Processing.

Download paper (408 KB)

Are you a researcher? Would you like to cite this paper? Visit the ASEE document repository at peer.asee.org for more tools and easy citations.

» Download paper

« View session

For those interested in:

  • Broadening Participation in Engineering and Engineering Technology

  • Follow Us
  • twitter
  • facebook
  • youtube
  • instagram
  • linkedin
  • 1818 N Street N.W. Suite 600, Washington DC 20036

  • Telephone: 202.331.3500 | Fax: 202.265.8504

  • © 2021 Copyright: ASEE.org All rights reserved. Privacy Policy.