Retaining Undergraduate Women in Science, Mathematics and Engineering

Women have historically been discouraged from§participating in the science, mathematics, and§engineering (SM&E) fields. This book reports on the§analysis of a support network, the Program for Women§in Science, Engineering and Mathematics (PWISEM),§founded by a university in the U.S. This§living-learning community aimed to encourage§primarily first-year women students. The research§focused on PWISEM factors involved in motivating and§supporting women in their intended SM&E majors.§Situated learning and the cultural-historical§activity theory served as the theoretical lenses. The§research design was dominant-less dominant, with§qualitative and quantitative approaches,§respectively. Findings underline key success factors,§and significantly higher number of PWISEM women than§non-PWISEM women and men deciding for a SM&E major.§Implications emphasize that based on feminist theory,§within such community contexts there can be both§explicit and implicit ways of transformation. The§work proposes ways of approaching the issue both in§theory and practice, and should be useful to science§educators, scientists, or anyone else committed to§promoting an all-inclusive science and science education.