Why do women like working in building conservation?

There is a perception that Building Conservation as a career is different from the mainstream, and it appears to be more attractive to women - at whatever level - than many other careers in the construction industry. Whilst recruitment and publicity can be targeted, the culture within the construction industry can be a barrier to entry for anyone that is &quot;different.&quot; As Clara Greed (1999) discovered in her research &quot;the traits, beliefs and lifestyle peculiar to the construction tribe&quot; can inhibit the entry to the industry of a number of groups outside the traditional pool. The growth of women in the workforce generally (some 50% according to Turrell et al, 2000) is nowhere near being matched within the construction industry as a whole - the Construction Industry Board placed it at around 8.6% in 2000 across all positions. The various UK industry and professional bodies are actively supporting the need to attract women, with the CITB saying they want a 10% year on year increase in participation, the RICS have their own Raising the Ratio working group and the RIBA have carried out research to find out &quot;why women leave architecture.&quot;Of course the whole of the industry is not unfriendly to women - there are a number of us who have been in the industry for many years and recognise it as a fulfilling and exciting career - a number of women work as surveyors working on historic buildings. The initiatives that are working towards change might have something to learn from Building Conservation - while the shortage of skills is just as severe in work with historc buildings - this area of work holds an attraction to women, not found elsewhere. This paper draws on research carried out to explore some of the reasons for this.The study involved sending a questionnaire to twenty women already working in Building Conservation (the response rate was over 100%) and arranging for questionnaires to be completed by school students (male and female) choosing university courses in one school (60 questionnaires sent out, with 35 returned at a response rate of 58%)The research showed that the majority women working in Building Conservation did not agree that men heavily dominated their sector of the industry, whereas within other areas of the construction industry men make up approximately 90% of the workforce. The research found that women often perceived the Construction Industry to be \u27cut-throat\u27, \u27egotistical\u27 and \u27financially beneficial\u27, whereas they thought Building Conservation required \u27patience\u27, \u27care\u27 and \u27attention to detail\u27.Of the women who took part in the research, 87% were working in Building Conservation because of a personal interest , and the main aspect of that attarction was history and architecture. The study examined attitudes of school students choosing careers and the research shows that when male and female sixth form students were told what Building Conservation was about and what it involved, 43% would consider a career in it and 49% would be interested in talking part in a work experience placement working with historic buildings. The shortage of people working in Building Conservation could be reduced if more people were educated about the profession in a way relevant to their skills and interests. In order to assist this action, the study examined ways to introduce Building Conservation careers to school girls and drew on the initiatives that the university is doing to promote careers in the built environment to schoolgirls.<br /

Strategies for Improving the Diversity of the Health Professions

Evaluates programs and strategies that were designed to increase the number of underrepresented African Americans, Native Americans, and Latinos in the health professions in California. Includes recommendations

Lessons Learned from Efforts at Institutional Change: Case Studies of Six OCEPT Institutions

As one part of a multifaceted evaluation of the Oregon Collaborative for Excellence in the Preparation of Teachers (OCEPT), a case study approach was used to enable a deeper understanding of how a diverse group of six institutions attempted to achieve OCEPT goals and to learn more about factors that facilitated or hindered their efforts. Multiple sources of data were used, with heavy reliance on a series of on-site interviews. The analytical framework included a depth and pervasiveness typology of institutional change and a view of change as encompassing meaning, organization, and effects. While goals and accomplishment levels, as well as the depth and pervasiveness of change. varied across the six institutions, OCEPT-influenced changes most likely to be sustained included: new kinds and levels of faculty collaboration; peer-led teaching and learning approaches, and attention to evidence that these approaches positively affect student course performance; increased faculty awareness of their role in teacher recruitment, with related changes in classroom practices; and, continued strengthening of access to infomiation and academic advising for those preparing to become teachers. These institutions, however, did not make significant progress on one major goal of the project—to increase the numbers of underrepresented groups interested in teaching careers. Change was affected by the compatibility of OCEPT goals with institutional and faculty culture, as well as by local collaborative leadership, the size and complexity of the institution, the presence of boundary spanners, and how OCEPT resources were used

Evaluation of a computing and engineering outreach program for girls in grades 8–10

An outreach program of workshops and guided group activities for New Hampshire\u27s eighth, ninth and tenth grade girls was offered to stimulate the girls\u27 interest in computing and engineering coursework and careers. Attitude changes before and after participation were measured using a survey instrument adapted from one developed by the Georgia Tech\u27s Institute for Computing and Education. Eight attitudinal themes were surveyed. With suitable adjustments for simultaneous testing of multiple hypotheses, statistically significant changes with moderate effect sizes were detected for three of the themes: enjoyment of technology-related activities, motivation to succeed in technical problem solving, and intention to persist in computing and engineering courses and careers

Effectiveness of the Travelers Summer Research Fellowship Program in Preparing Premedical Students for a Career in Medicine

This study measured the effectiveness of the Travelers Summer Research Fellowship (T-SRF) Program for Premedical Students. No in-depth study has been conducted on the impact of its activities. A program-oriented qualitative summative evaluation approach and a logic model design were used to analyze survey responses for participants from four program years randomly chosen from 2000 to 2015, medical school enrollment records for participants from 1969 to 2015, physician practice locations for participants from 1969 to 2009, and interviews with a purposeful random sample of 10 physicians who were program participants from 2004 to 2008. Narrative inquiry consisted of audio recording, transcription, and analysis of individual accounts and participant experiences. The study revealed that participants valued interactions with physicians from backgrounds underrepresented in medicine. Talks on careers in medicine increased participants’ knowledge, and research projects helped develop skills. Cardiovascular physiology lectures introduced participants to the medical school learning experience and increased their confidence to apply to medical school successfully. T-SRF enhanced participants’ medical school applications and sharpened interviewing skills; 83% matriculated into medical school, 90% graduated, and 45% practice in HPSAs, MUAs/Ps, and rural areas. Recommendations included improving program orientation, making the cardiovascular physiology lectures and examinations more valuable experiences, re-evaluating the study skills curriculum, providing more clinical experiences, increasing the weekly stipend, improving maintenance of the alumni database, formally partnering admissions with the T-SRF program, helping alumni return to Weill Cornell as residents or fellows, and considering other ways to measure social concern. Further studies of T-SRF should be undertaken

Underrepresented groups

The problem with the shortage of under represented groups in science and engineering is absolutely crucial, especially considering that U.S. will experience a shortage of 560,000 science and engineering personnel by the year 2010. Most studies by the National Science Foundation also concluded that projected shortages cannot be alleviated without significant increases in the involvement of Blacks, Hispanics, Native Americans, handicapped persons, and women

Effects of Extra-Curricular Project-Based Learning Experiences on Self-Efficacy and Interest in STEM Fields in High School

As our society and systems become more technologically advanced, increasing opportunities exist for students interested to pursue careers in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields. However, pervasive inequities have led to differences in the extent to which women and underrepresented racial/ethnic groups choose to pursue study and career pathways in STEM. Project-Based Learning (PBL) is among the most widely researched strategies suggested to support student learning and motivation and has more recently been applied to school-based efforts to increase student interest in STEM related fields. Rooted in Social Cognitive Career Theory, this study examined changes in students’ self-reported general self-efficacy and interest in STEM fields following a four-week Project-Based Learning experience focused on career pathways in advanced manufacturing. Thirty students across four high schools participated in a month-long Project-Based Learning experience to introduce them to the field of advanced manufacturing. Findings from a 15-item online survey distributed at the beginning and end of a virtual four-week PBL workshop revealed significantly higher self-reported general self-efficacy scores following the PBL experience. While overall findings revealed a positive correlation between students’ self-reported general self-efficacy and STEM interest, the relationships varied by student demographic groups. Recommendations for further research and applications to practice are provided