A Survey of Women in Academia and the role of a Multidisciplinary Professional Society

The Society of Women Engineers (SWE) is a global professional society of over 30,000 members with a mission to “Stimulate women to achieve full potential in careers as engineers and leaders, expand the image of the engineering profession as a positive force in improving the quality of life, and demonstrate the value of diversity”1. SWE is an organization that is deeply rooted in industry. The founding members were employed by firms that are a result of the industrial revolution, and thus the focus of its membership is on those that work for industry, consultants, and often themselves. This focus has unintentionally left a large population of its membership, the academic population, underrepresented and misunderstood. Early discussion at the board level in the mid 2000’s indicated a willingness for a paradigm shift. However, the representation of academics on the board and other leadership roles has been lacking. This can be attributed to the lower numbers of this group relative to the whole, as well as the requirements of tenure that do not support the time and dedication to such an endeavor. A small but influential group of members, including a former board member, and a few involved at various levels of the society have been working toward increasing opportunities for women in academia (WIA). Some of the initiatives have been the societal support of the WIA committee, the addition of professional development opportunities targeting women in academic careers, providing recognition and awards, and aiding in networking opportunities. These all lead toward career advancement, making SWE more attractive to women engineers in the academe. To further our understanding of available opportunities and those opportunities that will make membership and active participation more attractive to members in academia, a survey was developed. Information gathered by the survey include demographics, perceived needs, and potential contributions the individual could make in furthering the creation of professional development opportunities for this population. This work is intended to share the results of this survey, using descriptive statistics, further developing our understanding of this underserved population within SWE

The Changing Role of Professional Societies for Academics

This research paper describes how professional societies provide services to their members with a focus on the Society of Women Engineers (SWE). Professional societies fulfill many roles for their members. For underrepresented groups, the different roles become more important. Despite increasing numbers of women and other underrepresented groups in engineering academia, retention rates of women are still below the national average. Professional societies such as the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) may close the retention gap through community building. Not only do professional societies provide opportunities for networking and career building, but they also provide affirmation that there are others in similar roles. Although there are financial and time constraints to becoming active within a professional society not affiliated with one’s technical area, when academics feel that their involvement is valuable to their career development they will invest necessary time and money into the professional society. Similarities exist between how professional societies retain/attract faculty from underrepresented groups and how universities accomplish the same goal. This research paper focuses on how one professional organization, SWE, is providing opportunities to women in academia that include professional development, recognition/awards, networking, leadership development, and career advancement. In the past, SWE has been viewed as a non-technical professional society. However, SWE is uniquely positioned to provide a community that transcends the organizational boundaries by encompassing technical, service, and professional development areas for women in academia that is inclusive, collaborative, and supportive as well as connected to industry, government and academia on multiple levels

Widespread deoxygenation of temperate lakes

The concentration of dissolved oxygen in aquatic systems helps to regulate biodiversity, nutrient biogeochemistry, greenhouse gas emissions, and the quality of drinking water. The long-term declines in dissolved oxygen concentrations in coastal and ocean waters have been linked to climate warming and human activity, but little is known about the changes in dissolved oxygen concentrations in lakes. Although the solubility of dissolved oxygen decreases with increasing water temperatures, long-term lake trajectories are difficult to predict. Oxygen losses in warming lakes may be amplified by enhanced decomposition and stronger thermal stratification8,9 or oxygen may increase as a result of enhanced primary production. Here we analyse a combined total of 45,148 dissolved oxygen and temperature profiles and calculate trends for 393 temperate lakes that span 1941 to 2017. We find that a decline in dissolved oxygen is widespread in surface and deep-water habitats. The decline in surface waters is primarily associated with reduced solubility under warmer water temperatures, although dissolved oxygen in surface waters increased in a subset of highly productive warming lakes, probably owing to increasing production of phytoplankton. By contrast, the decline in deep waters is associated with stronger thermal stratification and loss of water clarity, but not with changes in gas solubility. Our results suggest that climate change and declining water clarity have altered the physical and chemical environment of lakes. Declines in dissolved oxygen in freshwater are 2.75 to 9.3 times greater than observed in the world’s oceans and could threaten essential lake ecosystem services

Sustainability in a common first year engineering program

Do the lifestyle and technology of today compromise the ability of future generations to meet their own needs? Since the Fall of 2005, first year engineering students at Michigan Technological University have been considering this question. They began by learning the definition of sustainability and then examined its importance to engineering through: Researching and presenting the sustainability of 20th century engineering achievements. Investigating the ethical issues involved in sustainable technologies. Evaluating sustainability case studies using Global Sullivan Principles. Calculating their individual electrical energy consumption within their residence hall room and the resultant carbon dioxide produced. From this, they proposed methods to reduce their energy consumption. Analyzing the sustainability of their semester design projects. From these activities, students learned that engineers need to evaluate the economic, environmental and social aspects of their designs in order to produce sustainable solutions. They investigated the differences of sustainable technologies in developing and developed countries. They determined the effect their lifestyle had on the environment by calculating both their carbon and ecological footprints. This paper will describe the incorporation of these sustainability activities into the Michigan Tech first year engineering program and the assessment methodology used. © 2007 IEEE

Does peer mentoring increase retention of the mentor?

The Michigan Tech\u27s GUIDE (Graduate and Undergraduate Initiative for Development and Enhancement) and ExSEL (Excelling in Science and Engineering Learning) programs have been using peer mentoring to help retain female and underrepresented minority engineering students for over five years. Mentoring has been a successful retention strategy. Most mentoring programs measure success by looking at the retention of the mentee. This paper will address the question, Does a peer mentoring program also increase retention of the mentor? To demonstrate how being a peer mentor helps retain the students who are mentoring, retention data will be analyzed and anecdotal evidence will be presented. Survey results regarding how the mentoring experience has helped the mentor academically, socially and professionally will be provided. Additionally, peer mentor performance data regarding job placement, campus activities, and academic success will be examined and compared to the Michigan Tech College of Engineering (COE) average. ©2007 IEEE

Computerizing exams: The Michigan Tech Testing Center

Universities such as Brigham Young offer a central facility for computerized testing. Michigan Technological University is following this model with the establishment of the Michigan Tech Testing Center (MTTC) in 2012. The center creates a space that supports flexible, high integrity computerized exams. This paper focuses on the pilot testing of a spreadsheet lab practical using file submission through Canvas and Jotform

Three-dimensional experimental testing of a two-phase flow-modeling approach for air sparging

Air sparging has been used for several years as an in situ technique for removing volatile compounds from contaminated ground water but few studies have been completed to quantity the extent of remediation. To gain knowledge of the air flow and water behavior around air injection wells, laboratory tests and model simulations were completed at three injection flow rates (62, 187, and 283.1pm) in a cylindrical reactor (diameter = 1.2 m, depth = 0.65 m). Measurements of the air flux distribution were made across the surface of the reactor at 24 monitoring locations, six radial positions equally spaced along two orthogonal transects. Simulations using a multiphase flow model called T2VOC were completed for a homogeneous, axisymmetric configuration. Input parameters were independently measured soil properties. In all the experiments, about 75 percent of the flow injected exited the water table within 30 cm of the sparge well. Predictions with T2VOC showed the same. The averages of four flux measurements at a particular distance from the sparge well compare satisfactorily with T2VOC predictions. Measured flux values at a given radius varied by more than a factor of two, but the averages were consistent between experiments and agreed well with T2VOC simulations. The T2VOC prediction of the radial extent of sparging coincided with the distance out to which air flow from the sparge well could not be detected in the reactor. The sparging pattern was relatively unaffected by the air injection rate over the range of conditions studied. Changes in the injection rate resulted in nearly proportional changes in flux rates

Perceptions and influencers affecting engineering and computer science student persistence

In the 2012-2013 academic year, a survey to investigate why engineering and computer science students persist in their major was conducted at Michigan Technological University. This paper discusses the results of the survey and ties the findings to the literature. It focuses on: (1) who influenced students\u27 decisions on picking a major or on changing a major (for example, friends, family, academic advisors, faculty, upper-division or graduate students, co-workers, and supervisors), and how did they affect students\u27 persistence and (2) what is the impact of role models on student persistence. The analysis compares students who reported not having considered changing majors to students who considered switching to another major. The findings show that the students who did not consider changing majors reported having a stronger support system including faculty, academic advisors, and engineers who serve as role models. The data suggest that university faculty and staff need to reach out to the students who are deliberating about their initial choice of major and support the decision making process. © 2013 IEEE