Retaining Undergraduate Women in Science, Mathematics and Engineering by Kahveci, Ajda;

Hosszú leírás:

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.