Females in STEM and PLTW Discussion February 3, 2010 Barbara Bitters and WI PLTW Board

True Outcomes Assessment Report PLTW-2008 Female students are severely under-represented in PLTW programs. They constitute only about 17% of PLTW students. PLTW is no better or worse than colleges at attracting female students to engineering and technology. Proportional representation of under-represented groups is core to PLTW’s mission.

Gender has no effect on student performance. We conducted a multivariate analysis examining student performance as a function of gender, race/ethnic group, the affluence of the school, the type of exam (A&B or A&C), and the course (IED, POE, DE, CEA & CIM). Gender has no effect on student performance. Race/ethnicity has the greatest effect: Black students score 12 points lower than White students; Hispanic and Native American students score 5 points below White students. Students in affluent schools do better than those in poorer schools.

True Outcomes Assessment Report PLTW-2008 Most schools need to add 15-30 female students to achieve proportional representation in their PLTW programs, and many schools need to add more than 30. Plots of under-representation vs. the size of PLTW programs or the size of schools shows no correlation.

True Outcomes Assessment Report PLTW-2008 No strategies or suggestions about what to do are made in this report. What are we doing or do we want to do in Wisconsin.

History of Gender Equity Efforts in Technology Education via DPI International Technology Education Association Guidelines for Equity Issues in Technology Education, 1985 UW Stout Project to create a handbook, 1988 Wisconsin Model for Sex Equity, 1988 Sex Equity Resources p.109-129 in Tech Ed Curriculum Guide, 1988 TACKLE Box, 2000-2002 STEM Equity Pipeline Project, 2008-2010

WI Tech Ed 9-12 Enrollments Over My Career 1975 97% male 3% female 1980 94% male 6% female 1991 93% male 7% female 2010 83% male 17% female

Wisconsin PLTW Enrollment Data for 2009 High School 18% female and 82% male. Middle School 45% female and 55% male. IED 18% female and 82% male POE 20% female and 80% male DE 14% female and 86% male CEA 14% female and 86% male CIM 12% female and 88% male AERO 47% female and 53% male EDD 9% female and 91% male

Ideas ?