Citation
Erkut, S., Marx, F., & Wellesley College Center for Research on Women. (2005). 4 schools for WIE. Evaluation report. Wellesley, MA: Wellesley Centers for Women.
Highlights
- The study’s objective was to determine the effect of the 4 Schools for Women in Engineering (WIE) strategy on 8th-grade students’ attitudes toward STEM careers. The strategy involved forming teams of mostly female engineering professors, students, and practitioners to train middle school teachers on engineering and gender-inclusive teaching methods and to serve as in-class role models for students.
- The authors administered a study-designed survey at the beginning and end of the school year to a single cohort of students to measure changes in outcomes following implementation of the intervention. The authors estimated program impacts using regression models and paired t-tests.
- The study found that students’ attitudes toward science improved after the intervention, but attitudes toward engineering worsened. There was no change in students’ attitudes toward math.
- The quality of causal evidence presented in this report is low. This means we are not confident that the estimated effects are attributable to the 4 Schools for WIE strategy; other factors are likely to have contributed.
Intervention Examined
4 Schools for Women in Engineering
Features of the Intervention
The 4 Schools for WIE strategy was implemented by faculty and students from engineering schools at four universities (Northeastern University, Tufts University, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, and Boston University) in 8th-grade science classrooms in eight public school districts in the greater Boston area. The strategy involved forming teams of mostly female engineering professors, students, and practitioners to train middle school teachers on engineering and gender-inclusive teaching practices and to serve as in-class role models for students. Specifically, the mission of these STEM teams was to develop gender-equitable engineering curriculum units that could be used in 8th-grade science classrooms and to help the teachers implement the new units in their classes. It was expected that the presence of role models; the use of gender-inclusive teaching methods; and the introduction of a new, high quality curriculum would improve students’ attitudes toward STEM subjects and careers, particularly among girls.
Features of the Study
The authors compared students’ attitudes toward STEM careers before and after implementation of the 4 Schools for WIE strategy in their science classrooms. Data were obtained from a survey administered to 436 8th-grade participants at the beginning and end of the school year. The authors estimated the impact of the program on changes in students’ attitudes toward STEM using regression models that controlled for whether the students found the class interesting; the students’ pre-intervention attitudes toward math, engineering, and science; and the difference in attitudes toward other STEM fields before and after the intervention. The authors also conducted paired t-tests to compare the average pre- and post-intervention attitudes of boys and girls overall.
Findings
- The study found that students’ attitudes toward science improved after the intervention, but attitudes toward engineering worsened. There was no change in students’ attitudes toward math.
Considerations for Interpreting the Findings
The authors compared the attitudes of students measured at a single point before and after they participated in the intervention. However, they did not compare these changes in attitudes with those of a comparison group of students who did not participate in the intervention. Thus, the changes in attitudes observed might reflect natural maturation of the participants, or other factors taking place in their schools at the same time, and not the 4 Schools for WIE strategy. Indeed, this could explain the somewhat conflicting results found in the study.
Causal Evidence Rating
The quality of causal evidence presented in this report is low. This means we are not confident that the estimated effects are attributable to the 4 Schools for WIE strategy; other factors are likely to have contributed.