Program Helps Ease Transition Into College Life, Retain Women Majoring in the Field

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University announced Thursday -- during the 20th annual Women in Aviation Conference in Atlanta, GA -- it has launched an innovative peer mentoring program to help young women aspiring to become engineers successfully transition from high school through the critical first year of college.

The program, called FIRST (Female Initiatives: Reaching Success Together) and funded by a grant from the Boeing Corporation, is helping to curb the dropout rate of female engineering students in their first year and give them tutoring in math and physics, special activities, and mentoring to better ensure their success during a demanding course of study.

Of the several engineering disciplines offered at Embry-Riddle, the aerospace engineering program is the largest in the nation and ranked No. 1 by US News & World Report, among universities without doctoral programs.

Nationally, women majoring in engineering programs represent approximately 20 percent of the undergraduate population at universities such as Embry-Riddle; however, the dropout rate for these women is much higher than their male counterparts, according to Joanne Detore-Nakamura, Embry-Riddle’s director of diversity initiatives and an associate professor, humanities and social sciences. National data on student retention from the National Academies of Engineering indicate only 40 to 60 percent of entering engineering students persist to an engineering degree, and women are at the low end of that range, despite many being high academic achievers.

"FIRST is a partnership between our College of Engineering, the Office of Diversity Initiatives, and its Women's Center to give our students an important confidence boost during their first critical semester when all freshmen—males and females alike -- are confronted with a whole new culture and set of demands," said Detore-Nakamura. "Females in the engineering programs tend to quit their major at a much higher and faster rate than males—particularly if they encounter a stumbling block, such as not passing a class. Pairing female freshmen with successful upper-class women, assigning faculty mentors, and engaging them in peer group activities helps them see they are not alone if they want to pursue their dream."

Research shows Embry-Riddle's program is on target. A 2002 report investigating why women left engineering programs found that two-thirds who left were earning A's and B's, but were leaving because they felt isolated from the industry and from other women at the university.

Some 50 students and eight faculty and staff are part of the FIRST program’s initial class, begun in September, according to Cindy Oakley-Paulik, the program’s creator and director of Embry-Riddle's Women's Center. Freshmen students meet with their upper-class mentors several times a month in one-on- one and group settings to address a variety of issues—from registration help and tutoring, to persistence and life-coaching, to help them acclimate to university life.

Plans to expand the FIRST program to young freshmen women majoring in aviation science (professional pilot)—another area of higher female attrition—are in the works for the Fall 2009 semester, according to Oakley-Paulik.

With the program still in its infancy, success is still difficult to measure, but Oakley-Paulik says she is already seeing positive results. As an example, Oakley-Paulik cites one young woman who initially felt isolated and that Embry-Riddle's aerospace engineering program was not "a good fit.

"The program has given her the opportunity to gain confidence, make new friends, and grow academically," said Oakley-Paulik. "In fact, she's one of only three freshmen campus-wide to be accepted into the University's Honors program in her first year."

FMI: www.erau.edu, www.wai.org/