The Mathematical Sciences Department at Shenandoah University focused on increasing the participation of women in the mathematics program by fostering a welcoming learning community and promoting double majors. Data from the past decade is presented. During this time, the program saw an increase in women undergraduate mathematics majors from 11%…

It is widely known that women are underrepresented in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). We have a lack of women who choose STEM careers and women leave these careers at a higher rate than men. Women of color are especially underrepresented and face additional hurtles in building their STEM career. While interventions often…

The Auburn University Executive Master of Business Administration (EMBA) degree program has enrolled fewer women in comparison to their male counterparts in each cohort since the inception of the program. The percentage of women has varied year-to-year but has never exceeded 35%. As women continue to increase their roles in upper management in the…

As the United States works towards strengthening and diversifying the science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) workforce, many national charges aim to increase the quantity of female participants, while overlooking how systematic barriers affect the quality of female students' education. Many STEM workforce development programs, such as…

The gender imbalance in computer science (CS) is one of the most challenging issues in American education. CS is the only science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) field in which women's representation has steadily declined in recent decades. In this study, we explored one potential approach that could be effective in increasing…

The underrepresentation of women and women of color in the disciplines of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) is of little surprise to those of us who have kept abreast of the statistical data supporting this phenomenon. In order for the United States (U.S.) to remain "economically and globally competitive" (Ong,…

Though research efforts have been conducted to understand the strategies to increase female participation in STEM and relevant areas, including the construction field, still the desired outcomes have not been forthcoming. This study proposes to explore the innovative use of 360-degree immersive environments powered by virtual characters to tell…

Many efforts have been made to enroll more women and other underrepresented groups into STEM fields, including the current NSF-funded S-STEM (S-4) program at our University. S-4 aims to increase enrollment and retention in STEM majors through student activities such as a summer transition to University program, the development of a Learning…

The need to increase the number of African American women who obtain STEM degrees has been well documented in the literature by researchers, scientists, and policymakers. Increasing the participation of this group of women and other underrepresented groups in STEM is both an issue of social justice and economic advancement on a national scale.…

Minoritized Black students who are average academic performers have often been overlooked as a targeted group in empirical studies that look at barriers and other limitations for minority students (Rodriguez, 2015; Stewart, 2013). This study seeks to identify the practices that higher education institutions are currently utilizing to recruit…

This open access book addresses challenges related to women in STEM in higher education, presenting research, experiences, studies, and good practices associated with the engagement, access, and retention of women in the STEM disciplines. It also discusses strategies implemented by universities and policymakers to reduce the existing gender gap in…

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) defines Non-Traditional Occupations (NTOs) as occupations where specific populations (i.e. one gender or a minority group) are traditionally underrepresented, comprising less than 25 percent of the individuals employed in them. Barriers associated with entry into NTOs can prevent these populations from accessing…

This paper examines responses to questions about job satisfaction and inclusion from professionals in the information technology field. Responses from over 10,000 professionals were analyzed to determine if there were differences in response to these questions based on gender of respondent. This information, along with previous research on…

Diversifying the teaching profession has garnered attention from researchers, policy makers, and educational stakeholders. However, missing within this conversation is the role of school and district leaders in diversifying the teaching profession. We argue that without considering school and district leaders, diversity initiatives will not have a…

Exposure to role models has been recommended as a way to attract and retain students in Information Systems (IS) programs. One way to accomplish this exposure in IS classrooms is with career panels of alumni professionals who offer a realistic perspective of various IS-related roles and can frankly answer questions from students. For this study,…