2015 STEM Success for Women Telesummit Archive:

Recordings and Transcripts of 11 Sessions

Learn from 10 top experts and practitioners on engaging women in STEM/CTE education in these 11 sessions...

How to Be Successful in the Lab with Donna Milgram


Executive Director, Institute for Women in Trades, Technology and Science (IWITTS)


Donna Milgram, your Telesummit host and a nationally-recognized expert on women and STEM, has been Principal Investigator of 5 National Science Foundation projects working to assist STEM educators in broadening participation of women. In this session, Donna will share the proven strategies and best practices for ensuring your female students are successful in the lab.

An Engineering Graduating Class of 56% Female Students with 

Dr. Elizabeth J. Orwin 


Professor of Engineering and Department Chair, Director of Engman Fellowship Program in Bioengineering, Harvey Mudd College


You'll hear how Harvey Mudd College graduated an engineering class of 56% female students in this interview with Dr. Liz Orwin, Professor of Engineering and Department Chair. Learn what changes her engineering program made to the curriculum of introductory courses to increase the number of female students getting engineering degrees. You’ll also find out how her department used female role models and increased confidence levels of female engineering students.

A 100% Job Placement Rate for Women in Non-Traditional Occupations with Ede Slovin


Former President and CEO of the Options! Program, a Community-Based Organization for Empowerment, Education and Employment, and WomenTech Educators Trainer


Under her leadership, the Options! Program achieved a phenomenal job placement success rate of 92% for its clients, many of them displaced homemakers. While she was the Director of the New Directions program at Seminole Community College in Sanford, Florida, the program had a 100% job placement rate and 38% of the placements were in non-traditional occupations for women. In this session, Ede will share best practices applied during her decades of hands-on experience in recruiting and retaining women in STEM career pathways.

Women in Manufacturing: A Gender Gap to Innovation with Chandra Brown


Deputy Assistant Secretary for Manufacturing, International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce


Join us to hear Chandra Brown, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Manufacturing from the U.S. Department of Commerce, discuss how the gender gap for women in manufacturing is hurting innovation in the U.S. and what we can do to close that gap. Ms. Brown will share up-and-coming career options in the manufacturing sector and spell out why it’s so important to have women working at all levels in the industry. She’ll also draw on her own years of private sector manufacturing experience to explain why manufacturing is such a great career option for women.

Increasing Female Students Declaring a Computer Science Major from 11% to 46% via Pair Programming with Dr. Charlie McDowell


Professor of Computer Science, University of California Santa Cruz


Dr. Charlie McDowell, a Professor of Computer Science at UC Santa Cruz, has dramatically increased retention of female and male students in computer science courses. Over 46% of female students who participated in his introductory undergraduate computer science courses declared a computer science major compared to 11% of female students in a control group. Learn from his highly instructive case study.

A 62% Increase in Female Introductory Computer Programming Enrollment and a 45% Increase in Female and Male Student Retention with Barbara DuFrain


Smart Wonderful Women Computer Science, Engineering and Advanced Technology Site Coordinator, Associate Professor of Computer Science, Engineering and Advanced Technology, Del Mar College


Professor Barbara DuFrain of Del Mar College was able to increase female enrollment in her intro to computer programming classes by 62%, and improve female and male retention by 45% in less than a year. In this session, you’ll learn the classroom retention strategies that worked right away. Plus, get the details on the "Smart, Wonderful Women" outreach campaign that helped lead to substantial increases in enrollment.

Recruiting Women of Color to STEM with Lily Gossage


Director, Maximizing Engineering Potential (MEP) Center for Gender, Diversity & Student Excellence, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona College of Engineering


Lily Gossage is the Director of Maximizing Engineering Potential, MEP: Center for Gender, Diversity & Student Excellence at Cal Poly Pomona. In this session Lily shares her experience with recruiting female students, and special considerations for recruiting women of color to STEM.

Increasing Female Enrollment by 46% and Improving Retention from a 64% Baseline to a High of 86% with Carmen Lamha


Chair, Computer Networking & Information Technology, City College of San Francisco, and WomenTech Educators Trainer


In the Computer Networking and Information Technology (CNIT) department, chaired by Carmen Lamha at City College of San Francisco, the percentage of female students increased from 18% to an average enrollment rate of 26%. The retention rates of female students increased from a 64% baseline to a high of 86%, and the retention of male students increased as well. In this session, Carmen shares strategies and best practices on recruitment and retention from the CNIT program and from her role as Co-Principal Investigator of the CalWomenTech Project.

40% Female Enrollment and 90% Graduation Rates for Two STEM Academic Scholarship Programs with Dr. Mary Anderson-Rowland


Director, Academic Success Programs School of Computing, Informatics and Decision Systems Engineering, Arizona State University


STEM Education expert Dr. Mary R. Anderson-Rowland has achieved an average of 40% female enrollment and a 90% graduation rate for two STEM Academic Scholarship Programs she directs at Arizona State University. Her programs have an emphasis on under-represented minority students with unmet financial need, but still have higher completion rates than students overall. In this interview Dr. Anderson-Rowland will reveal the strategies that worked to recruit women and students of color, and the retention strategies she used that helped them graduate with a 90% completion rate.

Using Spatial Reasoning Skills to Boost Female Retention by 42% in One Semester with Dr. Sheryl Sorby


Professor of Teaching and Learning, The Ohio State University


Dr. Sheryl Sorby, Professor of Teaching and Learning at The Ohio State University, is the international expert on boosting spatial reasoning skills in female STEM students to improve retention. In this session, she will share how in only 12 teaching contact hours she improved retention of female engineering students by 42% in one semester.

Opening the STEM Pipeline: Every Student Can Have An Interest in STEM with Donna Milgram


Executive Director, Institute for Women in Trades, Technology and Science (IWITTS)


What are we missing out on because the way STEM is currently taught in many schools turns students off from science and technology? Join Donna Milgram, a nationally-recognized expert on women in STEM and the Executive Director of the National Institute for Women in Trades, Technology and Science, to learn why a diverse STEM workforce is a "life or death matter" and how educators like you are a vital part of the solution. You’ll leave the session with 3 things you can do right away to make a difference for students in your STEM programs.

Hear what 2015 Telesummit participants had to say:

"After the STEM Success for Women Telesummit, I immediately went out and located a copy of the book on gender inclusive STEM education that a presenter recommended and have been using several of the strategies in the TechSpot 2.0 ATE Project at my college ever since. The Telesummit provided a helpful overview of current proven practices and gender-based resources that I’ve been able to apply to my work."

Maura Devlin-Clancy, Chair of Computer Networking & Information Technology and Co-PI of NSF ATE Project TechSpot 2.0, City College of San Francisco, CA

"After participating in the STEM Success for Women Telesummit, I began reaching out to my female students more and trying to connect them with the technical material in a way they can relate to and I've seen female retention increase to around 75%. I look forward to attending future Telesummits for more new ideas!"

Kelli Kleindorfer, Instructor of Computer Science, Des Moines Area Community College, IA