Thursday, May 8, 2014

IWITTS WomenTech Educators National Institute, July 10-11 in Bay Area




Hi, it's Donna here.

I'd like to share an inspiring story about how working in a team can help educators make lasting, institutional change in their STEM programs. In my work with a Computer Networking and Information Technology Program at the City College of San Francisco (CCSF), educators were able to make significant gains in their recruitment and retention of female students.

Here is what Pierre Thiry, the Principal Investigator of the Mid-Pacific ICT Regional Center, said about the training:


"Participating in the IWITTS training refined my skills as an instructor and administrator to be an agent of change in this realm. Because Computer Networking and Information Technology was not on the radar of many women, the tools that were given to us by IWITTS for reaching out to students for our entry level class were very effective. And those changes have been institutionalized in my department. Thanks to our work with IWITTS, female enrollment in my department has risen from 19% to 33%."
~ Pierre Thiry, Principal Investigator, Mid-Pacific ICT Regional Center, City College of San Francisco (ATE Center)

How was CCSF able to see big gains in the number of female students in their targeted programs? In part, this was because educators worked in a leadership team of key administrators, public relations staff, instructors and counselors. During the WomenTech Educators Training, the team worked together to learn the knowledgebase and to develop recruitment and retention action plans. Because they had worked together to develop the plans, they had plenty of support to implement them!

I would love for you to see the same kinds of results that CCSF had. Bring a team of educators from your school to the WomenTech Educators National Institute. This training is coming up in the San Francisco Bay Area on July 10 and 11, 2014.

When you attend the training, you will join educators from around the country to learn the full knowledgebase, and then develop customized recruitment and retention plans to increase the number of female students in your STEM classes, often in just one year. Plus, Fresno Pacific University is now offering one unit of continuing education credit to training participants!

Find out more about the WomenTech Educators National Institute

When you attend the WomenTech Educators National Institute, you will take away:
  • An easy-to-implement recruitment plan that will greatly increase the number of women and girls in your STEM classrooms. 
  • A retention plan for your school that will increase the completion rate of your female (and male students), starting the next semester. 
  • The knowledge and confidence you need to put these plans into action, right away. 
Attend the Training in a Team:

Your team will be the most effective if it includes a variety of stakeholders from your institution dedicated to increasing the number of female students in the targeted STEM program(s). Teams should have between 4-10 members. The more people that you can get involved in this campaign, the more lasting change you're going to have.

Recommended Core Team Members:
  • Dean or Chair of the Department of the targeted program 
  • Director of the Technology Center (or equivalent if applicable) 
  • Grant Director if you have a grant, such as ATE 
  • Dean of Instruction 
  • At least two instructors in targeted courses 
  • If you have math prerequisites for core targeted courses, a math administrator. 

Other potential team members could include counselors, advisors, the outreach and recruitment director and staff, STEM coordinator, curriculum developer, the learning center director and staff, the workforce development director, research and planning officer, representatives from feeder schools or job training programs, and other key stakeholders.

I look forward to seeing you and your team at the training in July!

Warmly,



Donna Milgram

Executive Director - Institute for Women in Trades, Technology and Science

P.S. I want to make it as easy as possible for you to bring a team to the training. When you register 10 or more people from the same team, you save $75 per person! Sign up for the WomenTech Educators National Institute

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