BPC-DP IvyWorks Expansion

Ivy Tech Community College Of Indiana, Indianapolis IN

Investigators

Abstract

The purpose of this project is to provide women the opportunity to pursue STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) related careers with the aid of mentoring, scholarship, employment, and internship assistance. Research suggests women are underrepresented in STEM fields. According to the US Department of Commerce report titled "Women in STEM: A Gender Gap to Innovation", women fill nearly half of all jobs in the United States yet hold less than 25 percent of STEM jobs. It has been noted that women hold a disproportionately low share of STEM undergraduate degrees, particularly in Engineering. The IvyWorks program aims to spark women's interest in tech fields, cultivate a sense of belonging to retain them while pursuing their degree, and support them to fully integrate and find mobility in a tech career. Equal representation in STEM fields provides women the same opportunities at a high-paying job, providing a self-sustaining career where a woman can then provide for herself and a family. Research shows that women with STEM jobs earned 33 percent more than women not in STEM careers. The success of the IvyWorks program model will advance knowledge and understanding in the tech industry on how to close the computing gender gap. Based on the success of a small sample of a prior test case from a team of researchers from the investigator's college, where free mentorship and additional peer network was provided for the women in the STEM-related degrees, it has become imperative to provide adequate support as in addition to promoting the need for STEM education for women. By providing a peer support network, the women of the test case program have automatic support from other women who have completed the same courses and found success with employment in the field of technology. This indicates that providing adequate support engenders success. Mentors and peer networks can support students pursuing their STEM education (Powell, Chang). This project will advocate for (1) mentorship, (2) targeted academic advising, (3) internship placement, (4) career advising, (5) alumni network, and (6) employment placement assistance. With women as an untapped workforce in STEM fields, our goal is to educate, support and mentor women as they pursue their STEM career degrees. Women make up half the workforce but are employed in only a quarter of the high-paying STEM jobs. With the help of a grant, additional opportunities will be provided to a demographic of the society that has been underrepresented in the STEM field. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.