The Impact of Gender and Extracurricular Activities on Retention Undergraduate Engineering Programs

The goal of this work in progress is to use quantitative surveys, interviews, and focus groups to elucidate how the gender composition of participants in experiential extracurricular activities affects the development of self-efficacy in males and females and to inform how team practices and attributes improve self-efficacy and retention of female and male students in undergraduate engineering programs.The Kate Gleason College of Engineering at the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) hosts two automotive-based competition teams.The RIT Hot Wheelz team is predominantly female while the RIT Formula SAE team is predominantly male.Both teams have similar performance goals, but the gender composition, attributes, and practices of the teams are very distinct.Qualitative data from the predominantly female team suggests that among the key benefits of the team is that it provides an environment with psychological safety where female members can be themselves and take risks to learn new skills or take on leadership roles.Participants have also cited the team as having contributed to their confidence and identity as an engineer and as one of the reasons they remained in engineering.Survey data is currently being collected from at least 30 existing and 30 former Hot Wheelz and Formula SAE members to quantify demographic characteristics (including gender and race), year level, and current levels of self-efficacy.Pre-existing validated scales for measuring self-efficacy and psychological safety are being used to assess engineering and career self-efficacy.The survey data will be used to develop interview and focus group questions that further quantify differences in self-efficacy for males and females and to inform how team practices and attributes improve self-efficacy and retention of female and male students in undergraduate engineering programs.