Frequently Asked Questions
- What is the purpose of this study?
- What is the procedure for the 3-year study?
- What are the benefits of participating in the study?
- How many schools are involved in the study?
- How were these schools selected?
- About how many women will participate in the study?
- Why aren’t men being studied?
- Who is the research team?
- Will I be compensated for my participation?
- Are there any risks?
- What will be done with the information you collect in the study?
- Will my information/answers be shared with others (people, institutions)?
- What procedures are taken to keep my information confidential?
- How long is my information kept?
- What will you do with the results of this study?
- Can I get a copy of the study results?
- Who can I contact if I have questions about the study?
- How long will the survey take?
- What happens if after beginning the survey I decide I no longer wish to participate?
- How will I be reminded to take the follow-up survey?
- Is there another method for taking the survey that is not internet based?
- What if I lose or forget my pass code to the survey?
- Can I still take this survey if I am no longer working as an engineer?
- What are you going to do with my email address that I used for my login?
- If I agree to be contacted for the next phase, are my contact information and my responses still kept confidential?
- Can I save my information on the survey and return to it at a later time?
Q: What is the purpose of this study?
The purpose of this research
study is to improve understanding of women’s choices in engineering
careers. There have been several surveys on women engineers’
level of participation in the workforce, but to date, none of the surveys
examined their career experiences. What we know is that women
make up approximately 20% of engineering graduates but only 11% of professional
engineers are women (NSF report, 2007). What we don’t know is
why women who earn engineering degrees are disproportionately choosing
not persist in engineering careers. No one has systematically
investigated what factors may contribute to women engineers’ decisions
to persist or leave the engineering field and this is what we want to
change with our three-year long research study. But we can do
this only with your help. For this purpose, we are surveying a
national group of women with engineering degrees who have either remained
in, or have chosen to, leave engineering careers. This research will
help us gain an understanding of the most important factors that shape
women engineers’ career experiences and choices over time.
Q: What is the procedure for the 3-year study?
The study will consist of two
phases over three years. First, this year, participants are invited
to take a web-based survey. Second, participants are invited to
participate in follow up individual interviews. Finally, participants
will be asked if they are willing to be contacted in future years of
the study, so we can understand how their career experiences may change
over time.
Q: What are the benefits of participating in the study?
Women continue to be tremendously
under-represented in the field of engineering at every level. We cannot
change the status quo unless we find out specifically what factors shape
women engineers’ career choices and experiences. And this is
the reason we are reaching out to you. Together we can change
the status quo and help provide organizations with the information and
data they can use to craft policies, programs, and practices that actively
nurtures the talents of its existing women engineers and also attracts
new ones to their firms. While there are no direct benefits to you,
you may have the satisfaction and benefit of knowing that you are a
part of this research study that hopes to provide some ground breaking
insights that could lead to improved workplaces for women engineers.
Q: How many schools are involved in the study?
So far, 30 schools that graduated the most women with engineering bachelor’s degrees have agreed to participate in this study. If you do not see your school in the list of participating schools, it may have joined our project after we launched the survey. These schools are in diverse geographical locations, and include technical universities, historically black colleges and universities, private institutions as well as large public universities.
Q: How were these schools selected?
We reached out to 71 universities that have been identified as being the top colleges in the nation that graduate the most women with an undergraduate engineering degree (as reported in ASEE Profiles of Engineering and Engineering Technology Colleges, 2007). Out of these 71 universities, 30 agreed to participate and we hope that more will join this study as we continue to solicit their participation.
Q: About how many women will participate in the study?
Since we are interesting in capturing and documenting women engineers’ career experiences and choices, we are inviting approximately 22,000 women who are at different career and life stages, to participate in this study. This will allow us to capture the diversity of women engineers’ profiles across different career spectrums – something that has never been done before. Since we are interested in documenting changes in women’s career experiences and choices over time, we are also appealing to all women to journey with us and contribute to the next phases of this project.
Q: Why aren’t men being studied?
Women continue to be underrepresented in the field of engineering at every level despite comprising 20% of all engineering graduates. Little is known about what happens to women once they enter the engineering workforce. What makes the picture more dismal is that women are four times more likely than men to leave engineering (Society of Women Engineers, 2008). While comparing men’s and women’s career experiences will provide us with a wealth of insights, we believe it is important to take the first step and identify the unique factors that shape women engineers’ career experiences and choices over time before we undertake a comparison with male engineers’ career experiences. We are committed to continuing our research on women engineers’ careers, and as a part of that commitment, our next set of research projects will include a comparison with male engineers too.
Q: Who is the research team?
Nadya A. Fouad, Ph.D. and Romila Singh, Ph.D. are the Principal Investigators of this study. Dr. Fouad is a Distinguished Professor in the Department of Educational Psychology at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and Dr. Singh is an Assistant Professor in the Lubar School of Business Administration at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
Mary E. Fitzpatrick, M.S. is a doctoral candidate at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and a former engineer with 17 years experience in engineering companies.
Jane P. Liu, M.S. and Michelle G. Parisot, M.A. are doctoral candidates in the Counseling Psychology Ph.D. program at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
For more information on the research team, please click on the “Research Team” tab at the top of this page.
Q: Will I be compensated for my participation?
You will not be paid for taking part in this research study.
Q: Are there any risks?
While unlikely, it’s possible that you might experience some discomfort as a few survey questions ask you to reflect on yourself and your career experiences. If you do experience any unwanted discomfort, you may decline to respond to particular items, decline to continue the survey, or contact Dr. Nadya Fouad, who is a licensed psychologist.
Q: What will be done with the information you collect in the study?
We may decide to present research results to others and publish aggregate results in scientific journals or at scientific conferences; however no identifying data will be revealed. We hope to uncover factors related to women’s persistence or non-persistence in engineering careers and to publish our findings.
Q: Will my information/answers be shared with others (people, institutions)?
Survey data will be maintained on UWM password-protected computer servers. Only the Principal Investigators and trained graduate assistants will have access to survey data and results. Some universities have requested summary data for their institution; however please be assured that no individual responses will be shared with other people or institutions at any time, and all results will be reported in an aggregate form. However, the Institutional Review Board (IRB) at UWM or appropriate federal agencies, such as the Office for Human Research Protections may review unidentified records. If you have further questions regarding your rights as a research participant you may contact:
Institutional Review Board
Human Research Protection Program
Department of University Safety and Assurances
University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee
P.O. Box 413
Milwaukee, WI 53201
(414) 229-3173
Q: What procedures are taken to keep my information confidential?
All information collected about you during the course of this study will be kept confidential to the extent permitted by law. Your survey answers will be kept separate from identifying information. Identifying information will be kept private and confidential and will be utilized only if you agree to be re-contacted in future phases of the study.
Data collected from the web-based survey will be transferred and stored on password-protected secure UWM IT servers. No “cookies” or other files will be created or left on the participants’ computer. The website screens will be developed using standard commercial web application software and data will be transferred to and stored on UWM IT servers using standard server-side software recommended by the IT department. Only the principal investigators will have the access to the data.
For those participating in the follow up interviews, participants will be assigned numbers so that the various recordings, transcriptions, and coded data will not show the participants' names. There will be a master list that contains the participants’ names and assigned numbers that will be kept separate from the data. Once the interviews are transcribed, the raw data tapes will be locked and stored in a file cabinet with only the assigned numbers on the transcriptions and coding sheets. The transcriptions and coding sheets will also be kept in a locked cabinet separate from that holding the participants’ names. Only the principal investigators will have access to the cabinet.
Q: How long is my information kept?
Data and the master list will
be retained for seven years after the study and then destroyed.
Q: What will you do with the results of this study?
Since this is one of the first
studies to systematically and comprehensively document women engineers’
career experiences, we expect to widely disseminate our findings through
national media, research publications, and academic and professional
conferences. Please be assured that we will report results only
in an aggregate, summary form and at no stage will individual responses
be used for this purpose. We will present our findings to our
funding partners – the National Science Foundation and the Lubar School
of Business. We will also share summary reports with participating
universities.
Q: Can I get a copy of the study results?
If you are interested, we would be happy to send you a copy of the results. There will be a place at the end of the survey where you can request the results.
Q: Who can I contact if I have questions about the study?
For more information about the study or the study procedures or treatments, or to withdraw from the study, contact:
Dr. Nadya A. Fouad
Department of Educational Psychology
University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee
P.O. B. 413, Enderis Hall
Milwaukee, WI 53201
(414) 229-6830
nsf-power@uwm.edu
Q: How long will the survey take?
The survey will take you anywhere between 5 minutes to 30 minutes depending on whether you are a current or former engineer and the length of time since your last engineering position. You can complete the survey all at once or come back later to finish.
Q: What happens if after beginning the survey I decide I no longer wish to participate?
Your participation in this study is entirely voluntary. You may choose not to take part in this study, or if you decide to take part, you can change your mind later and withdraw from the study. You are free to not answer any questions or to withdraw at any time. Your decision will not change any present or future relationships with the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. If you withdraw from the study before completing the surveys, information collected up to the point of your withdrawal will be destroyed.
Q: How will I be reminded to take the follow-up survey?
Participants who completed
the survey in the first year and who agreed to be re-contacted will
be invited through email, post cards, and telephone to complete the
survey in years 2 and 3 of the study.
Q: Is there another method for taking the survey that is not internet based?
No, the web based survey is
the only method for completing the survey.
Q: What if I lose or forget my pass code to the survey?
When you enter the survey again, you can click “forgot password” on the main page and further instructions will be given.
Q: Can I still take this survey if I am no longer working as an engineer?
Yes! If you have worked in engineering in the last 5 years, you will take the entire survey based on your experiences in your last engineering position. If you left engineering more than 5 years ago, we have a shorter survey for you.
Q: What are you going to do with my email address that I used for my login?
This address allows you to leave the survey before you are finished, and login later to complete the survey. All email addresses will be kept completely confidential, and will be stored on a password-protected internet server that is accessible only to the research team who has been trained on privacy procedures. We will never sell or use your email for any other purpose, nor allow others to use your email address.
Q: If I agree to be contacted for the next phase, are my contact information and my responses still kept confidential?
Yes, your contact information and responses will still be kept completely confidential, and will be stored on a password-protected internet server that is accessible only to the research team who has been trained on privacy procedures. We will never sell or use your contact information for any other purpose, nor allow others to use your contact information. Identifying information such as your name will be stored separately from your survey responses, and will also be kept completely confidential. In order to analyze responses over time, responses from each participant will be linked by a de-identified ID number.
Q: Can I save my information on the survey and return to it at a later time?
Yes, but you will have to remember
your password to log back in, or when you log back in you can click
“forgot password” on the main page and further instructions will
be given.
