About This Project

Ask the Scientists

What is the context of this research?

Women account for approximately 20% of the engineering bachelor’s degrees awarded in the United States. While some attribute this discrepancy to professional degrees in general, law and medicine do not have the same disparities between men and women. One reason given as to why women choose other professions over engineering is that some women see engineering as less socially orientated. This perceived characteristic coupled with many women’s lack of self-efficacy regarding engineering contribute to the underrepresentation.

To combat this issue, we propose a research project involving hands on workshop designed to increase women’s awareness of the social impacts of engineering while attempting to increase their self-efficacy.

What is the significance of this project?

The workshops will be part of the Toy Adaptation Program (TAP) at OSU that adapts toys for children with physically disabilities. Children with physical disabilities do not always have the ability to play with battery-operated toys that often require specific skills to activate (e.g., operating a joystick to move a remote controlled car). Toys that have been adapted for their needs are available on a limited basis through online purchasing (at a mark-up often five times the unadapted retail price) and through toy lending libraries. These workshops will give young women the opportunity to serve their community and make a positive impact on the lives of these children while gaining useful knowledge about what motivates women to choose engineering as a field of study.

What are the goals of the project?

The goal of this research is to hold a toy adaptation workshop for 25 young women and their parents to try to increase the participants self-efficacy towards engineering.

The workshop will involve adapting toys for children with disabilities to provide a social context for engineering. The workshops will also teach skills in reverse engineering, universal design, and basic circuits. To measure the success of the workshop, pre and post surveys will be distributed that specifically measure self-efficacy and identity constructs. Increases in self-efficacy and identity towards engineering from the pre to post survey will indicate that the workshops were successful.