A Model for Increasing Gender Diversity in Technology

At our university, women are a minority in all computing and engineering majors. This situation is mirrored at other universities nationwide, as well as in technical industries. Stereotype threat, the risk of confirming a negative stereotype about one's social group, can result in women not performing as well as their male counterparts in computing, mathematics, and engineering courses. The aftermath of these experiences cause women to fear they do not belong or are not "smart enough", resulting in women switching to a different major. Even high-performing women can be subject to these pressures. We present a Scholar model for increasing gender diversity in technology fields and an evaluation of its impact on the retention and success of women in computing and engineering majors. We compare the performance of Scholars to that of non Scholars with similar demographic and academic backgrounds who entered into the College of Engineering and Information Technology at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.