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Formerly known as the Engineering Education Advocate
Archives
Books by Celeste Baine
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Engineers Make a Difference: Motivating Students to Pursue an Engineering Education |
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Engineering Principles Teacher's Guide |
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Engineering Graphics Teacher's Guide |
Aeronautical Engineering Teacher's Guide |
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Civil Engineering Teacher's Guide |
Teaching Engineering Made Easy: A Friendly Introduction to Engineering Activities for Middle School Teachers |
The Musical Engineer: A Music Enthusiast's Guide to Engineering and Technology Careers |
The Fantastical Engineer: A Thrillseeker's Guide to Careers in Theme Park Engineering - Second Edition |
High Tech Hot Shots: Careers in Sports Engineering |
Is There an Engineer Inside You?: A Comprehensive Guide to Career Decisions in Engineering |
Webinar - Strategies for Recruiting Women into Technology Programs
When: Friday, October 10, 2008. 10 am PDT
Presenter: Celeste Baine
Register here (it's free): http://www.matecnetworks.org/webinars/
Webinar Description: Technicians, technologists, and engineers use knowledge, skills and the engineering method to make stuff - tools, structures, processes - to solve problems. They use available resources such as time, materials and labor to do so. As a group, females are more likely to want to use a tool to do something - solve a problem, make a product, streamline a chore - than to want to use the tool for its own sake. If women, underrepresented minorities, and persons with disabilities participated in the U.S. science, engineering, and technology workforce in parity with their percentages in the total workforce population, it would give America almost all the qualified workers it will need. Girls make great technicians, technologists and engineers! Women have a long history of using tools and materials to solve the problems of feeding, sheltering and clothing their families.
Join us on Oct 10 and learn effective strategies for recruiting women into technology programs, the major career motivators, examples of what technicians, technologists and engineers can do that might appeal to young girls, and some of the reasons that girls turn away from the field.
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To prepare for the webinar, Mark Viquesney of MATEC Network, my host, asked me a few questions.
Mark: Why is it difficult to get women into technical programs?
Celeste: Technology programs tend to attract the brightest students. The advantage for these students is that, because they are so bright, they can go into many different fields. The world is wide open for them so it’s up to technical colleges, schools and programs to show them why an engineering or technology career is better than any of their other choices.
Women want to know that their career will help others, improve society and/or make a difference. So suddenly, the marketing efforts at various colleges have to change their approach from:
Nuts and bolts = product or technology
to
The nuts and bolts required to create or design a product or technology = a better environment, enhanced healthcare, a better life, etc.
In other words, the marketing needs to focus on the big picture instead of the immediate solution. The message that needs to be conveyed is: by pursuing this technology or engineering degree you will make a difference in the world. This is challenging because making a difference is subjective and many students may not know yet what makes them have an “ah ha” moment.
Mark: Are more women getting into technical programs then before? Why do you think that is?
Celeste: According to “Inside Higher Ed” on August 7, 2007, women are enrolling in engineering and technology programs at a much higher rate than previously found. Fields such as biomedical engineering or technology and environmental engineering or technology show the highest increases. When you study the numbers, many of the career tracks that attract girls are multidisciplinary.
Mark: What’s the best way to appeal to women?
Celeste: Not many students know their career path at 16, 19 or even 21. One of the easiest strategies for attracting women is to broaden the outcome of their degree. Women want to know that they have choices. Diverse and plentiful opportunities exist for the educated non-mainstream technologist or engineer with a good understanding of scientific and technical subjects. Highlighting that a degree in technology or engineering means that, in addition to a great career as a technologist or engineer, they can also be a writer, teacher, politician, business person, doctor, or lawyer. These professions require analytical, integrative, and problem-solving abilities, all of which are part of a technology education. Thus, a technology degree offers an ideal undergraduate education for living and working in today’s technologically dependent society.
I hope I'll see you there!
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Posted by Celeste Baine on October 6, 2008
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 | Help us Celebrate Celeste Baine’s New Book Engineers Make a Difference: Motivating Students to Pursue an Engineering Education at the book release party in Springfield, Oregon! Where: Willamalane Activity Center When: 5pm - 7pm November 15, 2008 RSVP: email your RSVP or visit my evite page. |
Come to the largest book release party in the state!
First 50 people will receive a free autographed copy!
Engineers Make a Difference is about “showing the color” of engineering and, as a result, capturing students’ passion, imagination, curiosity and dreams; to inspire them to create a life of abundance, meaning and satisfaction from such a pursuit. It’s about finding ways to attract diversity in traditionally white, male- dominated fields, and it examines how we can use engineering’s full rainbow of choices to enhance the public’s perception of engineering — making it more understandable, captivating and socially desirable.
With a focus on the state of K-12 engineering education and motivating students, this book is an invitation to explore engineering and share the fun with students of all ages. Loaded with practical suggestions and over a dozen ways to lure the least-interested student.
Don't miss this one-of-a-kind event!
Evening Events:
| 5:00-5:30 | Social networking with other administrators, educators and professional engineers. |
| 5:30-6pm | 30-minute presentation from Celeste Baine. |
| 6:00-6:30pm | Open discussion on how to grow interest for engineering and technology education. |
| 6:30-7pm | Get your book signed and stock your libraries with engineering education books and media. |
Free hor d'oeuvre's, wine, beer and non alcoholic drinks will be served.
Who is Celeste Baine?
Celeste Baine is one of the top voices in America for promoting Engineering and Technology Education. Celeste has spoken extensively at colleges, universities, high schools, professional engineering associations and many other venues about how to turn kids on to engineering and technical careers. Educators from across the country have found her presentations and hands-on workshops to be some of the best they’ve ever attended.
Celeste is the Director of the Engineering Education Service Center which produces hands on activities, books, videos, posters, pins and many other items that support teachers, outreach programs, after school programs and professional engineers who want to mentor students. Celeste is the author of over 20 publications on engineering careers and can help you get your program jump-started.
She is the go-to person on this subject!
Awards and accolades:
- Current VP of Career Guidance for the Willamette Valley Section of the Society of Women Engineers.
- Winner of the 2006 Boston Society of Civil Engineers Clemens Herschel Award.
- Winner of the 2006 IEEE Engineering Education Advocate Award.
- Winner of the 2005 Norm Augustine Award for engineering communications.
- Winner of the 2004 ASEE's Engineering Dean Council's Award for the Promotion of Engineering Education and Careers.
- 2005-2006 writer of the engineering section of the World Book Encyclopedia.
- Advisory Board Member for the National Girls Collaborative Project.
- Advisory Board Member for SMILE (The Science and Math Investigative Learning Experiences Program) at Oregon State University.
- Advisory Board Member for SC ATE and the Expanding Excellence in Technician Education project at Florence-Darlington Technical College.
- Listed on the National Engineers Week Website as one of 50 engineers you should meet!
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Posted by Celeste Baine on October 14, 2008
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Engineers Make a Difference Campaign Across America I believe in what I do and think that I may be instrumental in catalyzing a shift in how the world views engineering. I'm dissatisfied with the status-quo and will talk to anyone that will listen about the change that I want to see in the world. I believe in it so much that I've devoted my life, my spirit, my energy and my faith into making the vision I have of a better future into a reality. But it's not just talk. I have a new book coming out – Engineers Make a Difference: Motivating Students to Pursue an Engineering Education with a foreword by Cary Sneider. I believe that this book can help countless people and programs get on the right track, stop reinventing the wheel and find numerous ways to interest even the hardest to reach students. I wrote it because in the 10 years that I have spent visiting schools, motivating students and promoting engineering education were always the most urgent concerns. To spread this message, I've decided that I want to meet everyone that is doing K-12 engineering and talk to every student and educator about the possibilities. I've spearheaded the Engineers Make a Difference Campaign Across America to spread this message. As part of this campaign, I plan to visit schools in every state, give radio or television interviews and also recruit you to keep the message alive (this can be as simple as putting a Bumper Sticker on your car or kicking up your coolness by wearing an Engineers Make a Difference T-shirt). Last week, I visited the east coast and gave presentations at Northeastern University and Rochester Institute of Technology. For two out of three events, I talked to K-12 students that are interested in becoming engineers and was simply amazed at their excitement, inspiration and can-do attitude. The tide is turning - engineering enrollment is on the rise (especially for women) and we are all at the beginning of a big wave. We can either work together and ride it out or duck down and let it pass. You know where I'll be. I hope you'll join me. |
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Posted by Celeste Baine on October 30, 2008