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Enhancements To A Retention Program For Women Engineering Technology Students By The Addition Of A Social Support Network And Community Building Activities

This paper describes a low-cost, successful program to help retain female Engineering Technology students with the ultimate goal of increasing the number of female graduates of our Engineering Technology programs. This program was started in 2003. The programming initially focused on academic support in the form of tutoring, formation of study groups and reimbursement for academic laboratory kits. This program did improve retention, but a survey of our students found that they also desired social support and opportunities to serve the community. Since the addition of programming involving social support and community building, retention of women students in the Engineering Technology programs has improved by an average of 6% per year. In addition to improved retention, the number of students receiving a D, F or Withdrawing from the core first- and second-year courses in these programs has dropped by over 75%.