Developing a Meta-Model of Critical Factors for Females in STEM with Application to a Minority-serving Institution

A. Medina is an Associate Industrial Engineering Dr. Medina has made great contributions to recruitment of minorities in engineering through her RealTimePC outreach initiative since 2013. Passionate about developing the next generation of engineers, Dr. Medina created the IDDEAS Research Group. Current research activities are mainly focused on Engineering Education from the perspective of outreach to minorities with focus on women recruitment, retention and progression. Other research activities include: systems and product design, decision analysis, manufacturing, process automation and real-time process control. Dr. Medina is currently appointed as President (2019-2021) of the Manufacturing and Design Division for the Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers (IISE). Dr. Medina has received multiple recognitions for her work that include the IISE M&D Outstanding Service Award (2016), UPRM Recognition on the 4th Research Academy for Faculty & Postdoctoral Fellowships Symposium (2015-2016), CIAPR Emergent Leader (2015) and UPRM Industrial Engineering Outstanding Professor (2014-2015). degrees in Industrial Engineering a in Industrial Engineering Puerto Rico-Mayag ¨ uez. teaching interests include probability, statistics, and machine learning; research interests include method development and data-driven applications in statistical learning. applied work focus has geared towards natural hazards and engineering education. Abstract Over recent decades, federal and private organizations efforts to fund females-centered projects have paved the way to a vast array of empirical studies aimed at the advancement of females. For the most part, these studies assess the conditions for females in terms of their recruitment, retention, and progression in undergraduate/graduate studies or faculty positions. These studies conclude with the proposition of policies and practices that are intended to help transform institutions favorably for females. However, while large investments are done to change this paradigm, females in this era still face discrimination and are treated unfairly in many different settings. New and innovative methods are needed for transcendental changes; therefore, we take a step back to the identification of critical factors for females in STEM. To propose solutions, we must understand the issues first. This paper presents the creation of a conceptual model as an advocate to complexity thinking in problem solving. The development of the model involved the review of relevant literature from two viewpoints– an undergraduate female/Hispanic student and a tenure-track female/Hispanic professor. From these analyses, two models were generated and, lastly, a meta-model was built merging these models. We propose a hierarchical model in which factors are categorized as personal/individual, institutional, external, and sociocultural. The relevance of these factors to female’s recruitment, retention, and progression is presented along with their positive or negative impact. Finally, the model was revised once more to incorporate the results of an ADVANCE program carried out at a minority-serving institution.