Retaining women students in a construction engineering undergraduate program by balancing integration and identity in student communities

A key to student retention and satisfaction is to provide mechanisms that integrate the students into a program or profession yet still preserve and develop key identity factors important to the students. Integration involves common values, shared goals, uniform curricula, and linkages to upperclass students, alumni, and industry partners. Identity is generally developed through involvement with extracurricular student groups, such as Women In Construction, Emerging Green Builders, and Society of Women Engineers. Providing a student experience that offers a balance between integration and identity will be effective in recruiting and retaining women students while maintaining rigorous academic and professional standards required by accrediting agencies and industry advisory boards. This article presents the results of a structured system of both curricular and extracurricular activities implemented at a large Midwestern university to retain women undergraduate students in a construction engineering program. Implementing a first year learning community, hiring women faculty and staff, and creating student groups and functions tailored specifically to women have all contributed to significant increases in women student enrollments.