International Conference on Engineering Education and Research "Progress Through Partnership" © 2004 VSB-TUO, Ostrava, ISSN 1562-3580 1389 Women at UPR’s College of Engineering: Students and Faculty, Quite a Distinct Reality Sonia BARTOLOMEI-SUÁREZ University of Puerto Rico-Mayagüez, Industrial Engineering, sonia@ece.uprm.edu Viviana CESANÍ-VÁZQUEZ University of Puerto Rico-Mayagüez, Industrial Engineering, vcesani@uprm.edu María IRIZARRY University of Puerto Rico-Mayagüez, Industrial Engineering, mariai@ece.uprm.edu Freya TOLEDO-FERIA University of Puerto Rico-Mayagüez, General Engineering, ftoledo@uprm.edu KEYWORDS: female faculty, female students, high recruitment rate, high retention rate ABSTRACT: For the last fifteen years, UPRM has stand out by the high percentage of women in its College of Engineering. Current enrolment statistics show that 35% of students are females, one of the highest rates in the United States. According to the American Association for Science and Engineering Education (ASEE) our engineering program is one of the largest in the nation. For the academic year 2001-02, UPRM conferred 680 degrees in engineering and forty percent of such degrees were awarded to women. UPRM rank as one of the universities with the highest number of degrees in engineering conferred to women. In this paper, we discuss two important aspects of the College of Engineering (COE) at UPRM: students and faculty. We focus our attention in engineering female students and faculty. The paper provides a profile of engineering students and through the administration of a survey we investigate the reasons for such high enrolment and retention rates. The results of the survey showed that social, economical, cultural, and educational factors influence students in their decision to purse an engineering career. The female representation within the faculty of the COE, when compared with the success achieved in recruiting and retaining female students at the undergraduate level, is way behind from where it should be. Currently, the percentage of female professors with tenure or in tenure track is a value well below the USA average. At the COE, there is a bigger pool of potential female candidates for graduate school and academia than in other higher learning systems but this is not reflected in its current faculty composition. The most significant conclusion from these results is an overwhelming need for an institutionalized support to help female face its particular needs and responsibilities. 1 INTRODUCTION Puerto Rico has a combined public and private system of higher education with an enrolment of over 170,000 students. Of these, over one third is enrolled in the University of Puerto Rico’s (UPR) state multi-campus system. The Mayagüez Campus of the University of Puerto Rico (UPRM), with approximately 12,000 students enrolled, houses the only College of Engineering within the state university system. It offers programs in Civil, Chemical, Electrical, Computer, Industrial, and Mechanical Engineering, all accredited by ABET. Master’s programs in all basic sciences, mathematics, and engineering, and PhD programs in Civil, Chemical, and Computer Science Engineering are also offered. The UPRM has approximately 5,000 students enrolled in science programs and more than 4,500 in engineering. For the last fifteen years, UPRM has stand out by the high percentage of women in its COE. Enrolment statistics show that 35% of students are females, one the highest rates in the United States. Furthermore, according to the American Association for Science and Engineering Education (ASEEE) our engineering program is one of the largest in the nation. For the academic year 2001-02, UPRM conferred 680 degrees in engineering; forty percent of such degrees were awarded to women. UPRM rank