Making it stick

1
Making it stick

• what I have learned (often the hard way) about
  sustaining women in engineering activities
• Elizabeth Croft, Mechanical Engineering, UBC
• ecroft_at_mech.ubc.ca
• www.mech.ubc.ca/ecroft

2
Outline

• Lessons Learned
• Case Studies
• Trimentoring
• http//www.cpsd.apsc.ubc.ca/mentoring/
• NEW_at_ubc -gt WIE_at_ubc
• http//wie.apsc.ubc.ca/
• Building Communities Symposium 2007
• http//www.mech.ubc.ca/wesymposium/

3
Research your project

• Know the space
• Other projects
• Other players/potential partners
• Funding sources
• Know your audience
• Investors-read their strategic plan (MVG)
• Clients
• Survey
• Before you start
• For every activity (PDQ)
• Assign this activity to a person who is NOT
  running the event

4
Strategic Alignment

• Your Institution
• Strategic Plan
• Best practices
• Other groups
• Resource sharing
• Event co-ordination
• Industry
• Needs
• Fit

5
Documentation

• Strategic Plan
• Vision
• Mission
• Values
• Goals and Objectives
• Strategic Initiatives
• Great marketing tool put on website, show to
  audience
• Its a roadmap!
• Implementation tracking (operations manual, post
  event debriefing sessions)
• Survey tracking
• Writing papers about your activities legitimizes
  it to the academic establishment
• TAKE PICTURES assign the task to someone who is
  NOT running the event

6
Champions

• Advisors
• From both client groups
• Provides directions (strategic plan) and builds
  credibility
• Implementers
• Seconded staff if possible
• Workstudy is a great UBC opportunity
• Students with passion
• Marketers students who spread the word!

7
Marketing - I

• To audience
• Good title, and logo is very important!
• Mailing lists
• your own opt in
• - institution to advertise your list
• Website
• Inside womens washrooms (back of door so not
  removed by custodial staff)
• Classes
• Via other groups

8
Marketing - II

• To Institution
• BHD meetings
• Alignment with their interests
• Improve institutions image
• Institution Marketing Personnel
• To Supporting organizations
• Deadlines
• Targeted to their goals
• Personal contacts
• Personalized letters with follow up calls
• Short and to the point! Make it easy to fund you.

9
Succession Planning

• Starts with the beginning of the project
• Included in the strategic plan allows a
  transition period
• Incorporates your institutions goals
• High visibility of project (marketing)
• Natural hand-off as possible
• LET GO. Pass on ownership!

10
Case 1 - Trimentoring

• Started in Nov 2003 with 2 Graduate Students as a
  woman only pilot
• Good timing in terms of funding from Career
  Services
• Applied for funding support from Deans office
  (PAF)
• Expanded program (men and women) 120
  participants
• Mainstreamed in 2006 to Deans office

11
What we did right

• Clearly defined need
• Started small
• Aligned with institution need
• Lobbied almost from outset for staff support and
  transfer to applied science
• Website, mailing list, operation manual
• Surveys (administered by career services)
• Marketed well
• Industry (APEGBC)
• Administration and Marketing personnel (invited
  Dean to events, got his picture with students)
• Students made it a valuable program

12
Case 2 NEW_at_ubc

• Started in 2005 with Seed funding from Jade
• Initial goals were to find out what women (in
  UBC engineering) want
• Focus groups, Survey, Report, Strategy meetings,
  lunches
• 2006 continuation added activities based on
  survey results brownbags, keynotes.
• Transferred to deans office in 2007 through a
  grant application to EEF

13
What we did right

• Surveys and documentation
• Alignment to Institutional goals
• Recruitment
• Image for WIE
• Marketing to Institution
• BHD meeting
• EEF application
• Alignment with other groups DAWEG and SCWIST

14
Case 3 Building Communities Symposium

• Started in 2006-18 months of planning
• Implemented in September 2007
• Over 100 participant women engineers
• Industry funded, 2 day event
• Future event in the works

15
What we did right

• Great Champion Anja Workstudy student
• Marketing
• Alignment with DAWEG
• Surveys
• Had a really fantastic event!
• Working on succession

16
Things we did wrong

• NEW_at_ubc name didnt work!
• Burned out too many people support support
  support!!!
• Should have collaborated more ownership sharing
  and communication
• Made it too easy for institution they needed to
  take ownership sooner
• Did not get enough recognition from institution
  for efforts (will we ever???)
• Lots of other stuff too, but I try not to worry
  about it too much

17
Biggest Challenges

• Time
• People
• Money
• In that order