WOMEN IN SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING AT THE UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA, RENO: AN ACADEMIC AND SOCIAL LIVING-LEARNING COMMUNITY FOR WOMEN IN GEOSCIENCE AND OTHER STEM MAJORS

The Women in Science and Engineering (WiSE) Living Learning Community (LLC) at the University of Nevada was founded in 2007 and to date has provided a supportive social and academic community to nearly 300 incoming freshman women who have declared majors in science, math or engineering degree programs. All members of the WiSE LLC live together on the same floor of the Nevada Living Learning Community Residence Hall and develop strong social and pre-professional relationships during a fall retreat, enrollment in common courses, and participation in activities in the residence hall during the academic year. These personal connections among WiSE students continue through their undergraduate years and beyond as they forge life-long friendships. In the 2007 through 2009 cohorts, approximately 70% of the students remained in a STEM degree program to graduation. Rates of graduation among WiSE students who remain in STEM disciplines are high with an average of 70% graduating in 4 years and an average of 90% graduating in 5 years. 100% of the 2007 cohort who remained in STEM disciplines graduated in 6 years with an average GPA of 3.5.

Requirements for the program include math competency scores of 610 or higher for SAT Math, 27 or higher for ACT Math, or placement into pre-calculus or higher with the Accuplacer® Math Placement Exam or AP Calculus scores from 3-5. During the year that the students are living in the WiSE LLC, they are provided with academic support including cohort classes in chemistry and math, tutoring and study sessions. Additionally, all WiSE students enroll in a 1-credit hour first-year experience course, SCI 110/120, which meets fall and spring semesters. Professional women who have had successful STEM careers are guest speakers each week in SCI 120 during spring semester.

Geoscience majors have been particularly successful in WiSE graduating with degrees in Geology, Geological Engineering, Hydrogeology, Geophysics and Mining Engineering. Post-graduate plans for geoscience WiSE alums include geotechnical engineering M.S. programs, careers in the mining industry, and positions with environmental consulting companies. Approximately 5% of the total WiSE population over 8 years has been geoscience majors. To date, geoscience students have graduated on average in 4.5 years with a GPA of 3.3.