Programmatic Strategies to Engage and Support Undergraduate Women in Applied Mathematics and Computer Science

Figures & data

Figure 1. The STEM Scholarship support structure.

Table 1. Number of students supported by the STEM Scholarship program.

Students Supported by the STEM Scholarship Program (Women/Men)
Semester	Fall 2015	Spring 2016	Fall 2016	Spring 2017	Fall 2017	Spring 2018	Fall 2018	Spring 2019	Fall 2019	Spring 2020	Total
All Supported Students	9/14	12/16	11/12	9/12	13/13	15/15	11/8	15/7	14/9	10/7	119/113
Applied Mathematics	2/6	3/4	3/1	3/3	3/6	4/5	3/2	6/2	6/5	3/5	36/39
Computer Science	0/3	0/4	0/2	0/2	2/1	3/3	4/4	2/4	0/1	0/1	11/25

Table 2. Degree completion status of all applied mathematics and computer science students (Fall 2015–Spring 2022)⁷

Degree Status of All Applied Mathematics and Computer Science Students (Fall 2015–Spring 2022)
				$N$	Active students	Completed a degree	Discontinued without a degree	% Completed a degree
Applied Mathematics	Women	Supported	All	11	0	11	0	100
		Unsupported	GPA ≥ 3	29	7	13	9	59
			GPA < 3	57	17	12	28	30
	Men	Supported	All	20	0	18	2	90
		Unsupported	GPA ≥ 3	96	20	43	33	57
			GPA < 3	130	28	41	61	40
Computer Science	Women	Supported	All	6	0	5	1	83
		Unsupported	GPA ≥ 3	74	22	21	31	40
			GPA < 3	153	48	31	74	30
	Men	Supported	All	10	0	8	2	80
		Unsupported	GPA ≥ 3	324	91	109	124	47
			GPA < 3	949	298	131	520	20

Table 3. Mean semester credits and GPA earned by applied mathematics and computer science students.¹⁰

Mean Semester Credits and GPA Earned (Fall 2015–Spring 2020)
				Mean credits	Mean GPA
Applied Mathematics	Women	Supported	All	13.7	3.8
		Unsupported	GPA ≥ 3	11.2	3.1
			GPA < 3	8.2	2.2
	Men	Supported	All	14.5	3.4
		Unsupported	GPA ≥ 3	11.3	3.2
			GPA < 3	8.2	2.1
Computer Science	Women	Supported	All	11.5	3.3
		Unsupported	GPA ≥ 3	11.8	3.4
			GPA < 3	8.4	1.9
	Men	Supported	All	14.3	3.6
		Unsupported	GPA ≥ 3	11.3	3.3
			GPA < 3	7.7	1.8

Table 4. Mean degree GPA, number of semesters to graduation, and credits earned in Applied Mathematics and Computer Science¹² (Fall 2015–Spring 2021).

Mean Degree GPA, Number of Semesters to Graduation, and Credits Earned (Fall 2015–Spring 2021)
				$N$	Mean degree GPA	Mean no. of semesters to graduation	Mean total no. of credits
Applied Mathematics graduates	Women	Supported	All	10	3.8	8.8	136
		Unsupported	GPA ≥ 3	11	3.4	11.2	135
			GPA < 3	8	2.7	13.9	147
			All	19	3.1	12.4	140
	Men	Supported	All	16	3.5	9	139
		Unsupported	GPA ≥ 3	38	3.5	9.3	132
			GPA < 3	31	2.6	15	140
			All	69	3.1	11.7	135
Computer Science graduates	Women	Supported	All	5	3.4	5.8	95*
		Unsupported	GPA ≥ 3	17	3.4	5.8	66
			GPA < 3	19	2.7	7.7	69
			All	36	3.1	6.8	68
	Men	Supported	All	7	3.4	5.1	67
		Unsupported	GPA ≥ 3	86	3.4	6.4	71
			GPA < 3	98	2.6	8.2	74
			All	184	2.9	7.4	72.5

*There is an outlier − a student with 126 transfer credits prior to earning the Computer Science degree. If excluded, the mean total number of credits earned would be 77.

Table A1. The major, gender, and ethnicity of all supported students in the STEM Scholarship program 2015–2020

All supported students’ major, gender, and ethnicity
		Asian (women/men)	Black (women/men)	Hispanic (women/men)	White (women/men)	Unknown (women/men)	Subtotal (women/men)
Bachelor degree program	Applied Mathematics	4/11	1/5	4/3	2/1		11/20
	Applied Chemistry	2/1	2/0	2/4	1/0	1/0	8/5
	Biomedical Informatics	5/3	8/5	3/1	2/2	1/0	19/11
Total Bachelor		11/15	11/10	9/8	5/3	2/0	38/36
Associate degree program	Computer Science	4/6	1/1	1/3			6/10
	Chemical Technology	0/2	1/0		1/0		2/2
Total Associate		4/8	2/1	1/3	1/0		8/12
Total		15/23	13/11	10/11	6/3	2/0	46/48

Table A2. Institutional enrollment data on applied mathematics and computer science programs.

Institutional enrollment data on Applied Mathematics and Computer Science
	Applied Mathematics enrollment			Computer Science enrollment
Semester	Number of women	All students	% women	Number of women	All students	% women
Fall 2013 (Pre-grant)	23	108	21	31	292	11
Fall 2014 (Pre-grant)	22	96	23	38	326	12
Fall 2015	20	98	20	49	361	14
Spring 2016	25	109	23	42	328	13
Fall 2016	25	109	23	52	393	13
Spring 2017	32	108	30	39	336	12
Fall 2017	27	108	25	49	392	13
Spring 2018	22	91	24	44	302	15
Fall 2018	21	93	23	61	338	18
Spring 2019	22	86	26	40	256	16
Fall 2019	27	91	30	48	315	15
Spring 2020	32	93	34	35	241	15
Fall 2020	31	90	34	54	364	15

Table A3. Mean semester GPA and credits earned by applied mathematics women.¹³

Mean semester credits and GPA earned by applied mathematics women
	Supported women			Unsupported women (cumulative GPA ≥3)			Unsupported women (cumulative GPA <3)
Semester	N	Mean credits	Mean GPA	N	Mean credits	Mean GPA	N	Mean credits	Mean GPA
Fall 2015	4	13.75	3.75	5	13	2.9	13	7.1	1.8
Spring 2016	6	12.2	3.9	4	11.75	3.6	18	8.9	2.1
Fall 2016	6	12.7	3.8	5	9.6	2.9	18	9.3	2.5
Spring 2017	6	13.2	3.7	10	12.3	3.2	17	9.1	1.9
Fall 2017	6	13.7	3.8	9	11.6	3.4	16	8.3	2.3
Spring 2018	6	16	3.9	8	9.5	2.9	9	9.4	2.5
Fall 2018	7	14.3	3.8	11	9.3	2.7	11	7.1	2.3
Spring 2019	6	14.7	3.8	10	11.6	3.1	11	10.1	2.3
Fall 2019	6	15.3	3.9	10	11.5	3.5	15	7.9	2.2
Spring 2020	5	10.4	4.0	12	11.8	3.1	15	4.7	1.4
Weighted average		13.7	3.8		11.2	3.1		8.2	2.2

Table A4. Mean semester GPA and credits earned by applied mathematics men.

Mean semester credits and GPA earned by Applied Mathematics men
	Supported men			Unsupported* men (cumulative GPA ≥ 3)			Unsupported men (cumulative GPA < 3)
Semester	N	Mean credits	Mean GPA	N	Mean credits	Mean GPA	N	Mean credits	Mean GPA
Fall 2015	8	16.25	3.3	31	11.4	3.2	46	7.8	2.0
Spring 2016	7	14	3.4	34	11.2	3.4	42	9.3	2.1
Fall 2016	9	14.9	3.7	27	11.7	3.3	50	6.9	1.7
Spring 2017	10	14.9	3.5	34	10.9	3.2	42	9.0	2.3
Fall 2017	10	13.6	3.4	26	10.9	3.0	48	8.8	2.0
Spring 2018	9	13.6	3.6	24	11.8	3.0	39	9.2	2.3
Fall 2018	6	16.3	3.1	26	10.4	3.4	40	6.6	1.7
Spring 2019	6	13.7	3.3	24	12.2	3.3	35	8.2	2.2
Fall 2019	5	13	3.3	24	11.3	3.2	36	8.1	1.9
Spring 2020	6	14.8	3.7	29	11.2	3.4	29	8.2	2.4
Weighted average		14.5	3.4		11.3	3.2		8.2	2.1

Table A5. Mean semester GPA and credits earned by computer science women

Mean semester credits and GPA earned by Computer Science women
	Supported women			Unsupported women (cumulative GPA ≥ 3)			Unsupported women (cumulative GPA < 3)
Semester	N	Mean credits	Mean GPA	N	Mean credits	Mean GPA	N	Mean credits	Mean GPA
Fall 2015	0			19	11.4	3.3	29	8.6	1.7
Spring 2016	1	7	4.0	12	10.75	3.3	30	7.6	1.5
Fall 2016	3	13.7	3.6	22	10.4	3.3	35	8.8	1.9
Spring 2017	3	13	3.1	17	11.4	3.1	22	8.9	2.4
Fall 2017	6	12.5	3.4	16	9.9	3.3	31	9.9	2.0
Spring 2018	6	12	3.1	19	12	3.4	19	11	2.3
Fall 2018	5	10.8	3.0	25	12.0	3.5	33	7.7	2.0
Spring 2019	4	11.5	3.1	14	13.1	3.5	28	7.4	1.7
Fall 2019	1	8	4.0	15	12.5	3.3	37	8.4	1.9
Spring 2020	1	3	3.7	19	14	3.4	22	6.3	1.6
Weighted average		11.5	3.3		11.75	3.4		8.4	1.9

Table A6. Mean semester GPA and credits earned by computer science men

Mean semester credits and GPA earned by Computer Science men
	Supported men			Unsupported men (cumulative GPA ≥ 3)			Unsupported men (cumulative GPA < 3)
Semester	N	Mean credits	Mean GPA	N	Mean credits	Mean GPA	N	Mean credits	Mean GPA
Fall 2015	8	14.4	3.7	89	11.3	3.4	228	7.7	1.7
Spring 2016	7	14.9	3.6	82	11.6	3.3	203	8.0	1.9
Fall 2016	4	11.5	3.4	97	11.3	3.3	236	7.8	1.7
Spring 2017	4	12.25	3.5	82	10.8	3.3	210	8.0	1.9
Fall 2017	6	14.2	3.6	106	12.0	3.4	227	8.0	1.7
Spring 2018	5	14.6	3.8	86	11.0	3.3	176	7.7	1.7
Fall 2018	5	15.8	3.7	87	11.1	3.1	185	7.4	1.7
Spring 2019	7	15.1	3.3	70	10.4	3.1	140	7.6	1.8
Fall 2019	2	14	3.5	82	11.4	3.2	184	7.4	1.8
Spring 2020	1	15	3.7	74	11.8	3.2	131	6.7	1.8
Weighted average		14.3	3.6		11.3	3.3		7.7	1.8