Work in progress - using case studies to increase the retention of female doctoral students in STEM Fields

This paper discusses part of the NSF funded project, CareerWISE: Internet-delivered resilience training to increase the persistence of Women Ph.D. Students in STEM Fields. Research shows that rates of doctoral student attrition (i.e., beginning and then not completing a doctoral degree program) are substantially higher for women than for men, including in the physical sciences and engineering. The CareerWISE project addresses this problem through the development of a Web-based resource consisting of training materials that will build the resilience skills, problem solving skills, and persistence of women in science and engineering PhD programs. CareerWISE is currently in the second of three years, and this paper focuses primarily on the portion of the project involving written case studies. The differences between the types of case studies traditionally used in science and engineering courses and the CareerWISE case studies are discussed, along with the plans for evaluating and integrating the cases with the other pieces of the CareerWISE project.