CLASS OVERVIEW:
Welcome to Gender and Engineering 303 – Online Asynchronous course
All Genders Building Collaboration and Innovation in the Engineering Workplace
This course is an interactive course drawing on research in social linguistics, cross cultural understanding, business practices, and the instructors and students’ real workplace scenarios regarding gender differences in the engineering workplace.
It provides a foundation for managing the different worlds - the different cultural lenses and paradigms - ultimately different competencies, communication, and leadership styles, the genders bring to an engineering workplace.
Effective communication and management of differences minimizes firefighting and increases productivity, customer focus, innovation, development, and marketing of products, as well as improves the advancement of both women and men as well as people across the gender spectrum.
The major learning objectives are that by the end of this course, students will be able to…
· Discuss diversity and inclusion within engineering, explaining where we want to be, where we are today, and why it matters.
· Roll-model communication and collaboration skills necessary for engaging with diverse stakeholders.
· Represent themselves as leaders and advocates, applying the class learnings to real-world business situations.
INSTRUCTOR:
I am your instructor, Carol Lee Cobb. I have a Computer Engineering degree and I’ve worked for huge corporations and small start-ups. I have had many roles, from compatibility validation engineer, to salesperson, and technical assistant to a Vice President. I’ll talk more about my experiences during class. Feel free to link with me at www.linkedin.com/in/CarolLeeCobb. I may have contacts at companies where you’d like to work, and I might be able to facilitate informational interviews.
We may be joined in Canvas “Discussion” assignments by Bonita Banducci, who developed the original version of this course, continues to teach other sections, and has decades of experience as a business consultant through her company Banducci Consulting and www.GenderWork.com. We are working together to offer more sections. Together we are a powerful combination.
My philosophy is that we can all learn from each other, so I encourage participation and questions. Did you notice something related to our class this past week among your friends, at school, on the news? Then share it with us in the weekly Discussion assignment or on our 303 general discussion page.
I will “have your back”—meaning I will support you with any challenges, so the class will work for you, and in turn, I ask that you “have my back” meaning let me know if you notice something I could improve or do to support you and all of us in learning together.
OFFICE HOURS:
By advance appointment, on zoom, phone, or in person. I'd love to meet you!
Calendly: Schedule a meeting.
Many afternoons I work in SCDI in the open offices near 4025-11 (back door of the 4025 office, close to the library wall).
COURSE:
Engr 303-2, Winter 2025, Gender in Engineering
DATE and TIME:
Online, Asynchronous, via Camino, also known as Canvas, software.
Two sessions may be offered in person, and via live zoom, and will be recorded and posted to the course. Attend in person if you can, to best interact with the guest speakers.
I will announce any optional synchronous sessions during the course.
Tentative: Saturday, 1/18, 2-4pm Dr. Ray Plaza. SAFE Space and LGBTQ+ workshop
Tentative: Saturday, 1/25, 3-4pm, Bob Karr LinkSV database & job search discussion.
BOOKS:
The majority of the materials are linked within modules, to web pages, videos, reports, etc.
Two books are digital and are available in the Canvas module “Resources – Books”
1. Course workbook, by Bonita Banducci.
2. “Making the Differences Work,” Co-authored by Bonita Banducci, Julie O’Mara, and Jeffrey Wildfogel. Publication of the Royal Bank of Canada.
GRADES:
Grading and comments will be done within Camino/Canvas. Comments may be within the item’s graded rubric. You can see all comments by expanding the rubrics on the Grades page. On that page you can also predict your weighted grade-to-date.
Letter grades are scored by standard percentages at SCU:
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Letter Grade
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Range
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A
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100% to 94%
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A-
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< 94% to 90%
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B+
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< 90% to 87%
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B
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< 87% to 84%
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B-
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< 84% to 80%
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C+
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< 80% to 77%
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C
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< 77% to 74%
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C-
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< 74% to 70%
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D+
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< 70% to 67%
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TYPICAL WEEKLY SCHEDULE:
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Sun
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Mon
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Tues
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Wed
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Thurs
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Fri
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Sat
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Next module opens
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1st Discussion post due
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· 2nd or more replies due
And
· Any papers, annotations, or quizzes due
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Each week there will be material to read or videos to watch, plus three activities. Some weeks this would be two discussions and one journal annotation. Other weeks it might be a discussion, journal annotation, and short quiz. And then other weeks it might be a discussion, short reflection paper, and journal annotation, etc. I may choose to make some of these weekly assignments optional, such as you pick to do 2 of the 3.
I try to keep the estimated workload to 3 hours per week. Please contact me if you see major discrepancies in the workload.
Feel free to provide ad-hoc feedback to me along the way, but I also have a more formal survey in week 5, where I request feedback from you on how the class is going – anything about the process of the course that I should modify to make it more effective, etc.
QUARTERLY SCHEDULE:
See the Syllabus “course summary” (bottom of Syllabus page) or the Modules of Camino/Canvas for specific assignment due dates.
In addition to the ongoing weekly work, there are two major assignments in the course. The first is a group presentation using video or animation. In this project a team of four students will present a case study scenario that role models the type of communication we have discussed within the course. Samples of such presentations, from in-person courses, are found within the module “Resources Sample Scenarios and Examples.”
The second major assignment is a final paper, due on or before the last day of classes.
Although there are quizzes throughout the course, there is no cumulative final exam.
The quarterly topics are:
START HERE - Week 0 - Kickoff activities (1 hour 30 min)
Week 1 - The Big Picture, Goals, Problems, & Solution Benefits (3 hours)
Week 2&3 - What is Gender? LGBTQ+ (6 hours 20 min)
Week 4 - Brains & Biology (3 hours)
Week 5 - Communication Competencies pt 1 (3 hours)
Week 6 - Communication Competencies pt 2 (3 hours 30 min)
Week 7 - Social Norms & Bias (3 hours)
Week 8 - Business Solutions (3 hours 30 min)
Week 9 - Scenario Group Presentations (3 hours 30 min)
Week 10 - Bonus: Using your new skills during the job search (3 hours 30 min)
Module 11 - Finals Week. Turn in the last assignments.