EWOMS: An Introduction

The immediate goal of the EWOMS project was to increase women's participation and retention in mathematics at Northern Illinois University (NIU) by improving the climate in which women take mathematics and, more generally, reversing the negative value traditionally placed upon mathematics achievement for women. We identified Calculus I as an important barrier course because of the low number of women continuing from this class into Calculus II or other higher level mathematics courses.

When college women do not continue beyond Calculus I, they significantly limit their major options and consequently, their career possibilities. Because the workplace requires increasingly advanced computational and technological skills, women who do not continue in mathematics may restrict their earnings potential and jeopardize the economic status of their families. Not only can these circumstances lower women's sense of self-efficacy, but, when negative perceptions are conveyed to younger women in rising generations, the problem becomes self-perpetuating.

For information on the EWOMS investigators, visit the Personnel Page.

EWOMS: A Two-Fold Process
Teaching Interventions
Advertising Campaign

First, we implemented a teaching intervention to increase the number of women who completed Calculus I (often a barrier course) and continued to Calculus II or other higher level mathematics courses. Our teaching intervention consisted of a special section of Calculus I designed around the way women learn, together with an additional weekly meeting that combined university orientation information and problem-solving.

According to a student, Liz Holden:

Not only did the women in math FIG (Focused Interest Group) give me a new appreciation of learning math skills, but through it I met a lot of great people and adjusted better to living at NIU.

Secondly, we conducted an advertising campaign in the campus newspaper to educate the entire community about women's potential, contributions, and successes in mathematics. The campaign was modeled in part on the success of social norms advertisements designed to influence students’ attitudes toward drinking and unsafe sex.

Thank You's:

EWOMS is a collaboration between the Department of Mathematical Sciences and the Women’s Studies Program at Northern Illinois University. The Department of Communication also participated in some aspects of the project. This project is partly funded by the National Science Foundation Program for Gender Equity. Our special thanks to Sue Warrick Doederlein, Associate Dean, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, NIU, for solving all the scheduling challenges involved in the project.