Major in engineering, minor in art: A new approach to retaining females in engineering

The number of women attending engineering schools is rapidly increasing each year. However, most of the studies that have been dedicated to understanding this growth have been focused on the engineering programs that attract these females as well as the support groups such as the Society for Women Engineers (SWE) and IEEE Women in Engineering (WIE). In this paper, a growing trend observed at the Division of Engineering programs at State University of New York (SUNY) New Paltz is presented showing growing numbers of females majoring in engineering with a minor in art. The students graduate with a strong foundation in engineering and a hands-on practical understanding of materials, manufacturing, design and process. Presented in this paper is a description of the two art minor programs offered to the SUNY students, impact on female retention in engineering and results. Evaluations were done with participating students via interviews and a study of enrollment in the division of engineering programs over the last two years.