A supportive community goes a long way for underrepresented students and staff at university

Feeling a sense of belonging and inclusion is key to our wellbeing. New research has unpacked what works in creating those senses to better support people to succeed at university. 

The insights have been driven by UTS’s Women in Engineering and IT (WiEIT) efforts to create an environment where women feel welcome and valued in STEM – Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics – disciplines where women are persistently underrepresented. 

‘According to Engineers Australia and the Australian Computer Society, women in engineering and information technology represent 16% and 22% at university and 13% and 29% in the workforce, respectively,’ says Dr Faezeh Karimi, Lecturer at the School of Computer Science and Acting Director of WiEIT. 

‘In some areas of practice, such as biomedical engineering, progress has been made, however, in other disciplines such as mechanical engineering the number of women studying and entering the profession hasn’t moved much in 30 or more years,’ she said. 

For more than 40 years, WiEIT has run activities to support women including industry mentoring programs, scholarships, outreach, safe discussion spaces and coffee drop-in sessions, celebrations marking diverse cultural events like Lunar New Year and Eid al-Fitr and awareness days such as Refugee Week, Reconciliation Week, Wear it Purple day. 

Most programs are designed to build skills and professional pathways, while other activities are shaped to foster an inclusive community in which intersectionality is understood and there are opportunities for connection with others with similar lived experience. Faezeh and her team wanted to find out whether these initiatives helped contribute to a sense of belonging among this cohort, and subsequently, whether feeling valued helps keep women in STEM. 

Prior research indicates that a sense of belonging and mattering significantly impacts student retention rates, especially among underrepresented groups. Similarly, staff who feel a sense of belonging in their organisation are more likely to feel supported, motivated, and engaged in their work. 

Faezeh and her team surveyed women who have participated in WiEIT programs like Lucy Mentoring, Women in STEM mentoring (WiSR), Gender Equity Ambassador program, and activities such as Let’s Talk, fortnightly coffee hours, cultural celebrations, awareness days, scholarship events and schools’ outreach.  

They found feeling both a sense of belonging and a sense of mattering in WiEIT strongly correlated to a sense of belonging in the wider UTS Faculty of Engineering and IT. 

Interestingly, the research found participation in social activities, such as coffee hours and networking events, contributed more than participation in skills programs like mentoring to fostering respondents’ sense of belonging in WiEIT – suggesting the high importance of an intersectional and inclusive community culture.   

Overall, the findings highlight the importance of creating a supportive and inclusive environment within WiEIT, as it has significant positive effects on student and staff sense of belonging and mattering both within WiEIT and the broader faculty context. 

‘The importance of genuine connection and community cannot be understated when it comes to an individual’s overall wellbeing and self-belief. By providing a space for women and gender diverse individuals to feel safe, supported and truly seen and valued in what is a largely male-dominated industry, I believe, has contributed hugely to both their own success, but to reducing the gender representation gap in STEM disciplines,’ Faezeh says. 

‘At WiEIT, we are driven by a desire to drastically increase the participation and success of women and gender-diverse individuals in STEM study and careers. There is power and beauty in diversity, but unfortunately, there isn’t enough of it in these areas.’ 

The research team has received subsequent grant funding in 2024 to continue the research, extending the survey findings by using qualitative methods – including focus groups, interviews with FEIT students and staff – to further their understanding of how involvement in an inclusive community fosters belonging and mattering and therefore how units like WEiT can best extend their work.

Faezeh’s research team’s exploration of the role that an inclusive and intersectional community plays in STEM gender equity programs was based on 103 survey responses, of which 42 responses were identified suitable for the analysis. 

The project was supported with a 2023 UTS Social Impact Grant and funding from the Faculty of Engineering and IT. The project is being continued with a 2024 UTS Social Impact Grant.