Chilly climate

Engineering education is dominated by a masculine culture characterised by a particular set of beliefs, behaviours and assumptions. This can present a chilly climate for women students. Unhappy or uncomfortable students will not achieve as well as they might in a more supportive environment, and they may even leave the course. 

A chilly climate may not be overt, that is, a manifestation of blatant racism or sexism, but rather a matter of fitting a mold—either because one comes prepared for this atmosphere or because one gains it along the way. Female and minority students use words or phrases such as adapt, get used to, and it s a slow process to describe learning to fit in. I fit in. I mean going into the class with all men, it s not like... You try to fit in... I don t see why any female should feel threatened or uncomfortable in any classroom (USF White female student). 

Women and minorities may experience a chilly climate differently from that experienced by their majority student peers. Increasing the participation of female and minority students in STEM fields should be... 

The desire to unite people across identity group memberships was shared by Big School respondents. One staff member wanted Big School to Encourage studts not to stick to their coxmtry backgrnd but to get to know studts from somewhere else. Another Big School respondent wished that There are more activities that help peo Irn abt each other so they don t isolate themselves just b/cause there are many other peo that they identify w/. While Big School was more diverse than Big Store, many students typically congregated with those with whom they shared salient identity-group memberships. In Big School s case, the need for such grouping behavior may have been reinforced by the chilly organizational climate that some stakeholders mentioned. 

Mufflers A warm, cozy muffler wrapped around the neck on a cold winter day helps keep the chilly winds at bay. Muffler is another name for a heavy winter scarf, but produced in a narrower width. A wide variety of fabrics, colors, and patterns are used for mufflers. For use in very cold climates, fabrics such as heece and wool can be good choices. Mufflers, as can be seen in Figure 6.39, are inexpensive and easy to make. 

Hall, R.M., Sandler, B.R. (1982). Out of the Classroom A Chilly Campus Climate for Washington, DC Association of American Colleges. 

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