Evaluation of the Purdue Women's Network: Assessing the performance of a networking-mentoring program to enhance social support for female graduate students at Purdue
Abstract
In fall 2008, a campus-wide networking-mentoring program for Purdue’s female graduate students was launched. Called the Purdue Women’s Network, this theoretically grounded program was designed to help female graduate students find social support on campus. The evaluation of this program reported in this thesis is the first step toward determining whether the program’s goals are being met. Features of the program include monthly social and informational events with a strong networking component. Formative evaluation—used to improve the program during implementation—was accomplished via brief mixed-method questionnaires delivered to participants after each PWN activity they attended. Results revealed positive quality ratings for events, with means ranging from 2.50 to 3.71 on a 4-point scale. Qualitative data reinforced and explained participants’ positive reactions to PWN events. Summative evaluation was used to reveal the effects of participation in the PWN program on participants’ perceived social support, academic and general stress, emotion-focused and problem-focused coping, satisfaction with graduate study, and intention to persist in graduate study. Only emotion-focused coping showed significant improvement for PWN participants between August 2008 and April 2009. Deficient implementation of the PWN program design appeared to be a cause for the low number of PWN participants who completed both surveys ( N = 29), and was also a primary contributor to the lack of favorable results. Recommendations are given for improving implementation as the PWN begins its second year.
Degree
M.A.
Advisors
Burleson, Purdue University.
Subject Area
Womens studies|Social studies education|Higher education
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