The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 45, No. 1 - 86

Cliff Haynes

described activities associated with the LLP
that they used to overcome difﬁcult academic
coursework as being within the Engineering
Classes as Challenges interpretive metaphor.
Within the context of the current study,
the participants lived on a women-only ﬂoor
of a coed residence hall. This structural setup
seems to provide them with the positive beneﬁts associated with both a women-only and
a coed LLP. Inkelas (2011) found that women
who participate in women-only STEM LLPs
were more likely to report a successful social
transition and conﬁdence in their STEM
courses, while Szelényi et al. (2013) found that
women who participate in coed STEM LLPs
were more likely to report a successful academic transition to college because they were able
to gain conﬁdence and see themselves as professionally successful in the company of men.
While the LLP environment was supportive for women in STEM, the ﬁndings of the
present study indicate that other environments
are not as supportive. Within the Different
as Normal interpretive metaphor, the women
described instances of group study with male
classmates or experiences in internships with
older male supervisors that reinforced their
awareness of being considered outsiders in engineering based on their gender.
Finally, the ﬁndings of this study provide
an example of how metaphors can suggest
appropriate interventions (Carpenter, 2008).
As reﬂected in the interpretive metaphors of
the LLP as a Starting Point, LLP as a Neighborhood, and Female Engineers as a Support
System, the engineering LLP provides the
women with opportunities to ﬁnd STEM role
models and hear messages about women in

STEM, aspects of the living environment that
Ramsey et al. (2013) found to be important
in creating a welcoming living environment
for women in engineering. The LLP, in conjunction with the College of Engineering, can
provide additional resources in the form of
access to tutors, role models, and additional
training to assist the women in developing a
sense of competence and self-efﬁcacy.

The Female Engineers as a
Support System is the interpretive
metaphor that the participants
felt was present in all aspects of
their experience.

IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE
Housing and Residence Life Staff
Housing and residence life staff might beneﬁt
from the ﬁndings in terms of recruitment and
assignments. The LLP as a Starting Point interpretive metaphor reﬂects how the women
ﬁrst met some of their classmates in the LLP,
though not all the women were in engineering or other STEM disciplines. Coordinators
of LLPs can work with marketing departments
and housing assignments ofﬁces to better
recruit incoming female engineering students
for the LLP. Coordinators could also work with
women in engineering program directors, engineering academic advisors, and ofﬁcers of

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The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 45, No. 1

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