Junior Engineer-in-Training Program Case Study

APBP Women Cycling Project Co-founder and Alta Planning + Design engineer Fionnuala Quinn offers up a fascinating 15-minute case study about JEiTs -- the Junior Engineer-in-Training program.

JEiTs is a hands-on, by invitation-only program within Hunters Wood Elementary School in Reston, Virginia, USA. Each year, JEiTs selects 20 5th and 6th grade girls. Now in its fifth year, this popular program encourages girls to see themselves in careers in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (the STEM fields). The girls design and build projects using low-cost or no-cost materials, welcome engineers from the community and take engaging field trips that help them recognize that engineering is integral to everyday life.

In 2013 for the first time, the JEiTs sent handmade Valentines to engineers in public agencies in the community. This winsome activity generated many enthusiastic responses, such as this one from Dave J. Kubicek, Deputy General Manager, Operations, WMATA: "Thank you so much for the kind words on Valentine's Day. I am excited knowing that we have so many bright engineers on the horizon. Keep up the good work and remember Safety First!"

The JEiTs case study complements the 2013 APBP Women Cycling Webinar: Women's Work: Bicycle-friendly Communities by Design.

An Examination of Women's Representation and Participation in Bicycle Advisory Committees in California

In the United States, women bicycle at significantly lower rates than men. One method of remedying this disparity is to ensure that women are engaged in bicycle planning and policy making through, for example, participation in bicycle advisory committees (BACs). No research has been conducted on women’s representation and participation in these committees.

This study attempts to fill that gap by examining women’s membership levels in and experiences serving on California bicycle advisory committees and bicycle/pedestrian advisory committees. In addition, we explore some of the barriers to participation faced by female cyclists. A survey of 42 committees revealed that women make up approximately 24% of members on an average bicycle (and pedestrian) advisory committee in California.

Through focus group interviews with 24 women currently serving on BACs, several common themes emerged. Women on these committees are more likely than men to bring up women’s and children’s issues, and some aspects of the committees themselves may serve as barriers for women to become more involved. An online survey of 565 women cyclists in California provided insight regarding some of the common barriers women identify as reasons for not becoming involved with a BAC. Lack of awareness of the committees did not seem to be a barrier: 67% of respondents were aware of their local committee. Instead, barriers indentified by participants included: time; perceived lack of qualifications; lack of information about the committee; family and household responsibilities; and lack of interest. Recommendations to increase women’s representation on BACs include the following strategies: education about the committee; targeted recruitment efforts; and policy and procedural changes.

Read more and download the paper.

How to Host a Local Women Cycling Forum/Summit

• Download the How to Host Your Own Local Women Cycling Forum/Summit (version 1.0) PDF

Conference Presentations

• Download the Velo-city Global 2012, Vancouver, BC presentation PDF

National Women Cycling Forum

View a video of the National Women Cycling Forum held recently in Washington DC. Click Here

This forum was billed as an iInaugural event to elevate conversation about women in cycling.

Read and hear coverage of the event from:

• BikePortland
• WTOP radio
• Streetsblog
• Velojoy
• Greater Greater Washington

Women still cycle at much lower rates than men in the United States -- making up just 24 percent of bike trips in 2009. But that trend is shifting. This Forum will be the first national gathering specifically dedicated to raising awareness about and discussing how to engage more women in bicycling.

"This critical topic and rising energy is gathering momentum across the country as more women of all backgrounds are starting to ride or getting more involved in the movement," said Carolyn Szczepanski, Communications Coordinator for the Alliance for Biking & Walking. "We're eager to start a continuing conversation aimed at increasing the number of women who bicycle for transportation and recreation."

Sue Macy will provide unique inspiration to kick off that discussion. Among other accolades, Wheels of Change was named to the 2011 Best Books lists from the Washington Post and the San Francisco Book Review. "Ms. Macy wrote a captivating book about the bicycle's historic role in women's empowerment, and we hope this forum will be the catalyst to begin closing the gender gap in today's cycling environment," said Kit Keller, Executive Director of the Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals.

Women Cycling Survey

New! Perspectives on Seattle Women’s Decisions to Bike for Transportation(PDF)

In 2010, the Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals posted a survey to gather information about women cycling. The survey included 37 questions pertaining to demographics, cycling behavior, safety/infrastructure concerns, and open-ended inquiries. We thought we would receive a few hundred responses from members. Instead the survey went viral garnering more than 13,000 responses. Although not a scientific survey, the responses offer much interesting and useful information. Some of the questions included comments. When the survey closed in May, APBP partnered with the Department of Health Education at the University of North Carolina-Greensboro Department to analyze the results.

• Here are the original survey questions
• Here is the report prepared by Anna Sibley, MPH Candidate, UNC-Greensboro.

Here are summaries in report format of comments received for three of the survey questions.*

• Why do you use your bicycle for trips? Question #8
• What reaction do you get when cycling for transportation? Question #10
• What would cause you to start or increase your cycling? Question #27

* Researchers interested in analyzing additional questions can contact APBP for further information.

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Women Cycling webinar, "Empowering Women to Bicycle for Transportation"

If you missed APBP's third annual Women Cycling webinar, "Empowering Women to Bicycle for Transportation" you can now view it online click here.

Since APBP inaugurated the Women Cycling Project in 2010, tens of thousands of women have participated in the project. This year's webinar, co-sponsored by the Alliance for Biking & Walking, highlights programs and approaches that engage, empower and encourage women to bicycle on a more regular basis.

Speakers:

• Kim Cross, founder, Magic City Cycle Chix. This Birmingham group’s motto is "Building courage, confidence, and community…two wheels at a time;” it encourages women to mountain bike through clinics, trips and group rides.
• Julie Huck, Membership & Development Director, Adventure Cycling. Learn how this association educates women to travel by bicycle and to explore the landscapes and history of America for fitness, fun, and self-discovery.
• Gina Overshiner, Bicycle Program Manager, PedNet. Find out how PedNet is building the next generation of cyclists in Columbia, Missouri, with the Middle School Bike Brigade and cycle chic events.
• Claire Stoscheck, Bike Library Program Director, Cycles for Change. Cycles for Change in Minneapolis educates and empowers women of various cultures to use bicycles as transportation, helping to build a sustainable environment and community.

View Past Webinars:

• View 2012 webinar: "Empowering Women to Bicycle for Transportation"
• View 2011 webinar: "Women Can Change the World through Cycling"
• View 2010 webinar: "Writing Women Back Into Bicycling: Changing Transportation Culture to Encourage More Women to Cycle More Places More Often"

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Photo Winners

Click Here for High Resolution Downloads of Winning Photos

 

Photo | Video Credits

• 1st prize: Beauty and the Bike (short) by the Darlington Media Group found in the PBIC Video Library at http://www.walkinginfo.org/videos/pubdetail.cfm?picid=39
• 2nd prize: 3 images of women in Portland, OR with or on bicycles: www.pedbikeimages.org / photographer Elly Blue
• 3rd prize: 2 images, little girl on bike near school and woman working on bike in bike clinic in Chicago: www.pedbikeimages.org / photographer Suzanne Nathan
• 4th prize: image of woman riding bike in Bremen, Germany: www.pedbikeimages.org / photographer Shawn Turner

Got photos? Your photos could help to convince a policy maker, planner, engineer, school superintendent, or police officer to make their community more bicycle-friendly. People who make presentations, create brochures, design posters, etc. need to have fresh, captivating images to turn heads and change hearts and minds. The Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center (PBIC) seeks photos and videos for this purpose, especially if the images are of women and girls using a bicycle for transportation. To learn more about how to contribute your photos and videos, visit www.pedbikeimages.org and www.walkinginfo.org/videos/. To see what’s there now, enter “women” in the search field. We’d love to have hundreds of photos and videos to choose from! Thanks for your help.

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Video Winner

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