SMU Associate Professor of Psychology Cheng Chi-Ying and SMU Associate Professor of Computer Science Cheng Shih-Fen will be conducting the world's first longitudinal study to ascertain how the female-to-male gender ratios, as well as the presence of female role models affect the level of gender-professional identity integration (G-PII) – an identity construct that is critical for women to transition and position themselves for success in a male-dominated sector like STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics). The research study is designed as a quasi-experiment and will be conducted over 15 months. The sample will include 200 first year students who are enrolled in SMU's School of Computing and Information Systems.