BACKGROUNDIn engineering, creativity is vital for innovation. The revised Creative Engineering Design Assessment (CEDA) also assesses Usefulness, unlike existing tools. PURPOSE (HYPOTHESIS)The primary purpose was to test for convergent validity of the CEDA with other engineering creativity and engineering specific measures. The CEDA was administered with the Purdue Creativity Test (PCT), the Purdue Spatial Visualization Test-Rotations (PSVT-R), and a Systems Test that assessed rollercoaster design functionality. We hypothesized that the CEDA would be moderately related to the PCT and anticipated a slight relationship with the PSVT-R and Systems Test. We also investigated gender differences to follow up on previous research. DESIGN/METHODParticipants were 259 engineering students (221 males and 38 females) in an introductory engineering design two-course sequence who completed the CEDA and PCT (in a cross-sectional design). We analyzed PVST-R scores for Fundamentals of Engineering I and Systems Test scores for Fundamentals of Engineering II. RESULTSThe CEDA showed high inter-rater reliability. The CEDA and the PCT were significantly related to each other and the CEDA was modestly related to the PSVT-R, both demonstrating convergent validity. Male and female engineering students did not significantly differ on the CEDA, PCT, PSVT-R or Systems Test. CONCLUSIONSThe CEDA has convergent validity with the PCT, which was normed on engineers in industry (12 years average experience), and with the PVST-R, measuring spatial skills. Findings and previous research suggest that the CEDA is domain specific to engineering. Future CEDA research is needed involving engineers in industry.

Women and their creativity are underrepresented in science. To date, few women have been awarded the Nobel Prize in science. Eleven female Nobel laureates in physics, chemistry and physiology/medicine between 1901 and 2006 were compared with 37 males who received the Nobel Prize in the same area one year prior and one year after the women. Data analyzed included birth order, marital status, children, awards (Fulbright, Rhodes, and number of honorary awards received), highest education level and Nobel mentor. Results indicated that female Nobel laureates were significantly less likely to marry and have children. When female laureates had children, they had significantly fewer children than male laureates. Female laureates also had fewer publications than their male counterparts. Our findings suggest that eminent women scientists tend to choose the pursuit of scientific discovery over starting families more often than eminent male scientists. More resources are needed in order to nurture and enhance the recruitment and retention of women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).

We investigated how new ideas become accepted for Nobel laureates in science. Archival data were collected for 204 Nobel laureates from 1980 to 2009 in physics, chemistry, and medicine or physiology. Acceptance was evaluated for Nobel laureates by Prize area and three key publications in the Nobel laureates' publishing careers: (a) first publication concerning their Nobel idea (FN), (b) highest cited publication concerning their Nobel idea (HN), and (c) last publication concerning their Nobel idea (LN). Acceptance was defined primarily in terms of academic prestige for the journal articles (journal impact factors, article citation counts, Eigenfactor scores [journal impact and journal citations] and journal-cited half-life ratings). We found that acceptance for these publications mostly followed LN < FN < HN for all measures and Prize areas-except for physics on impact factor only, which followed FN < LN < HN, as hypothesized. In sum, recent ideas are least accepted rather than original ideas even for established and eminent Nobel laureates.

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