Under-Represented Populations Annotated Report Excerpts

Excerpt 1 [College of St. Scholastica]

Summarizes results

The Science Connections (SciCon) program, created by the PLUS Center at The College of St. Scholastica in Duluth, Minnesota, seems to have found some key elements for keeping middle-school-age girls interested in science. The program staff found that by making science fun, by making it a way to meet new friends and share new adventures, by taking science out of the lab and making it part of everyday life, and by giving young girls the freedom to explore science in their own ways, the girls' enthusiasm for science could be sustained throughout the school year.

Describes project goal, development and components

SciCon was created to bridge the school year gap between two existing summer science camps—FAST Camp for girls entering 6th and 7th grade and Northland Science Discovery (NSD) for students entering 8th and 9th grade.

Designed for girls who had completed FAST Camp, SciCon offered monthly Saturday Science Workshops for the girls during the school year, followed by a Summer Science Weekend that also included families. The goal was to sustain the girls' interest in science until they became eligible to attend NSD. SciCon was offered during the 1995-96 school year (Year 1) and the 1996-97 school year (Year 2). Additional follow-up workshops took place during 1997-98 (Year 3).

Summarizes results

Prior to the SciCon Program, an average of 10% of the girls who attended FAST Camp went on the attend NSD. But SciCon made a significant difference; 50% of the girls who participated in Year 1 of SciCon attended NSD. Of the girls who participated in Year 2, so far 25% have attended NSD; some of these girls will remain eligible for another year.

In addition to the short-term outcome of increasing the girls' participation in NSD, the program also succeeded in achieving longer-term outcomes that included increasing the girls' awareness of possible science careers, increasing their self-confidence and their interest in science, and increasing their motivation to work harder at school.

Describes new project component based on lessons learned

Building on the success of SciCon, the PLUS Center has created a new program called Tools and Technology for Girls (TNT Girls) that will combine the summer camp format with weekend school year activities. Beginning with a one-week residential summer program for 6th grade girls, TNT Girls will emphasize hands-on experimentation with physics concepts, using tools as a means to that end. This new program will incorporate the most effective elements from SciCon—hands-on activities, fun, social interaction with friends, strong female role models, teamwork, good science in real world settings, and the freedom to inquire.

Presents funding and contact information

The Science Connections and TNT Girls programs are funded by the National Science Foundation. For further information about either program, contact the PLUS Center, 1200 Kenwood Avenue, Duluth, Minnesota 55811.

Excerpt 2 [Committee on Institutional Cooperation]

Describes project goals

The Committee on Institutional Cooperation (CIC) held its first Women in Science and Engineering Best Practices Workshop at Purdue University, May 19-21, 1997. The CIC WISE initiative targets upper-division undergraduates, graduate students, and faculty women in science, engineering, and mathematics (SEM) fields. The goals of this CIC WISE Initiative are to:

• Enlarge the pool of undergraduate women who pursue graduate study in SEM fields,
• Increase the number of female graduate students who pursue faculty careers,
• Increase the number of women who advance through the faculty ranks, and
• Improve the educational and professional climate of all SEM women
  (NSF proposal, 1994)

Describes project component goal

Describes goal of the project report

The Best Practices Workshop represents a major component of the CIC WISE Initiative. The specific goal of this workshop was to provide practical information regarding effective department and university programs and activities that improve the classroom climate and the retention of women students in the sciences, engineering, and mathematics. The purpose of this report is to provide a formative evaluation of the workshop and its success at reaching these goals. The report will provide feedback from participants within three major components of the workshop:

• Organization and planning.
• Program content and presentations.
• Overall usefulness of the workshop.

Excerpt 3 [Dartmouth College]

Identifies external evaluators and project participants

The Women in Science Project (WISP) at Dartmouth College has completed the evaluation of the second year of its two-year pilot program for industrial electronic mentoring ("e-mentoring"). As in the first year, outside evaluator <name of person> conducted a comprehensive evaluation. Thirty of the 43 students (70%) and 32 of the 41 mentors (78%) returned completed final surveys.

Describe project components

The e-mentoring program (EMP) pairs undergraduate and graduate women in science, math, and engineering with industrial scientists and engineers using electronic mail as the primary means of communicating and building a relationship. Through relationships with their mentors, student protégés became acquainted with opportunities in technical and industrial careers, were given access to professional networks and received personal and professional guidance, support, and encouragement. Dartmouth College chose to develop an industrial electronic mentoring program because women students, currently underrepresented in the fields of physical and quantitative sciences and particularly in engineering, can benefit from having more experienced mentors who help them make the connection between their classroom studies and the world of work. Mentoring is often restricted to participants whose workplace locations and time commitments permit face-to-face involvement. The mentors most available to women on rural college campuses are those in the academic profession, but many students eventually seek employment in business and industry. The expansion of electronic communications capacity and the increasing prevalence of e-mail usage on college campuses and industrial workplaces diminishes the previous limitations of time and location and opens up new mentoring possibilities.

Presents findings from multiple participant perspectives

Summary of Findings

Findings from the evaluation suggest that protégés and mentors found their tele-mentoring relationships to be a valuable, viable and personally rewarding experience:

Value of the e-mentoring program: Protégé perspective

About 75% of the protégés rated the value of having a mentor through the program as somewhat high to very high. Most protégés indicated that the EMP provided them with an increased understanding of the professional and personal rewards of careers in industry, as well as some of the challenges and difficulties of industrial careers. A number of protégés also indicated that they gained an increased understanding of strategies to overcome challenges to women pursuing careers in science. Most protégés indicated that the EMP had increased their interest to continue taking science-related courses in college and choosing a major in science. Similarly high numbers of protégés indicated that the program had increased their interest to pursue graduate studies in science and a science/math/engineering career in industry.

Value of the e-mentoring program: Mentor perspective

Mentors described personal and professional benefits of serving as an e-mentor. Professional benefits included networking with experienced and newly emerging colleagues, supporting job recruitment, networking with women professionals, attracting a new talented pool of young people into the field, and becoming conversant with the young people soon to join the work force. Mentors also mentioned their own personal development which included acquiring broader perspectives, having an opportunity for self-reflection, and fostering particular mentoring, management and communication skills.

Describes project strengths and weaknesses

Distinctive qualities of electronic mentoring

Protégés and mentors saw electronic communication as an ideal medium for quick, convenient and easy communication with a partner, enabling interaction between members in different time zones across the country, and around the world. A number of participants spoke to specific advantages of electronic communication: the written form allowed protégés to express themselves more thoughtfully, or to feel less intimidation in speaking boldly, and there was value seen in having a written trace of correspondence. EMP participants also described some limitations of electronic communications for mentoring: e-mail could be impersonal; asynchrony of communication made difficult the more natural flow of conversation and exchange of ideas possible with face-to-face or phone conversations; spontaneous open discussion, guiding a conversation, or correcting a misinterpreted question or comment, was more challenging.

Presents recommendations for project improvement

Recommendations for program improvement.

Participants recommended that e-mail be supplemented with in-person visits over meals and to a mentor's workplace, and occasional phone calls. A number of mentors also recommended that video-conferencing technology, and other technology-based group forums such as user groups and Web-sites be considered as additional forms of communication, to enable some virtual "face-to-face" conversations, and group discussions and gatherings.

Describes dissemination plan

Future Plans

WISP's future plans for the electronic mentoring program include dissemination of the model program we have developed to MentorNet, the new national e-mentoring program sponsored by WEPAN (Women in Engineering Program Advocate Network), and funded by the AT&T Foundation and the Intel Foundation. MentorNet will significantly expand the number of opportunities for young women to meet mentors in science, engineering, and technology careers and involve a larger number of participating institutions and corporations. WISP will continue as an active participating institution in MentorNet and will serve on the MentorNet Steering Committee.

Excerpt 4 [University of Denver]

Describes project goals, stakeholders, activities, and results

Over a two year period, this model program investigated the influence of science, engineering, and mathematics workshops on the attitudes, interest level, and knowledge of middle school girls. In the initial year, 35 girls (77% minority) attended 8 SEM workshops over a 9 month period and were compared with a control group of 24 girls who did not participate in the workshops. These Saturday workshops, held at the University of Denver, included robotics sessions as well as various biology and chemistry experiments. Parents of the girls were involved in 3 of the Saturday workshops and had separate sessions on adolescent development, educational planning, and had some exposure to SEM activities. Undergraduate student mentors in engineering, biology, and chemistry helped the girls with SEM projects and girls were also exposed to women mentors in SEM careers. Results from this first year suggested that, even when compared to the control group, attitudes and interests about SEM did not change since they were at a high level prior to the project. For the girls, the key area of positive impact was in knowledge about SEM course work and SEM career options. Another important component was parent involvement. One unexpected result was the impact that mentoring middle school girls had on the undergraduate student mentors.

Excerpt 5 [University of Washington]

Describes evaluation goal, instrument, and findings

The goal of this study was to conduct a national evaluation of existing Women in Engineering Programs in the United States in 1991. Thirty-one institutions were initially identified as having formal Women in Engineering Programs; upon closer examination, only 26 formal Women in Engineering Programs existed. A survey was designed to gather information regarding the following generic topics: 1) program objectives; 2) target populations; 3) years in operation; 4) organizational structure; 5) budget; and 6) enrollment and degrees earned. Within each of the above topical areas, the questions were designed to ascertain the following: 1) commitment of the engineering dean; 2) skills and experience of the designated director of the program; 3) adequacy of the budget; 4) assistance with fundraising; 5) student participation or involvement in the program; and 6) system of accountability or evaluation procedures. The findings revealed that Women in Engineering Programs are having an impact on increasing the number of women receiving degrees in engineering. In addition, the study found that there are six prerequisite conditions for successful Women in Engineering Programs and six criteria to be used for evaluation purposes. Finally, six institutional Women in Engineering Programs are highlighted for excellence.