Rs. Heller et Cd. Martin, ATTRACTING YOUNG MINORITY WOMEN TO ENGINEERING AND SCIENCE - NECESSARY CHARACTERISTICS FOR EXEMPLARY PROGRAMS, IEEE transactions on education, 37(1), 1994, pp. 8-12
A national educational imperative has been issued to reverse the trend
of declining numbers of students choosing to study engineering and sc
ience. Minority women are particularly underrepresented in engineering
and science, but in order to reach this pool of talent, the special c
oncerns that affect young minority women must be recognized and progra
ms that deal with these concerns must be developed. One such program o
ffered at The George Washington University (GW) and funded by the Nati
onal Science Foundation (NSF) from 1989 through 1993. utilizes compute
r technology and cooperative learning in a university setting to inter
est young minority women in engineering and science careers. As a resu
lt of the success of the GW/NSF program, a two-day working conference
of experts was convened to determine the characteristics of exemplary
programs that focus on this population. Outcomes from the conference i
ncluded a criteria checklist, a program planning and self-evaluation g
uide, and suggestions for a national clearinghouse of information abou
t exemplary programs designed to attract young minority women to engin
eering and science.