ATTRACTING YOUNG MINORITY WOMEN TO ENGINEERING AND SCIENCE - NECESSARY CHARACTERISTICS FOR EXEMPLARY PROGRAMS

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.