|
Dartmouth College Office of Public Affairs • Press Release
Posted 02/14/06 • Susan Knapp (603) 646-3661
FACT SHEET
February 2006
• Dartmouth established the Women in Science Project (WISP) in 1990 to address the under-representation of women in science, mathematics, and engineering.
• WISP's mission is to help create a learning environment where women can thrive - not simply survive - in the sciences.
• WISP's core programs include
- coordinate the first-year research internship program (more than 1,000 interns to date)
- manage the peer mentor program where first year women are matched with upper class women as their mentors (almost 2,500 participants to date.)
- participate in MentorNet, a program that pairs protégés and mentors worldwide via e-mail and an online newsletter
• The Research Internship Program provides first year women (and sophomore women in physics, engineering, and computer sciences) a paid, part-time introduction to research under the close supervision of a faculty research sponsor. In the past16 years 1,117 interns have been mentored and guided by nearly 275 faculty researchers in this program.
• This year (2006) there are 76 interns matched with 54 sponsors.
• Nearly 60% of all the interns choose to major in the sciences.
• Dartmouth's WISP is a nationally known model, replicated at other institutions, for keeping more women interested in and showing them some exciting possibilities of doing science.
• In 1990, only 12% of women at Dartmouth majored in the sciences. A dramatic increase occurred through the decade of the '90's-with 12 straight years of more than 20% of women in each class majoring in the sciences.
Back to Studying Space Dust Press Release
|
