The mission of the Women in Science Project (WISP) is to encourage more Dartmouth women to persist in science, math, and engineering by creating and fostering a supportive academic and social climate that will aid women in pursuing science as a major and a career. WISP's broad goal is achieved by enhancing the experiences of Dartmouth women, particularly in their first year, through a comprehensive set of proven intervention strategies, including:

• Mentoring
• Early hands-on research experience
• Role modeling
• Access to information
• Building a sense of community in the sciences

Dartmouth College established the Women in Science Project (WISP) in 1990 to address the under-representation of women in science, mathematics, and engineering. Dartmouth designed WISP with a focus on retaining women in science and an emphasis on women in their first year. Recognizing that women leave science for many reasons, WISP encompassed a variety of programs providing undergraduate and graduate women throughout their academic careers with mentors and role models, information on educational and career opportunities in science, academic support, and a community of women engaged in the study of science. WISP grew to include faculty development programs and evaluation and dissemination activities that promote widespread, systemic improvements to the education of women in science.

The Women in Science Project at Dartmouth began with a commitment to increase the number of women pursuing their interests in science, math, and engineering. A study of factors leading to attrition from the sciences at four universities, including Dartmouth, showed that women who entered the College interested in the sciences were leaving those fields of study, including engineering, at higher rates than their male counterparts. This finding was consistent with other literature concerning women's participation in science, which identified the most likely causes of women's under-representation in these fields to be:

Early socialization
Lower self-confidence
Lower expectations from parents, teachers, others
Less "tinkering" experience
Exclusive teaching practices in introductory college SEM courses
Lack of critical mass

Both research and experience at Dartmouth suggested that a series of intervention strategies could ameliorate the attrition. Over the years, WISP has developed a variety of programs, activities and strategies to meet individual needs and to enhance the educational achievement for women in the sciences.

90-91		Orientation Week Student Panels Research Internships ForFirst Year Students Student Program Coordinators Visiting Scientist Seminars and Student Discussions Industrial Site Visits Regular Electronic Newsletter 16x/yr Faculty Panels, Career Workshops
91-92		Project Director Annual Science Poster Symposium
92-93		Peer Mentoring Program External Evaluation Faculty/Staff Steering Committee Project Administrative Assistant
93-94		External Advisory Council Faculty Seminar On Science Teaching Science Study Room And Women Tutors Curriculum Development in Introductory Physics
94-95		5 Year Report Major External Evaluation Summer Faculty Institute
95-96		Industrial E-Mentoring
96-97		Part-time Assistant Director Electronic Connections Program Alumnae, WWW, E-Mentoring Strategic Plan

The proportion of senior women graduating with science degrees has significantly increased since WISP's inception, and Dartmouth has made substantial progress toward gender parity in the sciences. The proportion of women receiving science degrees has increased from 12 percent in 1990 to 24 percent in 1997. Forty percent of science majors in the Class of 1997 were women, compared to 24 percent in the Class of 1990. Women are currently well represented in biological sciences, chemistry, earth sciences, and mathematics. and continue to be underrepresented in computer science, engineering sciences, and physics. WISP's strategic plan identifies these underrepresented areas as priorities for further study. For more information on WISP as a model program see: Retaining Undergraduate Women in Science, Math and Engineering: A model Program , By Carol B. Muller & Mary Pavone (Nov. '97)

  Presidential award for Excellence in Science, Math, and Engineering Mentoring -- 1996

  Project Kaleidescope "Programs That Work" award -- 1994

  Alfred P. Sloan Foundation 5 year grant -- 1993

  American Association of University Administrators Exemplary Practice in Achieving Campus Diversity Award -- 1993

  Competitive National Science Foundation Grant under Model Programs for Women and Girls -- 1991, 1992, 1993

WISP is currently administered by a three person staff with valuable assistance from part-time student program staff. Partnership and collaboration have been at the very core of the Women in Science Project since it's inception. WISP was co-founded by Carol Muller, former Associate Dean of Dartmouth's Thayer School of Engineering and the late Karen Wetterhahn, Dartmouth Professor of Chemistry, who joined their unique abilities to synergistically conceive, and then nurture, what is now a nationally recognized model program for women's retention.

WISP was designed to dovetail with an array of academic support programs already in place, so that existing resources could be tapped, and new ones developed, to make the overall educational environment more supportive of women students in science. Programs have been coordinated with the Academic Skills Center, Career Services, Thayer School of Engineering, the Dartmouth Medical School, Dartmouth College's science departments, the Women's Resource Center, the First-Year Office and the Office of Student Life.

An External Advisory Council, made up of industrial and business professionals with ties to Dartmouth, helped the project communicate and connect to the professional world beyond Dartmouth.

The Faculty Advisory Committee lends strong internal support and credibility to the Project and offers guidance in implementing the comprehensive campuswide initiatives. Current members include:

• Laura Conkey, Associate Professor of Geography
• Elise Ahyi, Assistant Provost
• Scot Drysdale, Professor of Computer Science
• Mary Lou Guerinot, Associate Provost
• Carol Folt, Professor of Biological Sciences
• Horst Richter, Professor of Engineering & Chair of Thayer School of Engineering
• Joshua Hamilton, Associate Professor of Pharmacology & Toxicology and Adjunct Associate Professor of Chemistry
• James LaBelle, Professor of Physics & Astronomy
• Leslie Sonder, Associate Professor & Chair of Earth Sciences
• Martin Wybourne, Associate Dean of the Faculty for the Sciences and Professor of Physics & Astronomy

Project Funding

WISP's financial support has been a blend of contributions and grants from the College, alumni/ae donors, foundations, corporations, and federal sources. Multi-year grant support has been particularly instrumental in initiating and sustaining WISP programs. WISP continually seeks to broaden its external financial support through corporate and institutional partnerships.