Our
first speaker was phenomenal!
This program
hopes to promote
women in sciences by
Although we hope to create opportunities specifically promoting women in science, this project does not intend to divide students along gender lines. Rather, we hope to educate and enculturate both men and women on the issues to create a healthy understanding that will spread upward through academia and industry as students graduate from Kutztown University.
The goal of the mentoring programs is to establish a clear communication link for women interested in sciences with experienced people in the next stages of their respective careers.
The High
School Mentoring Program pairs high school women with
college
science women. This program has the
goals of counteracting negative societal programming that undermines
self-esteem
(e.g., peer pressure to pursue traditional roles), encouraging young
women to pursue
college educations in science, and empowering them before they get to
college
so that they are more successful coming into the program.
Many high school students in rural
The Professional Mentoring
Program creates a direct, private, and
therefore potentially frank and open environment for experienced
professional
women scientists to discuss potential issues with
Finally, we are
planning fieldtrips to
major museums that would bring together participants in both mentoring
programs, thus introducing the high school students to professional
women in
science through their common friend (the college student).
These fieldtrips are intended to be a social
activity that cross-pollinates many mentoring pairs.
The Setting an Example
Lecture Series will bring professional women
scientist speakers in from industry and academia to present their
scientific
research. These talks will be open to the
public. By presenting their science, these scientists demonstrate
to the general public that women can be
powerful
forces in science, thus counteracting traditional, negative stereotypes. We will also invite two-career couples
with families to give some of
the presentations, which will act as a springboard for discussing
two-career family
issues. We plan
to have two speakers each month: one from a local scientific industry
and one
from a
broader, national pool.
Following the
speaker’s scientific presentation, this project would host a pizza
lunch to
which all science students would be invited.
Gender-blindness of all pizza lunches is important because it
helps
prevent the perception that the program shows favoritism.
On
days that we have speakers, high school students participating in the
program will be encouraged to shadow their college student mentors from
breakfast through dinner so
they get a first-hand feeling for what life is like as a college
science student.
Who's
invited? How can I participate?
Earth Science Women's
Network
Association
for Women Geoscientists 
American Physical
Society - Committee on the Status of Women in Physics
American Chemical Society -
Women Chemists Committee
Association for Women in Science
