HR: 1330h
AN: ED22D-1253 INVITED     [PDF]
TI: Mentoring, Women in Engineering and Related Sciences, and MentorNet
AU: Dockter, J
EM: jdockter@mentornet.net
AF: MentorNet, c/o College of Engineering San Jose State University One Washington Square, San Jose, CA 95192-0080 United States
AU: * Muller, C
EM: cbmuller@mentornet.net
AF: MentorNet, c/o College of Engineering San Jose State University One Washington Square, San Jose, CA 95192-0080 United States
AB: Mentoring is a frequently employed strategy for retention of women in engineering and science. The power of mentoring is sometimes poorly understood, and mentoring is not always effectively practiced, however. At its strongest, mentoring is understood as a powerful learning process, which assures the intergenerational transfer of knowledge and "know-how" on an ongoing basis throughout one's life. Mentoring helps make explicit the tacit knowledge of a discipline and its professional culture, which is especially important for underrepresented groups. MentorNet (www.MentorNet.net), the E-Mentoring Network for Women in Engineering and Science, is a nonprofit organization focused on furthering women's progress in scientific and technical fields through the use of a dynamic, technology-supported mentoring program. Since 1998, nearly 10,000 undergraduate and graduate women studying engineering and related sciences at more than 100 colleges and universities across the U.S., and in several other nations, have been matched in structured, one-on-one, email-based mentoring relationships with male and female scientific and technical professionals working in industry and government. This poster will describe the MentorNet program, and provide findings of annual program evaluations related to outcomes for participants with particular focus on women in the planetary and earth sciences. We also address the development of the partnership of approximately 100 organizations currently involved in MentorNet and the value each gains from its affiliation. MentorNet is an ongoing effort which supports the interests of all organizations and individuals working to advance women in engineering and related sciences.
UR: http://www.mentornet.net
DE: 6605 Education
DE: 6630 Workforce
SC: Education and Human Resources [ED]
MN: 2003 Fall Meeting