A Summer Engineering Workshop To Recruit

The Union College Division of Engineering is interested in increasing the number of women students in its engineering program. For the past seven years Union has offered its successful Summer Science Workshop (SSW) for underrepresented minority students interested in science and health professions. This past summer we adapted the model developed for the SSW to a workshop for high school women interested in engineering. Named “Educating Girls as Engineers” (EDGE), this program was a selective 12-day residential workshop for 20 high school sophomores, juniors and seniors. Participants were chosen by faculty on the basis of essays, transcripts, and letters of recommendation from high school teachers and guidance counselors. The program included three mini-courses: a module in design and bioengineering, a module in robotics for the disabled, and a module in communications. We believe that the success of our program can be attributed to several key elements: