Reaching Out To High School Girls: The Role Of A Student Organization In Developing An On Campus Technology Workshop

Women and girls will comprise at least half of the available science, engineering, and technology talent pool. Therefore, it becomes imperative to attract more women and girls into these disciplines. In 2002 at Purdue University, the student group Women in Technology invited a select number of high school juniors who were at risk of losing interest in math, science, and computers, and their parents to the Purdue campus for an all-day workshop. The program was planned, designed, and executed by Women in Technology students. Its purpose was to give the high school girls who participated an understanding of the various majors available in the School of Technology through tours, presentations by women faculty from each discipline, a question and answer session with students, and hands-on laboratory experiences. In this paper, we will present an overview of the organization; discuss the lessons learned from the first Women in Technology Workshop, and suggest strategies for developing such workshops into vital components of efforts to recruit more high school girls into the fields of technology, engineering, and science.