Conference turris::womannotes-v2

    
    
    There is a group called the Society of Women Engineers.  I belonged
    to it while I was in college.  Unfortunately, I haven't kept up
    my membership so I no longer know if it is still around in my college.
    I went to Northeastern starting out as an Electrical Engineer. 
    I switched to Industrial Engineering in my junior year.  I only
    have a few more courses on my EE degree which I am finishing at
    nights.  As far as giving encouragement to high school seniors,
    I would give the colleges she is interested in a call.  Many have programs
    specifically designed for recruiting.  You could also get in touch
    with the engineering societies on campus.             
    
    My high school physics teacher was the guy who got me interested
    in engineering.  Have her talk with her teachers.  Engineering is
    a great field to get into, but women have alot of biases to work
    with.  There were only two girls out of 300 in my freshmen class.
    The attitudes of the male engineering teaching population were
    sometimes really hard to deal with.  We filed a harassment suit
    against on of our profs.  He was eventually let go.  
    
    The attitudes are changing, but they will always be there in one
    form or another.  It is a lonely time at first because you really
    don't have the female support you need.  But once you are accepted
    by the guys, you have an easier time of it.  Hopefully more and
    more females will decide to pursue engineering.  It really is alot
    of fun.  If you have anymore questions just give a yell.
    
    Hope this helps,
    
    Michele

    Being one of the few females in the quality engineering world I
    know the pitfalls.
    
    If you would like to talk to me or me to her give me a call.
    235-8186
    

Don't forget us software engineers!

I started out  with a BS in art, then went back and got an AAS in
computer science.  Will someday in my life get some sort of master's.

I'm in Colorado Springs, but love to talk!

Liz
719-260-2793

    (Forgive me if this turns out strangely, I've accidentally gotten
    myself into the wrong editor...)  If she's not sure what she wants
    to do, or exactly what engineering/programming/etc are really about,
    she might enjoy seeing some real, live, working people at work.
    I found I had a lot better idea what "real" programming was all
    about when I started working as a student, my classes didn't give
    me that great an idea.  If she got an opportunity to see what working
    conditions are like, the problems that people solve on the bench
    or on the terminal (I know, some of them are hard to show untrained
    people), she might get a better feel for what "engineering" is about.
    If you arrange for her to visit your office, you probably ought
    to ask co-workers if they'd mind being "interviewed" by her and
    so forth.  Good luck!
    
    -- Linda

    I too was good in math and science when I was in high school.  I
    had noooo idea what I wanted to be.  I went into math at first.
    The advantage to this is you are in the engineering department and
    can take all of the engineering courses.  So thats exactly what
    I did until I found something I liked.  First I tried EE then I
    tried Computer Science and stopped there.  I loved it.  So I changed
    my major my junior year to Math and Computer Science.  I know its
    hard to figure out what you want to do when you are only in high
    school - if she has no clue (like I did) her best bet is to go into
    something general and then branch out until she finds something
    that clicks.  I'm willing to talk too!  If you need my number just
    let me know.
    
    Suzanne

    
    
    If she doesn't know what she wants to do have her take a
    career apptitude test.  Sometimes these are given by
    guidance councellors.  At Northeastern University they
    have a career councelling center that will administer the
    test if she wants.  I am not sure if there is a cost incurred.
    Give the school a call or have her guidance councellor call
    
    The test gives indications as to what field she is best suited
    for.  I took it and engineering was one of my choices.  It
    really is a good idea if she hasn't made up her mind yet.
    Also she may find that engineering isn't the choice for her.
    This will save lots of time and money.  She won't have to
    change her major in midstream. 
    
    Good luck,
    
    Michele

    There's a chapter of a group called the Society for Women in
    Engineering in the greater Boston area.  This is a professional
    organization for women who are presently working in engineering
    careers, regardless of their background; one of their goals
    is to encourage more young women to pursue engineering careers.
    
    I'll see if I can find some of their materials for you.  
    
    If your niece goes to school in New Hampshire, there are two
    other programs that might be able to help her.  
    
    One is a formal mentor program sponsored and paid for by the
    state, in which a student who wants to learn something that's
    normally not offered at school can find someone to teach that
    subject, set up a program, and get regular credit for it.  I
    gather that quite a number of kids will make contact with someone
    in a field they're interested in and arrange a sort of "class"
    that is a project in the field of interest.  
    
    The other is the Partners In Education program, in which a school
    and a business sort of adopt each other.  My daughter's junior
    high is partnered with New England Telephone and one of the other
    Nashua schools works with Kollsman Instrument. Your niece could
    talk to the company's representative that works with her school
    (even the most incompetent guidance counsellor knows that) to find
    out if the company has engineers she could talk to.
    
    --bonnie 

    
    
    Pete ,
    
    i just gave Northeastern a call.  They have a program where
    a student member of SWE will take your neice for a tour
    of the university, show a video on what women do in engineering,
    and explain what women in engineering is about.  The number to call
    is 437-4835 on campus or 277-7443 at home.  The girl to ask for
    is Lori.  She is the division b president of SWE.
    
    Also Wentworth which is a couple of blocks away from Nu is holding
    a seminar for "Women in Technology".  It is specifically geared
    towards high school women interested in the technical fields.
    The seminar is next week on Wednesday November 16 from 8:30
    to 2:00.  The morning sessions are hands-on type demos on different
    technologies.  Then lunch.  The afternoon sessions are talks from
    women already in industry.  This sounds like a valuable info sharing
    oppurtunity.  There is no fee and registration is walk-in.
    The person to contact for more info is Patricia Paolucci her
    number is 617-442-9010 ext 261.
    
    Hope this helps!
    
    Michele