About WiSE
Background | Outreach | Contact Info
Background
At the outset in 1989, WISE served 50 women; today it serves over 1,300 a year on the UW campus and about 3,000 students off campus. The organization has grown from a program concept to one of the most respected women in science and engineering programs in the country. It now serves a culturally diverse group of undergraduate and graduate students who are interested in engineering and the related sciences. Since the late 1980's, the UW has seen increased percentages of degrees granted to women at both the undergraduate (from 15% to 23%) and graduate levels (from 6% to 22%), both well above national norms. In addition, the number of female faculty in engineering has increased from 6 in 1988 to 22 in 1998, where they are now 12% of the faculty (as compared to 3.7% nationally). Faculty have played a key role by contributing their time and expertise in working with students. Corporate mentors and other professionals have invested time and money to keep students and faculty abreast of the current needs and trends of industry in a global economy.
Coupled with increased enrollments and degrees granted to women in engineering at the undergraduate and graduate levels, WiSE has also seen an increase in retention at the undergraduate level from 50% in 1990 to 90% in 1998. In addition, the evaluation studies examining the impact of mentoring on female students' retention have revealed some exciting results. The retention rate of students participating in the professional mentoring program is 97%, in contrast to the average national retention rate of 55%. The research in this area led to funding from the National Science Foundation and the Department of Education, FIPSE, for the development, pilot-testing and evaluation of a curriculum for training mentors and mentees. Over 350 institutions in the United States and several around the world have now adopted this curriculum.
WiSE received the prestigious White House 1998 Presidential Award of Excellence in Science, Engineering and Mathematics Mentoring and the 1998 WEPAN National Women in Engineering Program Award.
