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What is a WI?

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What is a Women's Initiative (WI)?

A women's initiative is an outreach program where women studying engineering at the university level go out into the community and visit with pre-college girls. The goals of a visit are to:

  • break engineering stereotypes
  • educate the girls about going to college
  • talk about studying engineering as a major
  • explore career pathways in engineering
  • demonstrate the engineering design process through hands-on activities

 

The program consists of about 10-12 presenters, or women currently studying engineering, a coordinator, and a faculty advisor. The target audience for is local young women, grades 6-12.

Women's Initiatives address the declining number of women in engineering through outreach to local girls. The hope is to provide them with a college-bound mindset and a visual example of a role model so they can begin to think early about the rewards of a future in engineering. This is especially important with the younger girls as they can take the ideas and example we present and keep them in mind as they battle the struggles of middle school that lead girls to a disinterest in math and science. By reaching middle school girls, we can also ensure that they understand the importance of a rigorous math and science high school class schedule to their college application process and acceptance into engineering majors. Continuing the outreach to high school girls allows us to dive more deeply into the meaning of engineering and build concrete examples of how it affects daily life. We can reach these girls as they are considering applying for colleges and majors, and deliver meaningful advice on the types of careers that are among their options.

 

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