Around Campus
High-tech approach to mentor girls interested in science and technology careers
Archived article from Oct 18, 2004
Carrying technology into a new arena, a group of engineers at Rutgers are taking an electronic approach to mentoring middle school and high school girls interested in science and technology careers.
Unlike traditional programs, where mentors and students typically work in-person and are paired one-on-one, three engineers have joined an Internet-based network where girls pose questions to a team of professional women. The responses are packaged in an online digest format for all the students to read.
Jill Mesonas, Kyri Papadaratakis and Siddika Pasi are the first university staff members to participate as mentors in the Girls' Electronic Mentoring in Science, Engineering and Technology (GEM-SET) program, run by the University of Illinois at Chicago with support from the U.S. Department of Labor Women’s Bureau. The three are project engineers and energy analysts with the Center for Advanced Energy Systems on the Busch campus. Also participating is Nicole O’Hara, a Rutgers College undergraduate majoring in biochemistry.
“The electronic mentoring approach provides a wider reach than one-on-one arrangements,” said Mesonas, who earned her bachelor’s degree in biochemical engineering from Rutgers in 2003. “A girl might ask about civil engineering versus mechanical engineering, and she’ll get responses that describe both fields. In a one-on-one mentoring relationship, or by going to traditional sources such as teachers or guidance counselors, she might not get such a comprehensive answer.”
Mesonas said the students ask a lot of questions about women’s experiences in technology jobs, such as if they will still be considered feminine and whether they’ll encounter discrimination.” We share our stories and don’t sugarcoat the responses,” said Mesonas. “We tell them what we’ve encountered, and that while women have made great strides in these fields, that they still do experience discrimination. But we also tell them the ways we’ve found to deal with it. Above all, we want to convey how rewarding science and technology professions have been for us.”
The engineers are attending the Labor Department-sponsored National Women’s Leadership Summit in Washington, D.C., this week, where they will contribute to a panel discussion on mentorship that reviews electronic approaches. The meeting will conclude with a White House reception.
Return to the Oct 18, 2004 issue
|
