Harvey Mudd College AAUW; The Harvey Mudd College (HMC) is one of 12 institutions selected nationally by the American Association of University Women (AAUW) to receive a Campus Action Project (CAP) grant for a project that aims to increase women’s representation in science and math.
AAUW has awarded $50,000 in Campus Action Project (CAP) grants for the 2009–10 academic year. These projects will target some of the barriers to entering and staying in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields faced by women and girls. The selected projects focus on mentoring and on networking and professional development to retain college women in STEM fields with a goal of increasing the number of young women entering and pursuing these fields of study.
The HMC project—Opportunities Clinic Program—was designed by students from Harvey Mudd and Scripps colleges and is scheduled to begin during the spring semester 2010. The pilot program will involve faculty liaisons and three teams of five high school students working with undergraduate mentors. During twice-monthly sessions over the course of 10 weeks, each group will focus on a specific STEM-related problem that students have identified either in their high school or in the local community. The clinic projects will culminate in two capstone events at which the teams will present their projects and the undergraduate mentors will discuss their research. Faculty and local scientists will also discuss their work. To facilitate networking and increase awareness of the event, a prominent keynote speaker is planned.
Faculty members Jacqueline Wernimont, visiting assistant professor of English language and literature at HMC, and Susan Castagnetto, philosophy lecturer at Scripps, are spearheading the project and are seeking participants from Pomona High School and other local high schools. HMC students Caitlin Jacques ’12, Martha Cuenca ’13 and Jennifer Rinker ’12 will be among the student mentors.
Women comprise only 27 percent of computer and mathematical professionals. Statistics further show that the gender disparity in science and math fields begins at an early age; in 2008, high school girls represented only 17 percent of computer science Advanced Placement test takers. The lack of women in the typically higher-wage math and science-related fields has significant implications for women’s economic security as well as for the overall economy and our nation’s global competitiveness. More women in these high-paying fields would help close the gender wage gap and would eliminate the U.S. shortage of workers in math, science, technology and engineering fields.
“AAUW is breaking through educational barriers so that all women and girls have a fair chance, and that is exactly what the CAP teams selected this year are doing in their communities. Our teams are increasing the number of young women entering and staying in science and math-related fields by addressing the barriers they face in school, college, and the workplace,” said Kate C. Farrar, director of AAUW’s leadership programs.
AAUW will pay for one member of each team to present on her or his team’s project at the 2010 AAUW/NASPA National Conference for College Women Student Leaders in Washington, D.C. The conference helps students connect with other students and with successful women while honing leadership skills for their work on campus and in their communities.
