PipeLINK: Connecting Women and Girls in the Computer Science Pipeline.

Abstract

The PipeLINK program seeks to attract and retain women and girls in computer science careers. Aimed at girls and women from the high school through the Ph.D. levels, the program suggests activities to aid participants at each level, connect students with role models and mentors, and provides an introduction to a wide variety of computer science topics. The participants in the program were undergraduate and graduate students, university faculty, high school students, and high school teachers. During one academic year, activities consisted of 16 high school visits; 3 high school teacher workshops; 2 high school activity days at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; monthly undergraduate and graduate lunch meetings; and participation in an electronic mentoring network, consisting of bulletin boards, chat groups, and e-mail. During the summer of 1995, 2 programs were held at Rensselaer: a 10-week undergraduate research program, and a 2-week high school program. The evaluation of the program was conducted through questionnaires. Most of the undergraduate and graduate students who participated in the PipeLINK activities are still students, so it is too early to determine whether the program is achieving its goal of retaining women in computer science. However, anecdotal evidence shows some participants planning to become visible female role models for future computer scientists. For the high school participants, responses were positive and indicated that the most popular aspects of the electronic mentoring network were e-mail and Internet. (AEF) *********************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. ***********************************************************************

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