IDA/WG: Partial Support of a Conference entitled "Tackling the Engineering Resources Shortage: Creating New Paradigms for Developing and Retaining Women Engineers

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Tackling the Engineering Resources Shortage: Creating New Paradigms for Developing and Retaining Women Engineers is a conference that brings together practicing engineers, managers, policy makers, and educators to look at the retention of women in engineering as an educational-to-career spanning continuum. The conference, July 14-18, 1998, at Club Tremblant near Montreal, aims to achieve long-range retention, development, and success at the professional level. The objectives are: to present and compare best practices and research findings related to retention at all levels; to identify institutional and cultural barriers to the better retention of women engineers; to identify common interests and areas for active collaboration and institutional change; to identify and develop model programs for dissemination; to create and promote new strategies and collaborations for participating institutions, and to set a research agenda. The conference makes a significant contribution to the advancement of knowledge by bringing together engineering professionals in industry and education who are in the position to influence or implement effective strategies and policies affecting long-term retention, but who are not necessarily familiar with the existing research, literature, and practice outside of their company or institutions. Planning and the conference itself are designed as iterative, collaborative processes to insure that academic and industry voices and institutional requirements for change and deliberation are addressed. A professional evaluation of the conference and conference outcomes will be undertaken. Conferees will be in a unique position to actively disseminate conference results as well as act on them. Participants will commit to return to their respective organizations with action plans for internal change as well as for partnerships across organizations. Conference proceedings will be published and widely disseminated to industry and universities.