PGE/SEP: Retaining Undergraduate Women in the Sciences: A Laboratory Research Program

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The Women in Science Program (WISP) at Indiana University-Bloomington (IUB), is creating a research fellowship program to encourage women to pursue science degrees and science careers. The Undergraduate Research Fellowship (URF) Program for Women in the Science will provide research experience to upper-division undergraduate women who have shown potential and interest in the sciences. Third-year women science majors will participate in researh under the auspices of IUB faculty starting the summer of 2001 and continuing for the 2001-2002 academic year. The participate will also serve as mentors to lower-division undergraduate women interested in pursuing science majorsThe URF Program will identify qualified students during the 2000-2001 school year to begin laboratory work in the summer of 2001. The Program will run through the summer and through both fall and spring semesters of the 2001-2002 academic year. By focusing on upper-division students, the Program hopes to assist students to gain the experience they need to pursue careers in laboratory research or to be competitive for graduate school. Students will also be required to write a paper and present posters on their research to increase their communication, writing and presentation skills, to make them more competitive with others in their field. The laboratory experience provided by the URF Program will enhance the participants' research capabilities and will increase interest in and preparation for jobs and graduate school majors in the sciences.The interactions among the participants, faculty mentors, fellow lad researchers, and the sophomore mentees will increase the support system for women in the sciences. The overarching goal of the URF Program is to increase the number of females that graduate with Bachelor's degrees in the sciences and to retain them in science fields after graduation.