The Women in Technology (WIT) Project was initiated at Vermont Technical College (VTC) in 1986. It was started by a collection of people, mostly women, working in Vermont’s educational system who noticed the need for programs that would encourage girls in science, math and technology. An informal group grew into an organized effort at the Vermont Department of Education that joined forces with Vermont Technical College to design and fund such a program. Since then, the WIT Project has grown steadily, to the point of now serving approximately 300 Vermont girls directly each year, and countless more indirectly.

The WIT Project focuses its efforts in three major areas:

• Providing strong female role models to counteract the stereotype of technical professionals as male
• Engaging girls in hands-on, interactive, technical activities that utilize up-to-date, sophisticated equipment, thereby ensuring that girls are allowed equitable access to technological resources
• Providing relevant, meaningful career information about math, science and technology fields, accompanied by appropriate educational information and preparation

All of the WIT Project programs are designed with these principles in mind, in order to meet the overall goal of increasing the numbers of young women enrolled in upper-level science, math and technology courses in Vermont high schools, as well as the numbers of those who choose to pursue higher education in these fields.

The major efforts of the Women in Technology program concentrate on bringing girls in grades seven through twelve to the Vermont Technical College campus for a variety of experiences with math, science and technology. A primary activity is the series of summer camps for girls that focus on technology. Every summer approximately 240 middle and high school girls spend five days on the campus attending the residential camps. They come from all over the state, and spend the week working with professional women who work in math, science and technology. Most of their time is spent in intensive, hands-on technical workshops that cover such topics as electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, architecture, computer programming, civil engineering, and biotechnology. Girls also spend time on the campus "shadowing" current VTC women students, and as junior Girl Scouts earning their Computer Fun Badge in a day-long series of computer workshops. Other programs include a Telementoring Project, in which girls are connected in mentoring relationships with women working in technical fields via electronic mail, the Speakers Bureau, which sends professional women working in math, science and technology to speak to school and community groups, and educational presentations to parents and teachers, encouraging them to work for gender equity in education.

All of the Women in Technology programs are designed to address perceptions of gender roles based on cultural differences and stereotypes. One of the main reasons that girls and women tend to shy away from technical fields is because stereotypes tell them that those fields are more appropriate for boys and men. Peers, teachers, and parents can all be guilty of reinforcing these stereotypes. The Women in Technology programs provide education to combat traditional sex-role stereotyping. Professional women in technical fields are used as role models for both girls and boys, demonstrating in an active way that women can succeed happily in technical careers. The Speakers Bureau sends women who work in technical fields to speak to school and community groups about their educational and career paths, and the value of pursuing math, science and technology. The Summer Technology Camps employ professional women working in technical fields to teach the hands-on, interactive technical workshops to adolescent girls. Also working in the camps are young women studying math, science and technology, who serve as resident counselors. These powerful role models serve as identifiable examples of women of various ages who have chosen math, science and technology as their careers, and who are successful and fulfilled.

In addition, the Women in Technology programs conduct workshops for and dispense information to parents and teachers about the value of math, science, and technology education for girls, and the need for educational equity in these and all other subjects. A great deal of materials are distributed through these forums, including resources for helping parents and teachers to encourage girls and to promote educational gender equity in their schools and classrooms.

The Summer Technology Camps and the Advanced Topics in Technology Camp serve not only to provide young women with role models, but also to provide opportunities for technical education that many of the young women would not otherwise have. As a rural, economically disadvantaged state, Vermont has many very small schools that do not have the resources to provide top-quality instruction in technology, or advanced courses in math and science. In 1996 the Vermont State Department of Education (VSDE) released "Vermont’s Framework of Standards and Learning Opportunities," which is a state-wide effort to improve the overall quality of education in the public schools, in part in response to their recent findings of significant math and science deficiencies in the state school systems. These deficiencies included: no state-wide science, math or technology curriculum; tremendous lack of adequately prepared math and science teachers; no professional development activities for math, science and technology teachers; schools lacked computers and the technical expertise to use them; no opportunities in math, science and technology targeted for girls, minorities and low income and rural students.

This lack of resources has contributed to low educational and career aspirations among young Vermont women. Further contributing to these low aspirations is the high number of girls who are from low income families and/or would be the first generation in their family to attend college. The postsecondary continuation rate for Vermont high school students whose families are low income and first generation is less that one-half the state average. In addition, these students have a far higher dropout rate than their counterparts. According to a VSDE report of 1997, while the state dropout average was 5.3% in 1996, the rate among low income and first generation students was 19.3% - nearly four times higher. This is a population that is particularly at risk, and is particularly targeted by the Women in Technology programs.

In order to work towards its goals, the WIT Project identifies the following major objectives:

1. To increase young women’s knowledge and awareness of technical careers, including educational requirements, the future job market, and the appropriateness of technical careers for women
2. To increase young women’s interest in and motivation to pursue math and science courses
3. To encourage and support girls and women who have chosen technical fields of study and work, in order to facilitate their successful continuation
4. To provide young women with female role models in science, math and technology fields
5. To expose both boys and girls to women scientists, engineers and technicians, in order to discourage traditional stereotyping
6. To provide teachers and parents with information about equity in the classroom, careers in technology, and women employed in those careers
7. To encourage and facilitate the participation of girls and women who are economically disadvantaged and girls and women who are members of groups that have traditionally been underrepresented based on race, color, national origin, age or disability
8. To ensure the continuation of WIT by promotion and publicity, evaluation to update and improve programs, and fundraising to ensure ongoing financial support

These objectives are met by various specific programs, many of which address more than one objective.

The WIT Project’s target audience includes girls ages 10 - 18, as well as male students, teachers, parents and other adults. Brief descriptions follow of those programs that serve an audience other than high school girls, with a more thorough description of those that specifically target high school girls.

Girl Scouts Computer Badge Days provide girls in grades four through six with hands-on computer experiences taught by VTC faculty, staff and students, most of them women. Approximately 75 girls and 20 adults from around the state participate in each of the twice-yearly sessions.

Summer Technology Camp is a five-day residential program for 7th and 8th grade Vermont girls, similar in nature to the Advanced Topics in Technology Camp for high school girls.

The Advanced Topics in Technology Camp is open to all young women who have previously attended camp, as well as to girls in 9^th - 11^th grade who have not. Girls from throughout the state are invited, with information about the camp going to all Vermont high schools.

The camp has an emphasis on building upon skills previously attained through WIT programs or elsewhere. New, advanced activities are provided, and detailed career information is presented. The intent is to reinforce interest in technical careers, to emphasize the importance of math and science preparation, and to help young women cope with gender bias.

The girls participate in hands-on technical workshops taught by women technicians, engineers and scientists in VTC's classrooms and labs. Each camper chooses two project workshops and spends 9.5 - 10 hours on each project over the five days. Some examples of workshop topics from past years are:

• Designing the School of the Future
• Website Design and HTML Programming
• Biotechnology
• Mechanical Engineering
• Electrical Engineering - electronic noisemakers, electronic timers
• Building a Solar Car Model
• Landscape Design with AutoCAD

In addition to the projects, campers participate in a career and life planning seminar, attend industry field trips and attend presentations by speakers. During free time, they have access to physical recreation and the computer labs.

The program opens with a presentation and discussion for parents regarding the need for a technical camp with an all-girl setting and suggestions for parents to encourage their daughters to pursue advanced math and science courses in high school. It concludes with a final presentation so that families can return to the VTC campus to see the workshop projects displayed and demonstrated, and talk to the workshop instructors. This gives parents the chance to witness the transformation of their daughters in terms of self-esteem and technical confidence. When camp is over, every camper has at least one completed project to take home.

Girls are recruited primarily through their schools, but also by word of mouth. Most of the girls attending this camp each year have attended Summer Technology Camp in a previous year. Enrollment at the Summer Technology Camp is filled exclusively through the Vermont schools, with the occasional home-schooler attending. School personnel nominate the girls, four per school, and they are encouraged to choose young women who are economically disadvantaged and members of traditionally underrepresented groups. Additionally, they are urged to nominate students who may not have shown high academic achievement, but have the potential to become interested in technology.

Enrollment at the Advanced Topics in Technology Camp is not contingent upon nomination, but most of the first-time campers do come on the recommendation of a teacher or guidance counselor.

Campers are admitted on a first-come, first-served basis. A modest fee is charged, and financial aid is offered to those who cannot afford to pay.

In 1998 WIT conducted three sessions of Summer Technology Camp, with a total of 192 Vermont girls, and one session of Advanced Topics in Technology Camp, with 60 girls attending. Financial aid was available to any family who requested it. Requests for assistance came from approximately 50% of the participants, and ranged from the full fee to as little as $25. In every case the full amount of aid requested was granted.

The Telementoring Project pairs girls in 7^th - 9^th grade with women working in technical fields via electronic mail. This project uses on-line communication to build supportive, encouraging relationships between girls and women who are succeeding in a technical field. The hope is to encourage middle school girls to consider educational and career paths in math, science and technology. The positive role models provided by the mentors help the girls realize the array of choices that is available to them, and inspire them to think beyond traditional career goals.

Girls are recruited from the summer camps, as well as by working directly with teachers in schools and with other community groups, such as the Vermont Student Assistance Corporation’s Talent Search program. Mentors are recruited through existing Women in Technology contacts, as well as through professional organizations such as the Society for Women Engineers, and also by businesses, such as IBM.

The WIT Speakers Bureau provides a variety of career education programs for K-12 female and male students, educators, community groups, and representatives of business and industry. The Speakers Bureau is comprised of approximately 55 women role models who are employed as technicians, engineers, and scientists in the northeast. Speakers Bureau services are provided free of charge. Schools and organizations request Speakers Bureau presentations through the WIT office. Needs include single presenters for specific classroom presentations, a variety of professionals to participate in career fairs, and panelists or workshop facilitators at conferences.

In addition to offering services for Vermont young women, WIT has expanded its outreach to include teachers and parents, with the intent of influencing Vermont students systemically. The goals of WIT's outreach and publicity are to make influential adults more aware of science, math, and technology as realistic career options for women, to support those areas of the curriculum by providing information and women role models, and to use every opportunity (curriculum materials, meetings, etc.) to discuss the importance of classroom equity and how it can be achieved.

Past programs and activities of the WIT Project have been diligently publicized by Vermont Technical College's public relations office. Press releases let the community know about program offerings, and the events of the camps regularly attract the interest of the media. In recent years the Women in Technology Project has been featured in many publications, with both regional and national distribution. Previous summer's camps have been the subject of local television and newspaper coverage.

WIT staff have presented at various conferences in past years - in 1997-1998 these included the annual conference of the Northeast Coalition of Educational Leaders; "Images of Gender Equity: Together Without Boundaries - The Next Twenty-Five Years: a Celebration of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972" ; and a workshop entitled "Telementoring: Building Electronic Bridges Between Women and Girls" at the "Mentors Make a Difference" conference in May 1998. WIT staff have been involved with local chapters of the Society of Women Engineers (SWE), the Association of Women in Science (AWIS) and the Women in Science Project (WISP) at Dartmouth College. WIT co-sponsored the 1998 SWE Great Women in Science and Engineering essay contest for sixth graders, and the Director served as a judge.

The WIT website (http://www.vtc.vsc.edu/wit/) is a rapidly growing source of ongoing communication, resources and support for WIT alumnae as well as the general public.

The WIT Project is completely grant-funded, so a significant amount of time is spent in securing funds. In the past year, the WIT Project received grants from the Vermont Department of Education, Vocational Gender Equity Program, the Turrell Fund, and the Vermont Women's Fund. The funds were directed toward camp expenses as well as staff salaries, benefits, and other WIT activities.

WIT's fundraising plan includes requesting grants from various sources and, in the future, asking for donations from corporations in the Northeast region. Corporate fundraising activities are currently curtailed by Vermont Technical College's capital campaign. Long term project funding is one focus. The goal is to fund the entire WIT Project, including summer camps, from a combination of donations from business/industry and low camp fees, as well as with continued support from foundations and state and federal governments.

In-kind donations of employee time, supplies, or the company worksite are essential to WIT's programs, and serve as good public relations for the corporation. Any corporation that contributes in-kind is listed on brochures or in publications as a WIT sponsor.

Evaluation of the WIT programs has mostly been done on a relatively informal basis, resulting in more anecdotal than concrete evidence of success. At the close of each camp session, campers and staff fill out evaluation forms that ask them to comment on what they liked and disliked about the different aspects of camp, as well as what they would suggest to improve the camp experience. The information received gives immediate feedback that can be applied directly, often as soon as the next camp session. The instructors receive copies of the comments written by campers who attended their workshops, and use these responses to improve the teaching of the workshop if they return for another camp session. These evaluations indicate that there is a high level of satisfaction among the campers, as shown by such comments as:

However, on only one occasion, in 1995, has a comprehensive study of alumnae been undertaken. A survey was sent to alumnae, and results indicated that approximately half felt that camp influenced the courses they took in high school, and approximately 50% (not all the same) said they took more math and science in high school as a result of camp. In addition, many said that their experience at camp helped them decide what they wanted to study in college. Majors such as biomedical, electrical, and environmental engineering, computer science, and astrophysics were among those listed.

Clearly, however, there is a great need for further, more comprehensive, and more effective evaluation. The program’s reputation in the state, as well as the stories that filter back, suggest that many girls have gone through the program with the result of discovering and nurturing an interest in science, math or technology. But there are few hard numbers to point to in proof.

Future plans for the WIT Project include designing and implementing such an evaluation. The scarcity of resources is the primary limiting factor, and one that has not been addressed adequately. One possible solution may turn out to be the institution of a WIT intern - most likely a college or graduate student studying women’s issues or social science. This is only in the idea stage, however.

The future may also see the WIT Project increasing its efforts to support young women who have already made the choice to enter science, math and technology fields, as well as to continue encouraging more girls to do so. A recent collaboration with the Northern New England Tradeswomen resulted in a one-day conference for girls enrolled in nontraditional programs in Vermont’s Technical and Vocational Centers. Hopefully there will be even more opportunities in the next few years to offer the kind of peer recognition and support that is necessary to combat the isolation that causes many young women to drop out of such programs.

With each passing year, the reputation of the Women in Technology Project grows stronger, as does the extent to which Vermont schools, students, and parents rely on its programs as resources. The numbers served are increasing each year, limited only by space, resources, and staff, and not by interest. It is the hope of the WIT Project staff that every year can also bring updates and redesigns of the programs in accordance with research and best practices information. Although funding is drying up, and there is increasingly a political wind insisting that girls need no special educational attention, the WIT Project is determined to continue its programs and to find ways to constantly strengthen and improve them. Collaboration with like-minded groups is proving to be essential to this mission.