We are beginning a new program at Northeastern University in partnership with the local Girl Scout organization to recruit and support girls and women into science, engineering, and mathematics. It is called Connections and includes girls in 5^th through 12^th grades as well as college women. I will attach here our program summary from the NSF grant that supports our new program.

Jo-Anne Hart

Project Summary

The Connections Partnership is based on a collaboration between

Northeastern University (NU) and the Boston-area Patriots' Trail Girl

Scout Council (PTGSC). PTGSC, who represents over 8,000 elementary,

middle, and high school girls in the City of Boston, brings expertise in

all-girl programs and gender sensitivity to Connections and NU with its

signature cooperative education program brings expertise in career

training and SEM education. Connections will attract and support girls

and women who can excel in math and science and encourage them to make

the transition into majors and careers in SEM-related fields. NU

faculty, staff, and students will team with girls in Boston area Girl

Scout troops, their troop leaders, and their teachers in after-school

activities and summer day camp programs at Computer Club Houses at NU

and at the PTGSC site in Boston.

The major program goal is to empower "high school ready" girls, "college

ready" high school graduates, and "career ready" college graduates and

prepare them for a future in SEM-related fields. It takes the creative

efforts of all stakeholders, including classroom teachers and their

students, to shift a significant number of girls and women into careers

that have not been traditional for them.

Connections will target three populations: middle school girls (Group

1); high school girls (Group II); and undergraduate college women (Group

III). The program combines best practices of (1) Women in Engineering

(WIE) programs and girl-focused SEM programs; (2) hands-on SEM classroom

experiences with work in real-world settings; and (3) a structured

mentoring program that supports middle and high school girls and

undergraduate women linked to women faculty, Girl Scout leaders,

teachers, and working professionals in SEM fields.

The target population will connect with one another through several

paths:

--Contact with one or more mentors: A structured mentoring program that

groups more than 500 students over email, involving troop leaders,

professional women, parents, college majors, and NU faculty crossing

over all three target populations.

--Use of a structured e-mail communication and support network, tying

together all elements of the program (curriculum, SEM-activities,

mentoring, and coaching to learning).

--Participation in regularly scheduled academic and summer activities

that connect curriculum, career, and personal goals for participants and

members of the Connections team.

Each target population will participate in age-specific activities

designed to help girls and women make the right connections for

successful careers as twenty-first century SEM professionals. These

activities will reflect the three themes that will be integrated

throughout the proposed Connections Partnership program: Curriculum,

Career, and Personal Development (CCPD). Middle school girls will

understand the importance of what they are learning to succeed in high

school; high school girls will understand what SEM careers involve

through their interactions with college women, faculty and professionals

in the field; and college women will become career ready and have a

clearer understanding of their future opportunities as SEM

professionals.

The program will have a direct impact on the lives of

more than 450 girls each year, with almost 1000 during the three-year

funding period. In addition, more than 300 NU undergraduate women will

participate in Connections with an impact on approximately 500 NU's

students over the three-years.