Conferences encourage young women to explore scientific, technical careers

ARGONNE, Ill. (April 15, 2005) — It's personal experience that often leads a young woman to pursue a scientific or engineering career, and Argonne National Laboratory employees provide that personal touch to thousands of students each year because of their deep commitment to develop the next generation of scientists.

While many Argonne scientists speak at career days, judge science fairs and host tours of their laboratories, some focus on a group under-represented in science and engineering – women.

This winter alone nearly 400 young women attended Argonne programs that put them face-to-face with scientists in a variety of fields. Nearly 350 students from 56 Chicago-area high schools participated Argonne's 18th annual “Science Careers In Search of Women” conference on March 10. The February 24 “Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day” brought 37 middle school girls to Argonne.

Argonne's Division of Educational Programs, the U.S. Department of Energy's largest education program, partners with Argonne's Women in Science and Technology program to manage these annual events.

The gender disparity is reflected in the most recent National Science Foundation statistics of doctoral degrees in science and engineering awarded to U.S. citizens and permanent residents. In 2001, 5,570 females were awarded doctorates in science and engineering fields compared to 7,977 males.

“Girls attending the event continue to report to us that they don't have opportunities open to them,” said Kirsten Laurin-Kovitz, chair of the 2005 Science Careers in Search of Women Conference. “We try to help break down the significant societal barriers they face by providing an opportunity for them to spend a day with positive female role models in science.”

“Science career conferences are an amazing opportunity for students to learn first hand from professional women regarding what scientists do,” said Division of Educational Programs Director Harold Myron.

More than 150 Argonne employees, including 30 men, worked at the science careers conference. “Many laboratory women have stories of someone suggesting they consider a science career,” said Laurin-Kovitz. “They mention a mentor, teacher or a friend of the family who has taken the time to appreciate their interest in science and raise the possibility of a scientific career.”

“A career in science is not a cookie-cutter career,” explained this year's keynote speaker Geraldine L. Richmond. Richmond is the Richard M. and Patricia H. Noyes professor of chemistry in the Department of Chemistry and Materials Science Institute at the University of Oregon. “Many different paths can lead you to a successful career in science and engineering.

“If you see science in the world around you and you enjoy it, you can build a science career that reflects your interest,” she said. “Little did I know that all those social activities I joined in my high school years – in lieu of academic scholarship – would be such an asset later.” Success in the sciences requires many skills, she explained.

“Quilting together a career in science” was Richmond's message. “She showed slides of different types of quilts to emphasize her point,” said Laurin-Kovitz. “Some were orderly, others were abstract or directional – they were metaphors for different stages in people's lives.”

Richmond also responded to Harvard President Lawrence Summers' remarks on the scientific aptitude of women earlier this year by saying “All the chatter about a supposed genetic predisposition to science is an unfortunate diversion from the crucial issue: the hidden cost of missed opportunities because of a lack of participation in the scientific enterprise by so many bright young women.”

In addition to the keynote speech, the conference provided panel discussions with women scientists and engineers from the Chicago area. The discussions focused on building careers in engineering, physical sciences and life sciences. Career booth exhibits ran concurrently with the panel discussions providing one-on-one opportunities for the young women to learn about specific fields, skills, education requirements and job outlook.

Scientists provided tours of their laboratories and discussed their research with the students. Tours included Argonne's national user facilities – the Advanced Photon Source, Intense Pulsed Neutron Source and the Argonne Tandem Linac-Accelerator System. Students also toured several of Argonne's more than 200 laboratories, including biology, chemistry, physics and materials science labs.

At lunch, students and female researchers who shared interests were seated together to encourage direct conversation.

Introducing girls to the engineering world

Twenty female engineers mentored 37 middle school girls at the February 24 “Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day.” This is Argonne's fourth year sponsoring the program that matches up women engineers with two students for the entire day and is a component of National Engineers Week.

“We want to keep the program small and personalized because of the students' age,” said Tami Martin, a computer security engineer who co-chaired the program with chemical engineer Paula Moon.

Engineering fields represented included computer, chemical, electronic, mechanical, environmental and health physics. Students and mentors toured laboratories including Argonne's world-class research facilities – the Advanced Photon Source, the Computer Access Grid and the Transportation Technology R&D Center. The afternoon included a “Science of Toys” demonstration.

The “Science Careers in Search of Women” and “Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day” are just two of the many educational outreach programs Argonne provides annually to more than 4,000 students in middle school through high school. Each year Argonne sponsors:

• Rube Goldberg Machine Contest for high school students
• Science badge instructional labs for scouts
• Chicago Regional Middle School Science Bowl, and
• Educational field trips for different age groups.

Students also have an opportunity to ask scientists questions online through the online Ask a Scientist program, which receives millions of Web visits annually. — Evelyn Brown