Work in Progress - Providing Support and Leadership Experiences for Women at the University of Texas at El Paso through a Women in Science and Engineering Program

Abstract

Since its inception in 2001, the Women in Science and Engineering (WiSE) program has focused on providing support for female undergraduates at The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) in the form of semester stipends and community/university outreach activities. All members are required to be full-time undergraduates, with a minimum 2.5 GPA, who are actively studying science or engineering. During the past three years, there have been 250 stipend recipients. Forty-three of these students have graduated and 15 of these graduates have continued to pursue their studies in graduate or professional school. Of these 250 students, 249 have been retained in science or engineering disciplines. This paper discusses the WiSE initiative on the UTEP campus, including membership profiles, retention and graduation rates, current and future outreach activities, and plans for institutionalization