Jing Lyman Lecture: Mentoring, Innovation, and Trends in Interventions to Advance Women in Science and Engineering

Over the last quarter century, a variety of strategies have been initiated to increase the number of women in science and engineering. This talk will review trends in program interventions that seek to address women's underrepresentation in these fields. Mentoring has been identified as a key strategy for increasing women's retention and representation in engineering and science.

Mentoring is an established and widely-adopted process of intergenerational transfer of and addition to knowledge. Coupling research about and best practices in mentoring with Internet communications and other information technologies, MentorNet(www.MentorNet.net) offers a large-scale online mentoring network that pairs thousands of women with mentors in scientific and technical fields.