In partnership with the Dayton Board of Education and the business community, Wright State University is building a pilot multi-faceted model program for maximizing the number of highly motivated and academically competent women students at Dunbar Magnet High School so that they go on to earn baccalaureate (and higher) degrees in the natural sciences. Women constitute 52 percent of the student body at Dunbar, and most are minority (95 percent). The specific goals are: to enhance pre-college science and mathematics courses; to strengthen the teaching skills of high school science teachers by updating their knowledge of modern research tools and techniques; to make science education more active and participatory; to make science relevant; to provide minority and women high school students an orientation to career needs, requirements and opportunities in the natural sciences; to establish year-round links between science teachers, faculty, and the private sector research scientists; to develop a mentor program through which faculty can nurture, encourage, motivate, inspire and challenge women and minority high school students to pursue scientific careers; to form a network of partners with the private sector and seek their involvement in the Dunbar project; and to sensitize the faculty to the educational needs and "culture" of women and minorities. Since most public high schools in large cities have demographics similar to Dayton's, this pilot model program may be replicated almost unchanged. Thus, its impact is expected to be significant nationally.
