9450007 Rodger This model project seeks to attract and retain women in the computer science pipeline through a variety of activities targeted at students from high school through graduate school. High school teachers and faculty from Rensselaer are to be involved. There are plans to connect 20 local high schools to the University by providing computer accounts at Rensselaer for the high school teachers and females students at these schools, with access via modems or networks. The female undergraduate and graduate students, as well as faculty in the computer science department, will participate in electronic discussions and activities with the high schools. Women at different stages in the pipeline will serve as mentors and/or mentees, receiving knowledge from those further along, and passing it to those below. In addition to the electronic network, activities for the high schools include talks by female computer science professors and female graduate students about their research and their field, three workshops for professors from the University and high school teachers to plan activities, and a two-week summer program. Additional activities for female undergraduates and graduate students include transition programs, formal seminars by distinguished female computer scientists, informal meetings for discussion of issues, and a 10-week summer research program for undergraduates. Women are underrepresented in the field of computer science, particularly at the highest levels. The goal of the proposed work is to attract high school women to computer science, and to retain interested women in the computer science pipeline from high school through graduate programs. Dissemination plans include sharing key components of the effort with the chairs of computer science departments at universities within the U.S. to enable them to replicate applicable aspects. ***
