9618855 Pittendrigh Montana State University-Bozeman is developing a project which will increase the number of high school girls from rural schools and Indian reservations who either pursue science or engineering majors and careers, or, at the minimum, become more confident and involved with their science and/or engineering course work as non-majors. The project includes: 1. Developing and teaching a week-long summer short course, "Montana Women in Science and Technology: Improving Participation," for teams of middle and high school teachers, counselors from reservations and other Montana rural schools. 2. Hosting a week-long faculty institute on "Gender and Science" to introduce MSU-Bozeman and tribal college faculty to national research on female-friendly pedagogy and content, thereby encouraging faculty involvement with the goals of this project. 3. Administering a mini-grant program for middle and high-school teachers/counselors, tribal college faculty and MSU faculty to develop, test and implement the ideas generated in the "Montana Women in the Sciences" short course and the "Gender and Science" faculty institute. 4. Developing and teaching a cross-disciplinary freshman seminar on science, technology and society to show that science is interesting and socially valuable, that it is relevant to women's lives, and that it is an enterprise where women and minorities can and do contribute. 5. Providing on-line counseling and mentoring for teachers, counselors and tribal faculty, mentoring for women students, and fellowships and scholarships to encourage and support women in science, and engineering. The project will determine if early intervention at the middle and high school levels, coupled with on-line support to teachers and counselors, and faculty development at tribal colleges and at MSU-Bozeman, can make a difference in young women's expectations and preparation for college-level science and engineering and their retention rates once on campus.
