AWE: An outreach workshop for middle school girls

A two-week, EiF Foundation and Rowan University sponsored workshop designed to introduce middle school girls to engineering careers was held at Rowan University during the summer of 1999. This target audience was selected to expose young girls to the importance of focusing on mathematics and science in their middle school years. Participants from minority populations were strongly encouraged to apply. Innovative hands-on experiments in the various fields of engineering with state of the art technology were used to spark the participants' interest in engineering. Experiments required collaborative learning through teamwork. The program consisted of a two-week on-campus session at Rowan University wherein students interacted with departmental faculty, undergraduate engineering students and representatives from local industry. The workshop also experiments, field trips, workshops on engineering ethics, professionalism, gender sensitivity and computer training sessions. The impact of the workshop was very encouraging and positive. Such workshops can encourage young girls to consider engineering as a course of study and/or a career in their high school years.