Conference encourages young women to explore scientific, technical careers

ARGONNE, Ill. (March 5, 2004) - The U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory will host the 17th annual Science Careers in Search of Women conference, Friday, March 12.

More than 300 students from 46 schools throughout the Chicago area will participate in the day-long conference which aims to encourage high school women to consider careers in science and technology.

The conference will begin with a keynote address by Denise Casalino, Commissioner of the Department of Planning and Development, City of Chicago. Casalino is a civil engineer who has directed many major engineering projects including the $200 million Wacker Drive reconstruction project in Chicago.

In the morning, students will participate in panel discussions with speakers from a variety of scientific and engineering disciplines. Panelists will share their personal experiences and insights on what a career in science and technology is really like and how to pursue such a career.

At lunchtime, students will be grouped by their area of interest and have lunch with a woman scientist in that field, providing an opportunity for more informal, one-on-one conversation. After lunch, students will have a choice of several different laboratory tours including biology, chemistry, physics, computer science and engineering. The day concludes with a career booth exhibit.

"The conference is designed to expose students to a variety of careers in science and engineering and real-life women in those professions. I hope we inspire many of the students to pursue technical careers," said Argonne's Kirsten Laurin-Kovitz, a mechanical engineer and chair of the conference. "If we broaden the outlook of even one girl it will be worth it."

Enrollment of women in undergraduate science and engineering (S&E) programs is rising, according to the National Science Foundation report "Women, Minorities and Persons with Disabilities in Science and Engineering: 2000," accounting for nearly half of the bachelor's degrees in science and engineering in 1996. However, this figure includes social and behavioral sciences and biological sciences in which women earn the vast majority of degrees. In fields such as engineering, the percentage of women earning bachelor's degrees rose from 1 percent in 1966 to 18 percent in 1996. Women's enrollment in mathematics and computer science programs declined.

"We're making great progress, but there is still a lot of work to be done to encourage women to enter certain science and engineering fields," says Laurin-Kovitz. "This is an extremely complex problem, and we believe that programs such as Science Careers in Search of Women are a part of the solution."

The conference is sponsored by Argonne's Office of the Director, the lab's Division of Educational Programs and the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science.

Participating schools

The nation’s first national laboratory, Argonne National Laboratory conducts basic and applied scientific research across a wide spectrum of disciplines, ranging from high-energy physics to climatology and biotechnology. Since 1990, Argonne has worked with more than 600 companies and numerous federal agencies and other organizations to help advance America's scientific leadership and prepare the nation for the future. Argonne is operated by the University of Chicago for the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science.

For more information, please contact Donna Jones Pelkie (630/252-5501 or media@anl.gov) at Argonne.