May 1999 Press Release

May 24, 1999

CONTACT: Carol Muller, (408) 924-4070, cbmuller@email.sjsu.edu

1999 GRADUATES GET HELP FROM CYBERSPACE MENTORS

       SAN JOSé, CALIF. - When Carla L. Barrett receives her doctoral degree in nuclear engineering this summer, she'll thank plenty of people, including a woman she's never met.
       Yet Barrett, 27, and Sandy Feldman, an electrical engineer with General Electric in Schenectady, N.Y., have shared a lot - from Barrett's concerns about juggling marriage and a career to negotiating a salary package.
       "I've been able to ask Sandy questions that I haven't been able to ask anyone else," admitted Barrett, a married graduate student at University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. At one point, she was considering seven job offers.
       Barrett and Feldman are participants in an innovative program called MentorNet.
       The year-old program may be the first of its kind offered nationwide. It uses the Internet and electronic mail to connect female students pursuing degrees in engineering or other sciences with volunteer mentors in those fields.
       "Women still face gender-specific obstacles while studying for careers in engineering and science," noted Carol Muller, MentorNet founder and director. "There is strong evidence that mentoring can help women overcome these obstacles."
       The need for a program like MentorNet has never been greater, Muller commented.
       "The nation faces a critical shortage of qualified workers in many engineering and science fields where women are underrepresented. Less than 10 percent of all U.S. engineers are women," she said. "MentorNet's goal is to increase women's presence while addressing the shortage."
       Because MentorNet takes advantage of e-mail and other emerging technologies, it can reach many more students than more traditional mentoring programs, Muller added. (more)
       The program linked 539 students from 26 U.S. universities with mentors employed in private industry and government during the 1998-99 school year. Muller expects the number of students served to grow to several thousand over the next few years.
       Among this year's participants: Libby Handelsman and Ebony Fitchett. They will graduate this spring with bachelor's degrees in engineering from the University of California at Berkeley and Princeton University, Princeton, N.J., respectively. Handelsman, 21, has accepted a job at IBM in Fishkill, N.Y., where her mentor works. Fitchett, 22, will work as a nuclear engineer with Pennsylvania Power and Light.
       "When you attend a large university like I do, it's nice to have someone who has real-world experience and is willing to give you personal attention," Handelsman said of MentorNet.
       Fitchett, who was in contact with her mentor two to three times a week during the fall semester, hopes to remain in touch following graduation.
       Other participants appear equally enthused about MentorNet.
       In a survey conducted after the program's pilot semester in Spring 1998, 87 percent of the students said they would recommend the experience to others. Among mentors, 92 percent indicated they would probably continue to participate in MentorNet.
       The results encourage Muller.
       "MentorNet is proving to be a convenient and effective way for mentors and students, who otherwise would not have time for face-to-face meetings, to interact," she said. "Only 15-20 minutes a week on e-mail can make a big difference."
       Persons interested in becoming mentors can get more information by visiting MentorNet's web site, www.mentornet.net.
       MentorNet is offered through the Women in Engineering Programs & Advocates Network and headquartered at San José State University. AT&T, Intel, IBM, and the U.S. Department of Education Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education all provide major project funding.