Women may be more inclined to take a more technical career path with the help of an organization at Iowa State.

The Program for Women and Science and Engineering, PWSE, is an organization that encourages female students to pursue a career in the STEM fields – science, technology, engineering and math.

“I think it’s extremely important as we move forward in these fields to get a broad perspective of input, and this includes input from the female gender,” said Carol Heaverlo, program coordinator for PWSE.

The organization has programs for college students as well as a K-12 outreach program that encourages children at a young age to become involved in the STEM fields.

“We’re trying to get kids interested at an early age,” Heaverlo said.

“We’re trying to share with them activities and give them a better idea of all the different types of sciences, technology and computer science opportunities.”

Part of the organization includes a student role model program in which students go into classrooms and facilitate hands-on activities with K-12 students.

This includes anything from day-to-day classroom activities, science education nights and day camps on the weekends and during the summer, Heaverlo said.

One of the events the organization is well known for is “Taking the Road Less Traveled,” which takes place six times per year.

The event involves bringing sixth- through 12th-grade girls to campus and letting them participate in different activities and sessions in the STEM fields.

“For those conferences, we actually bring in students from not only the state of Iowa, but surrounding states as well,” Heaverlo said.

“About 3,000 girls participate each year.”

Heaverlo said a primary focus of the program is to introduce the girls to activities that are exciting to them to be involved in.

“As a middle-schooler, most have only one perception of what an engineer, scientist or chemist is,” Heaverlo said. “Our goal is to broaden their understanding of what professionals in those careers do.”

One of the other main aspects of the program is a learning community on the ISU campus called Women in Science and Engineering. The program allows students to not only live together, but also to take courses with others on their dormitory floor.

“The mission is really to help students have that support system because the number [of women] in these disciplines are underrepresented,” said Jill Wyckoff, on-campus graduate assistant for PWSE and graduate student in educational leadership and policy studies.

Wyckoff said it is a good program because a lot of smaller schools don’t have something like this. Students are able to come to a large university with a large campus community but can get to know people on a more personal level.

“Students can definitely benefit from those relationships and that experience,” she said.

Students who are already involved with the program encourage others to consider it as well.

“I think it’s a great opportunity for females who don’t really have a support network in math and science,” said Jessica Culhane, member of the Student Role Model Program for PWSE and senior in statistics. “Sometimes you feel like you’re the only one in the science classroom, so it’s helpful to have an organization like this.”

PWSE is currently taking applications to be a mentor in the 2007 PWSE Summer Internship Program. Applications are due by Feb. 9 and additional information can be found online at