A program at Iowa State is aiming to help women gain the necessary experience to succeed in several male-dominated careers.

The summer internship opportunity for women in the Program for Women in Science and Engineering started at Iowa State in 1986.

The program was designed to provide undergraduate and high school women on-the-job experience, said Barbara Lograsso, assistant director of the program.

“It connects students with faculty, graduate students and professors,” she said.

The participants work with a mentor in a research laboratory on campus and earn a stipend, Lograsso said.

Undergraduate women have the opportunity to apply for an eight-week internship with a $3,000 stipend, or high school students can apply for a six-week program with a $1,500 stipend.

Lograsso, who has been a mentor for 12 years, became the assistant director in April. She said a similar internship program sparked her interest in becoming an engineer.

Lograsso said few women went into the engineering field when she was in school, but the numbers are growing. She said this is due in part to similar internship programs across the nation.

“Since the program started, enrollment in the science and technology programs has risen 67 percent at Iowa State,” she said. “We [PWSE] are a contributing factor.”

According to a 1997 National Science Foundation study, only 9.1 percent of the nearly 1.4 million engineers in the United States are women. PWSE placed 60 women from Iowa State in the program last summer.

“It’s a male-dominated field,” Lograsso said. “[PWSE] enables these young women to know they can do it. It also gives them a sense for what’s involved. Think of all the things these people are going to invent — how they will make our life a lot better.”

Michelle Wilson, junior in microbiology, said she joined the program because she had prior research experience in a lab.

“I did it purely for the experience and something to put on my resume,” she said.

Wilson was given several research projects to choose from.

She chose one in the veterinarian college and used the stipend to support her daughter.

“It costs me $1,000 to put my daughter in day care,” she said, “but the experience was well worth it. I would encourage everyone to do it. Also, if you don’t know anything about working in a lab, this is a good experience for you to decide if it’s what you want to do.”

Allison Riddle, junior in animal science, said the program has opened doors for her.

“It did open my eyes to research. Before I was kind of anti-research,” she said.

Riddle is continuing her PWSE research project with Holstein calves.

“I definitely would recommend the PWSE program because they let you experience other aspects; you don’t just have to stick with your program,” she said.

Lograsso said she encourages all students to apply for the program.Applications are available in the PWSE office, 210 Lab of Mechanics or online at www.iastate.edu/~pwse_info/. The application deadline is Dec. 15.