RECOMMENDED READING

Girls Think of Everything:
Stories of Ingenious Inventions by Women
By Catherine Thimmesh, illus. by Melissa Sweet
(Houghton Mifflin)

Gizmos and gadgets, medical breakthroughs and new ways of doing everyday tasks -- the accomplishments of female inventors throughout history would fill up several dozen Hollywood movie scripts.

Consider Hsi-ling-shi, who in 3,000 B.C. developed new methods of weaving silk. Or Anna Connelly, inventor of the fire escape (in 1887)... Lila Beauchamp, 1987 discoverer of breakthrough anti-viral compounds... and Alexia Abernathy, 11-year-old inventor of the no-spill feeding bowl for toddlers (1994).

With engaging prose and illustrations, Girls Think of Everything offers a sweeping view of women's high-tech contributions.

"We consider Girls Think of Everything to be essential -- and delightful -- reading for parents, teachers and children alike," said Whitney Ransome and Meg Milne Moulton, National Coalition of Girls Schools Executive Directors.

You Can Be a Woman Engineer”
By Judith Love Cohen
ISBN 1-880599-50-3

Gives a good explanation of what an engineer does and helps encourage girls to think about becoming an engineer. Cohen does this in part by making the sciences less formidable and more familiar to girls. For instance, in the recently updated “You Can Be a Woman Engineer,” she tells her readers that many of the skills essential to engineering are those in which girls already excel. 

Aerospace engineer Judith Love Cohen has written a series based on “You Can Be a Woman…” (Chemist, Biologist, Architect, etc.). See www.witi.com/wire/feature/hitechgirls.shtml for more details and how to order direct from the publisher.

Is There an Engineer Inside You?
A Comprehensive Guide to Career Decisions in Engineering
by Celeste Baine
ISBN 0-9711613-9-9

Biomedical engineer Celeste Baine writes a perfect reference book on choosing an engineering discipline; an excellent resource for a high school career counselor or any student interested in becoming an engineer. The book builds on real-life success stories to capture a student’s attention, stimulate ambition, and show the road to becoming a top-notch engineering student. Extensive lists of resources and contact information, including web sites galore. See http://www.bonamypublishing.com/fantastical.html for details and how to order.

Other Books:

Setting the Record Straight: The History and Evolution of Women's 
Professional Achievement in Engineering
by Betty Reynolds and Jill Tietjen.
White Apple Press, 1836 Blake St., Denver, CO 80202, 
mailroom@penday.com, 2001. (For High School)

Cool Careers in Engineering for Girls
Ceel Pasternak, Linda Thornburg, Sheila Widnall (Introduction)
September 1999. (For Middle School)

Managing Martians
Broadway Books
The 1999 autobiography of Donna Shirley is a readable reference about being an aerospace engineer. 

Patently Female: Stories of Women Inventors and Their Breakthrough Ideas. 
By Ethlie Ann Vare and Greg Ptacek
Forward by Ruth Handler
John Wiley & Sons, New York, 2002 (for high school and up).

Other Resources:

http://wtp.mit.edu/
(Women in Technology - a Summer Program for High School Girls in the MIT Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science)

http://www.eweek.org/site/News/Eweek/univ_study.shtml
(NSF/SLOAN Funded Study Details Needed Support for Women Engineering Students)

www.societyofwomenengineers.org/careerguidance/careersMain.aspx
(Society of Women Engineers, K-12 Career Guidance)

www.wepan.org/profiles.html
(Colleges offering mentoring and student support programs to women engineering students and faculty.)

www.ibm.com/software/info/students/news/exite.html
(Summer camp for girls interested in engineering).

http://www.witi.com/center/witimuseum/halloffame/ 
(role models)

http://www.sdsc.edu/ScienceWomen/
(women in science: historical)

http://www.engineering.tufts.edu/wieo/index.html
(“Women in Engineering Organization”)

http://www.engineergirl.org

http://www.eweek.org/site/News/Features/women.shtml

http://www.eweek.org/site/Engineers/theengineers/index.shtml

www.academic.org
("Expect the Best from a Girl"; academic equity information for parents).

www.quest.arc.nasa.gov/women/intro.html
(Women of NASA)

www.girlscouts.org/girls 
(especially the "Careers" section)

http://hkn.mit.edu/act-women.html
(MIT Women's Initiative offers free engineering-career presentations for high school students)

Expect the Best from a Girl (That’s What You’ll Get)

Mentoring Students in Science and Engineering

Raising Smart, Bold Girls

Please share other resources you have found helpful. Write to eweek@nspe.org with suggestions.