MentorNet News – April 2010 Volume 2

e-mentoring for diversity in engineering and science In This Issue Featured Job Opportunity 5 Million Reasons to Love Your Local Community College Edgar's Story: My Journey to MentorNet MentorNet Celebrates WEPAN/NAMEPA Partnerships in Baltimore Report: HSIs Key to Spurring Latino Movement Women Still Out of Start-Up Funding Game Spelman Gets $1M for Engineers Quick Links Featured Job Opportunity IBM has opened a new Technical Services Delivery Center in Dubuque, Iowa. This center has created approximately 1,300 jobs.  IBM is seeking talented Technical Support Specialists who would be responsible for problem and change tickets for client server support operations. To view additional information about IBM Job Opportunities and to apply for opportunities in their Dubuque, Iowa center, please click here. Latina Mentors and Proteges Sought Mega M Subramaniam, Ph.D., Assistant Professor in the College of Information Studies at the University of Maryland, is conducting a study on the barriers faced by Latinas in IT. If you are a former or current Latina MentorNet mentor or protégé in an IT-related discipline (computer engineering, computer science and entertainment media) and are interested in participating, please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. The interview will take approximately one hour. Thank you! We Need Beta Testers! Are you interested in testing out our upgraded, soon-to-be-released MentorNet website? If so, please send an email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and we will send you the details. Thanks! Join Our List April 2010, Vol. II www.mentornet.net 5 Million Reasons to Love Your Local Community College They need to graduate that many additional students by 2020 for the well-being of the US economy I love community colleges. They are the strivers and scrappers, like their students. And now after years of being "considered the backwater of higher education" (as today's Wall Street Journal noted), the spotlight is on them and their future looks brighter. I just returned from the American Association of Community College annual convention in Seattle where the CC Presidents from across the nation promised to answer President Obama's call for five million extra graduates by 2020. Continue reading here. -David Porush, CEO of MentorNet Edgar's Story: My Journey to MentorNet Edgar Lobaton in Macchu Picchu, Peru. I learned about MentorNet during the Society for Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in the Science (SACNAS) National Conference. At the time, I was looking for ways to motivate students into higher education at institutions where research opportunities may not be available. I had almost convinced myself that there was no organization that offered a remote mentoring program when I heard someone mention MentorNet. Due to my personal journey and my firm belief that technology offers an invaluable opportunity to interact and reach individuals in ways that are not otherwise feasible, I decided to join MentorNet and share my experiences with students overcoming the same life challenges that I have encountered. Continue reading here. -Edgar Lobaton, Contributor MentorNet Celebrates WEPAN/NAMEPA Partnership in Baltimore Hundreds of professionals from the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) community gathered in Baltimore, Maryland, to celebrate WEPAN and NAMEPA at their 4th joint conference, and MentorNet was among the well-wishers! The focus of this year's conference was to share and investigate ideas that diversify the field of engineering through increasing the participation of women and minorities. Themed "Setting Sail for the Future: Leveraging Diversity for a Stronger Crew", the conference offered attendees a one-of-a-kind experience with explorations in diversity, policy, funding, strategies to cultivate the next generation of engineers, and effective messaging. MentorNet, a long-time supporter of WEPAN, hosted its first-ever networking event on the east coast and participated in the showcase sponsored by Intel. Click here to see photos and read more! -Lisa Jennings, Senior Consultant on Strategic Partnerships and Outreach Report: HSIs Key to Spurring Latino Movement Through STEM Pipeline A Center for Urban Education (CUE) report argues that reversing the historic underfunding of Hispanic-serving institutions (HSIs) will increase the number of Latino students moving into the science and technology fields because it would lead to improved transfer pathways between community colleges and HSIs. The study, called "Improving Transfer Access to STEM Bachelor's Degrees at Hispanic-Serving Institutions Through the America COMPETES Act," found that although participation rates are increasing, Latinos were awarded just 8.2 percent of STEM bachelor's degrees in 2007. Read the full article here. -Diverse Education Women Still Out of Start-Up Funding Game Is the tech industry a meritocracy in the United States? Is the VC community ready to embrace a woman with a good idea? Some statistics published by the New York Times suggest that the answer is no: while women own 40% of the private businesses in the US, they create only 8% of venture-backed tech startups. There are many factors influencing these numbers. The article "Out of the Loop in Silicon Valley", featured in the Business section of the New York Times last Sunday, provides an in-depth analysis of gender discrepancies in the high-tech industry at different levels. The article touches on an aspect that is at the core of MentorNet's mission: how do we attract and retain women (and others underrepresented) in STEM: science, technology, engineering and math? According to this article, 1% of girls taking the SAT in 2009 said they wanted to major in computer or information sciences, compared to 5% of boys. Only 18% of all graduates from computer sciences in 2008 were women, down from 37% in 1985. The article suggests that having role models is paramount to attracting more women to the field. We agree. We also know from experience that having a mentor can be a deciding factor for a young woman to succeed in a male dominated field like technology. -Alejandra Velasquez, Director of Media and Communications Spelman Gets $1M for Engineers Spelman College has received a $1 million grant from ExxonMobil to increase the number of engineers who are black women. The college said six students majoring in a targeted science or math areas will be selected annually as ExxonMobil Scholars. In addition to the scholarship, they will receive mentoring, internships, research training and access to labs at Spelman and Georgia Tech. The historically black women's college is already ranked as one of the leading producers of black females who go on to earn doctoral degrees in science and engineering. -The Atlanta Journal-Constitution MentorNet is a 501(C)(3) California non-profit educational organization. Our mission is to help engineering and science students at the university level - especially women and underrepresented minorities - achieve their career goals by matching them with mentors and guiding their one-on-one relationships over the Web. We are funded by fees from our campus, corporate, government laboratory and society partners and by grants from public and private foundations.

Copyright © 2009 MentorNet. All Rights Reserved.

MentorNet News – March 2010 Volume 2

Race, Gender and Modeling Success New research suggests that when students have role models—professors and mentors—of the same race and gender in their field, it increases their chances of completing a degree. In his paper, "Analyzing the Factors That Influence Persistence Rates in STEM Field Majors," Joshua Price shows the strength of this influential factor. His work suggests that increasing minority faculty representation will increase retention among minorities. Price will present his findings at the Higher Education Research Institute conference in Cornell, the hub for interdisciplinary research on higher education. Access conference details and working papers now. Blue Waters Internship Seventeen undergraduate students will be selected to receive up to a  $5000 stipend over the summer and academic year  to attend a two-week intensive Petascale Institute at NCSA, May 23 through June 5, and support to attend the Supercomputing 2010 Education Program and conference in New Orleans. Click here to see the flyer, and visit the website for general information. Research Experience The Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) project is a nine-week program for students to work collaboratively on computational science projects and learn how to use the most current cyberinfrastructure tools with individually designed training sessions. This program will run from May 31, 2010 through July 30, 2010. Each student will receive a stipend of $4,500, free housing in university dormitories, and up to $500 in travel expenses to and from Baton Rouge, LA. Click here for more info. AT&T and MentorNet's Launch Mission to the HBCUs $75,000 grant will help MentorNet reach black engineering and science students This week, AT&T announced that it is supporting MentorNet's goal to open its program to Schools of Engineering and Science at historically black colleges and universities. Dr. Porush, CEO of MentorNet, met with several deans of these schools at the Black Engineer of the Year Award ceremony in Baltimore, and the MentorNet team will pursue partnerships through the Association of Minorities in Engineering and with individual instituions throughout the coming year. Click here to read the full press release. Richard "Shrimp" (left) and protege Shelley "Shrimp" get key advice from Training Manager Saty Raghavachary at Dreamworks. Don't Take 'No' For an Answer—With Style Shelley "Shrimp" Dangoor learns some valuable lessons about persistence from her mentor, Richard Wolf By Leila Armush, Media and Communications Consultant Richard Wolf, one of our dedicated veteran mentors, has broken new ground in many directions. He has taken on several protégés simultaneously and made them into a team. In addition, he encourages a shadow day and added a valuable new lesson to the mentor’s curriculum: don’t take no for an answer, and do it with style. “Team Shrimp” as Richard cleverly calls three MentorNet protégés and himself, share common questions while maintaining a confidential and supportive relationship with their mentor. A retired entertainment engineer, Richard understands the challenges of getting the big break in the entertainment industry. “Thousands of applications are likely to hit the recycle bin before the ink is dry,” Richard says, noting that a career-making internship is a critical element of a student's success. Fortunately for Shelley “Shrimp” Dangoor, a senior in mechanical engineering at Cal Poly, the feature film company Lola FX doesn't let applications sit in their recycle bin. They offered Shelley a paid internship with an award-winning special effects supervisor as her boss, working on a major budget feature film. She now reports directly to Edson Williams, co-owner and special effects supervisor with multiple awards and credits in over 100 films. Shelley’s first assignment is on the production of "The Social Network", a major feature film currently in production, with Oscar-nominated director David Fincher. Story continues here. From the Vault: The Impact of MentorNet Click on the video thumbnail above to watch heartfelt testimony about MentorNet's program—from professionals in industry and current college students. Alejandra Velásquez, Director of Media and Communications MentorNet Joins Global Marathon MentorNet joined the engineering community in its annual Global Marathon, an extension of the National Engineers Week Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day. MentorNet’s Alejandra Velásquez, Director of Media and Communications, conducted the Marathon’s first presentation on e-mentoring for girls interested in engineering and technology. The Global Marathon was one in a series of Eweek activities hosted by the National Engineers Week Foundation to increase the public’s understanding of engineering. WEPAN Conference The Women in Engineering ProActive Network (WEPAN) and the National Association for Multicultural Engineering Program Advocates (NAMEPA) will host their 4th joint conference at the Baltimore Marriott Inner Harbor Hotel at Camden Yards in Baltimore, MD, April 12-14. This year’s conference theme “Setting Sail for the Future:  Leveraging Diversity for a Stronger Crew” will investigate ideas that diversify the field of engineering through increasing the participation of women and minorities, and MentorNet will be onboard. Click here for more info, and be sure to check April's newsletter for details on MentorNet activities!   MentorNet is a 501(C)(3) California non-profit educational organization. Our mission is to help engineering and science students at the university level - especially women and underrepresented minorities - achieve their career goals by matching them with mentors and guiding their one-on-one relationships over the Web. We are funded by fees from our campus, corporate, government laboratory and society partners and by grants from public and private foundations. 840 W. California Avenue Suite 200 | Sunnyvale, CA 94086 US

MentorNet News – March 2010 Volume 1

Featured Opportunities Grace Hopper 2010 The 10th Annual Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing (GHC) has opened its Call for Participation. The Grace Hopper Celebration will take place from September 28 - October 2, 2010, in Atlanta, Georgia. This year's theme "Collaborating Across Boundaries" recognizes the significant role women play in using technology to work across scientific, social, geographical, racial or political borders. The submission deadline is March 16, 2010. For more information, please visit their website. Global Marathon Each year, the National Engineers Week Foundation launches Engineers Week, a series of annual outreach programs and events designed to raise the public’s understanding and appreciation of engineering and the work of engineers. The Global Marathon, an extension of Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day, offers a one-of-a-kind mentoring opportunity for girls interested in engineering and technology. Mark your calendar for the 2010 Global Marathon “Launching Tomorrow” on March 10-11. To learn more about the Global Marathon and join the live forum, click here. MIT Poster Contest At MIT, the School of Science is co-sponsoring a competition to make mentoring more visibly prominent in the minds of members of the science research community. The mentoring poster competition will recognize the best posters. Check out the website to see the wonderful ideas that emerged here and click on "browse posters." Get Mentor, Get More Grants? More female junior faculty in engineering and science have mentors, and when they do, they have a better chance of getting funding A recent study by the National Academy of Sciences showed that mentoring had a profound impact on the ability of women in academia to get grants, which in turn increases their chances of promotion and tenure. As a result, NAS issued a call to action for research institutions to initiate mentoring programs for new faculty. NAS was commissioned by Congress to assess gender differences in the careers of science, engineering and mathematics faculty. The study examined women’s participation and representation in the hiring process, professional activities, tenure, and promotions in science, engineering and math (SEM) disciplines. It found that 93% of women with mentors had a probability of receiving grant funding versus 68% women with no mentor. It also found that 49% of the males and 57% of the females had a mentor. The paper, Gender Differences at Critical Transitions in the Careers of Science, Engineering, notes that “Institutional mentoring programs could help ensure that female faculty acquire grant funding, which in turn should have a positive effect on their promotion rates.” You can download the full study here. –Lisa Jennings, Senior Consultant for Strategic Partnerships and Outreach Obama Signs HBCU Executive Order On Friday, February 26, 2010, President Barack Obama signed an executive order to bolster the efforts of the White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities. During the signing ceremony, Obama said, “This initiative originated in President Carter’s administration; it expanded under President Reagan; and its been renewed by each President since, to help these schools give their students every chance to live up to their full potential.” Dr. John S. Wilson will lead the Obama Administration’s efforts to partner with federal departments, agencies and offices. Wilson is chairman of the advisory board and a graduate of the historically black college Morehouse University. Access the full Executive Order here. –Lisa Jennings, Senior Consultant for Strategic Partnerships and Outreach MentorNet Congratulates the Black Engineer of the Year MentorNet extends its hearty congratulations to the winner of this year’s Black Engineer Award, John Harris, Vice President at Raytheon. Among his many professional roles in supply chain engineering, Harris also served as Raytheon’s Executive Diversity Champion. Thank You to February's New and Renewing Partners! • Foothill College •Milwaukee School of Engineering • Naval Research Lab • Rochester Community College • SanDisk • Santa Fe College • Surface Mount Tech Association • University of Nevada - Las Vegas Spring Recruitment Campaign Reminder In January, we launched our 2010 Spring Outreach Drive to recruit new proteges. The drive is off to a great start, with 495 new proteges signed up already! We are also recruiting mentors for our new proteges, so please help us out by spreading the word! The college or university with the highest number of newly recruited proteges will receive a 10% discount on their renewal fee. We will also offer a 10% renewal discount to the college or university with the highest ratio of recruits to school size. Does Hollywood Get Science Right? Television shows and movies may take you to worlds far away, but their makers, aware of viewers' need for believability, say they consult scientists to make things more real. "Audiences now demand that, or they hunger for it," Academy-Award winning director and producer Ron Howard said. Read more Follow Us on Our New Twitter Page! MentorNet is now on Twitter: twitter.com/mentornettweet. MentorNet is a 501(C)(3) California non-profit educational organization. Our mission is to help engineering and science students at the university level - especially women and underrepresented minorities - achieve their career goals by matching them with mentors and guiding their one-on-one relationships over the Web. We are funded by fees from our campus, corporate, government laboratory and society partners and by grants from public and private foundations. 840 W. California Avenue Suite 200 | Sunnyvale, CA 94086 US

MentorNet News – February 2010 Volume 2

Featured Opportunities 2010 C2B2-REU Program The Colorado Center for Biorefining & Biofuels (C2B2) is a collaboration involving over 200 principal investigators at four partner institutions. Join C2B2 in the Rocky Mountains this summer for the third annual C2B2-REU. The application deadline is February 22, 2010. Click here for more info and to apply. IMA Special Workshop The Institute for Mathematics and its Applications is having a conference in March entitled Career Options for Underrepresented Groups in Mathematical Sciences. The main goal of the workshop is to encourage underrepresented minorities in math-related fields to become prepared to work in the academics, industry or government labs. Talks will focus on the importance of networking, interviewing, negotiation and leadership skills.Click here for more info. FORWARD in SEM Focus on Reaching Women for Academics, Research and Development in Science, Engineering and Mathematics is a joint program of the George Washington and Gallaudet Universities. This workshop is provided for women and minorities who may be considering, or are currently in, a tenure track position in science, engineering or mathematics. Click here for more info and to apply. Building Collaborations for Research, Education and Outreach Save the Date! A one-day conference focusing on research, education and outreach collaborations in STEM disciplines will be held in Concord, NH, on June 9. College faculty, grants administration staff, and students engaged in research are invited, as well as science center staff and GK-12 math and science educators. Preregistration is required. For more info, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Women, Blacks and Latinos Lose Ground in Silicon Valley A report on Sunday in our local paper, the San Jose Mercury News, shared perplexing news: diversity in Silicon Valley tech fields is moving in the wrong direction. Between 2000 and 2008, women declined from 25.5 to 23.8% of the workers in computers and math; blacks from 1.9 to 1.5% (far behind the national average of 7.1%) and Hispanics from 5.3 to 4.7% – a poor showing in a region where the local population is 24.3% Hispanic. Even more curious, big companies – Apple, Google, Yahoo, Oracle, and AMD– fought successfully to withhold data about employment when the newspaper requested it under the federal Freedom of Information law. Their claim, which federal regulators agreed to, was that employment data was a trade secret and would reveal business strategy to competitors, causing the companies “commercial harm.” The good news is some companies are proud of their diversity and gladly shared their data. MentorNet’s partner Intel was one of them. Hewlett-Packard, between 2000 and 2008 – years in which they used MentorNet’s program – grew its women’s cohort from 49% to 53% and grew its Hispanic workforce as well. SYNNEX, a leading IT processes company, jumped from 37% to 49% and Calpine – a leader in building green power plants – was the outstanding winner in diversity, growing from an already remarkable 54 to 59%. The other good news is that MentorNet, nestled right here in Silicon Valley, creates a vital channel to women, blacks, and Hispanics in engineering, math and science fields. 10% of our protégés are black, 7% Hispanic, and of course, a majority of our protégés are women. Catch Up With David at BEYA This Week David Porush, MentorNet's CEO, will be attending the Black Engineer of the Year Awards Conference in Baltimore, MD, Feb. 18 - 20. If you'll be there, find David and say hi! According to the conference website, "BEYA STEM Global Competitiveness Conference is about opportunities to acquire and retain talent, to learn and network ... Since 1986, the conference has served as an invaluable tool to recognize outstanding achievement of African-Americans in companies across America." Announcing Our New Twitter Page!!! MentorNet is excited to announce we are now on Twitter at twitter.com/mentornettweet. Become a Follower and stay on top of our latest news, partnerships, recommended articles, internships and other opportunities. Thanks! It's National Engineers' Week! In recognition of National Engineers' Week (Feb 14 - 20), we are actively recruiting new engineering mentors! Please spread the word, and new mentors sign up here. Curious about National Engineers' Week? According to Wikipedia, "National Engineers' Week ... is observed by more than 70 engineering, education, and cultural societies, and more than 50 corporations and government agencies. The purpose of National Engineers' Week is to call attention to the contributions to society that engineers make. It is also a time for engineers to emphasize the importance of learning math, science, and technical skills. The celebration of National Engineers' Week was started in 1951 by the National Society of Professional Engineers in conjunction with President George Washington's birthday. President Washington is considered as the nation's first engineer, notably for his survey work." Spring Recruitment Campaign Reminder In January, we launched our 2010 Spring Outreach Drive to recruit new proteges. The drive is off to a great start, but in case you haven't gotten involved yet, it's not too late! For details, and to learn about our incentives for campuses, click here.   MentorNet is a 501(C)(3) California non-profit educational organization. Our mission is to help engineering and science students at the university level - especially women and underrepresented minorities - achieve their career goals by matching them with mentors and guiding their one-on-one relationships over the Web. We are funded by fees from our campus, corporate, government laboratory and society partners and by grants from public and private foundations. 840 W. California Avenue Suite 200 | Sunnyvale, CA 94086 US

MentorNet News – February 2010 Volume 1

Opportunities and Announcements Avnet Tech Games Offer Real-World Experience and Scholarship Dollars Avnet, Inc., a leading global technology distributor, is hosting the fifth annual Avnet Tech Games (ATG). For the first time this year, the ATG is open to students nationwide through a number of virtual games, which complement the traditional onsite competition held in Arizona on April 10. The virtual games make the competition accessible to more students and provide thousands of dollars in new scholarships. The ATG requires students to work in teams or individually—testing their knowledge, creativity, problem solving and technical skills. Deadlines are fast approaching! For more information, visit www.avnettechgames.com. Summer Internships Applications are available for summer 2010 internships through the Research Alliance in Math and Science program. Please note that all fields are required for submission and for cyber security, there is no opportunity to save partially completed applications. Current student resumes should be uploaded as a Word (.doc) file with LAST NAME as the first word in the filename. Apply here. --source: Oak Ridge National Laboratory Engineer Mentors Sought on East Coast The regional Future City Competitions in Washington, DC, and Western NY (particularly Jamestown and Syracuse areas) are still looking for engineer-mentors. Write Bill Knight, Future City Program Manager, at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. For more information, please click here. --source: National Engineers Week Foundation Professor Honored Sue Ion, a visiting professor at Imperial College London and chair of the UK Fusion Advisory Board, was named a dame for her services to science and engineering by the UK's New Year's Honours list. --source: BBC News What is the Most Diverse Company in the U.S.? Can you help us find the most diverse company in the world? Here are the stats on our first candidate: Gender 57/43 Female/Male Racial/Ethnic Identity 14% African American 14% Hispanic 14% Arabic 14% Indian 14% Chinese 28% Caucasian Religion by Birth 14% Muslim 14% Hindu 14% Buddhist 14% Christian 14% Jewish 28% Catholic Countries of Origin Alabama, Brooklyn, China, India, Mexico, Syria, Slovakia, U.S. (OK, OK, most people would say Alabama and Brooklyn aren’t really different countries.) English as a Second Language 60% Click here to find out who it is. Help Us Welcome New Board Members Please help us welcome and congratulate three new outstanding members of MentorNet’s Board of Directors: Mary Fernandez of AT&T, Ginna Raahauge of Cisco, and Sarah Saltzer of Chevron. All three women are distinguished in their fields and in their companies and have already brought growth and fresh perspectives to MentorNet and our mission. We are grateful for their volunteerism and look forward to the benefit of their considerable and distinguished leadership. You can view their profiles here and send messages of welcome to them This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. MentorNet's Spring Campaign In January, we launched our 2010 Spring Outreach Drive in recognition of President Obama's declaration of National Mentoring Month. To read how our drive works, and to learn about our incentives for campuses, click here. Earthquake in Haiti: In Brief • Read Architecture for Humanity's 7-point reconstruction plan for Haiti here. • UW-Madison's chapter of Engineers Without Borders returns from Haiti. Read it here. • The women's movement mourns the deaths of three Haitian leaders. Read it here. • NASA is sending an airborne radar to map Haiti's faults in 3D. Read it here. To donate to Haiti through the American Red Cross, click here. Thanks to January's New and Renewing Partners • American College of Sports Medicine • Association for Women in Science • Land O'Lakes • North Star STEM Alliance • University of New Mexico Recommended Reading Study: Women Scientists Do More Housework than Men When the biologist Carol W. Greider received a call from Stockholm last fall telling her she had won a Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, she wasn't working in her lab at the Johns Hopkins University. The professor of molecular biology and genetics was at home, folding laundry. Read more MentorNet Editor's Note: The above article addresses one of the many topics our mentor/protege pairs are encouraged to discuss in their weekly communications: work/life balance. Mentoring Matters Many discussions of efforts to diversify the faculty ranks include concerns about whether female and minority academics need mentors. Advocates for female and minority professors say that white men are more likely to learn informally from senior (male) colleagues about how to get ahead. Read more 'The Unchosen Me' What challenges do students of color face during their years on campus, and how do these challenges affect their college success—or lack thereof? In her new book, The Unchosen Me: Race, Gender, and Identity Among Black Women in College (Johns Hopkins University Press), Rachelle Winkle-Wagner explores these questions from the students' perspective. Read more 840 W. California Avenue Suite 200 | Sunnyvale, CA 94086 US

MentorNet News – January 2010 Volume 1

Featured Opportunities Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is hosting a series of outreach workshops to provide information about submitting proposals to the National Science Foundation (NSF) Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program. Read More SECuR-IT Program The Summer Experience, Colloquium and Research in Information Technology (SECuR-IT). This is a ten-week residential program with paid internship co-located at Stanford University and San Jose State University. Read More We’ve Moved! In keeping with our own advice to trim the fat, MentorNet has moved to new headquarters. Please note our new address: 840 W California Ave, Suite 200, Sunnyvale CA 94086 Four Reasons to Love the Recession Tough times, great lessons By David Porush, CEO Last night I saw Doug Leone, senior partner at Sequoia Capital and the VC largely responsible for their good bets on Yahoo, Google, and YouTube, address a crowd of MIT students and alums. Among his many great and startling comments was, “I love a good recession.” It got me thinking. Going for top-paying engineering and science majors (see story at right) is surely a good move. But this recession has other lessons beyond hard work and good grades and rational career choices that we should carry with us long after it’s over. If the sparks of recovery grow into a real flame, then especially for those of you who were smart, stayed in school, and weathered the storm, it will be easy to miss some of the valuable, if difficult, takeaways from these times. 1. Define what’s most essential and focus on it: Here at MentorNet we used the occasion to look really hard at the fundamental values of our mission: diversify the engineering and science workforce, help those who need help, build bridges between wisdom and talent, give people a place to express their highest motives of aspiration and generosity. 2. Trim the fat, save your cash: Americans, typically miserable at it, are now saving their money more than ever. Apply this wisdom of the crowd to your careers and businesses. MentorNet reduced staff, moved all our operations to the Cloud, and found new headquarters at half the rent. 3. To meet your material goals, embrace spiritual (or at least non-material) ones. Searching for the meaning of your connection to the world and others magically reduces the number of things you think you need. I promise. 4. Now’s the best time to take risks, especially that biggest risk of all: bet on yourself. When you’re besieged by difficulties, you’re competing against many more qualified desperados like yourself, and you’re scraping along the bottom, remember (a) you have a shorter distance to fall, and (b) nothing will distinguish you more quickly than passion. MentorNet Mentioned in New Book Cases on Online Tutoring, Mentoring, and Educational Services: Practices and Applications by Gary A. Berg, PhD, is now available from IGI Global. Click here to order a copy. College Degrees that Pay the Most in 2010 A recent study shows what most of you already know and have been working so hard to achieve: the college degrees that lead to the best paying jobs are in the engineering and science fields. This chart from Payscale.com shows the top ten degrees by starting and mid-career salaries. If you read the whole study (here) you’ll see 17 of the top 20 majors are in STEM (all but Economics,  Statistics, Finance). Recommended Articles President Obama Proclaims January National Mentoring Month The White House has released President Obama's proclamation stating that January is officially National Mentoring Month in America. Read More Engineering Flexibility By Pamela A. Eibeck Two years ago, my daughter, Katherine, and I appeared on the cover of ASEE Prism magazine. A feature story by the American Society for Engineering Education on two generations of women engineers, perhaps? Not quite. Read More 840 W. California Avenue Suite 200 | Sunnyvale, CA 94086 US

MentorNet News – December 2009 Volume 2

Thanks to This Month's New and Renewing Partners • American Institute of Physics • Michigan Tech University • NOGLSTP • Princeton University • Santa Rosa Junior College • Southern University and A&M, Baton Rouge • Stanford University • University of Illinois • University of Texas at Austin Featured Opportunities Applications for the 2010 Minority Faculty Development Workshop are now being accepted. This year's theme is "Engineering Faculty Success" and the target audience is members of underrepresented groups as defined by NSF. Click here to apply. The NASA Aeronautics Scholarship Program is open to students in Aeronautics and related fields who are enrolled in an accredited U.S. college or university. Undergraduate students will receive up to $15,000 awarded for each school year, and graduate students will receive up to $35,000 awarded for each school year. Click here to apply. The Most Important Mentoring Lesson Alejandra and I just got back from the national conference—15,000 people!—of the American Geophysical Union, our partner. We had the honor of speaking to several groups of students about our mentoring program, and as usual tried to make it as free-wheeling and conversational as possible. When I got to the part where I explain that all our mentors are volunteers, in each session at least one student asked, unabashedly: "Why would they do that?" (or "What's in it for them?") They weren't being crass or cynical; it was an honest query about something that was beyond their ken: why would a busy professional bother to take on this commitment when it's not in their job description? Of course, their question gave me the chance to talk about our thousands of mentors who every year do volunteer for this commitment to a stranger. Through our surveys, we have a very good idea of why they (you) do it, indeed we have literally thousands of testimonies gathered from more than a decade of asking our mentors what they got out of their MentorNet experience: • "It renewed my interest and joy for my job." • "I learn almost as much as I teach each time I mentor." • "It helps keep me grounded. ... I am reminded of what can be important." But the students' questions got me wondering, especially in this season of giving and hope: Is the generosity of mentors something inbred to our species, or something we learn as we grow? It's an age-old question, and surely there's no right or simple answer. I'm content with the explanation that like most human behaviors, altruism is the result of a complex mix of instinct, self-preservation, habit, social reward, roundabout self-interest, spiritual fulfillment, status, obligation... For me, the most distinct motive is the feeling that you get only from an act of generosity: that indefinable but very pure pleasure that lights up when you think your giving might have a positive effect on another. The internal sense of rightness that I hope doesn't become self-righteousness. And then last night, as I was thinking some more about the student reaction, I realized it really highlighted another wonderful thing about MentorNet. Beyond all the explicit guidance and role modeling that a mentor gives a protege, there is also a strong, ever-present and implicit message in the mentor's ongoing behavior: Share. Be generous and selfless. That's part of being a complete professional, too. —By David Porush, CEO Recommended Online Reading Study: Women More Interested in Computer Science While in "Non-Geeky" Room than in "Geeky" Room Surroundings can communicate a sense of belonging or exclusion. New research published in the December Journal of Personality and Social Psychology suggests that the stereotype of computer scientists as unwashed nerds may be partially responsible for the dearth of women in the field. Read More 7 Steps To Building a Quality Mentoring Partnership Statistics prove that finding a mentor can boost productivity, decrease delinquent and addictive behavior, facilitate raises and promotions, increase self-esteem and self-efficacy, improve relationships and quality of life, and lower stress. Read More USGS Turns to Twitter for Earthquake Reports The US Geological Survey (USGS) is tapping into wildly popular microblogging service Twitter to quickly pinpoint where and how brutally earthquakes hit. The US agency that tracks and reports on all earthquakes in this country and major temblors around the world said terse text "tweets" can provide instant assessments of what is felt when the ground shudders. Read More Donate to MentorNet 1275 S. Winchester Blvd Suite E | San Jose, CA 95128-3910 US

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MentorNet News – December 2009 Volume 1

Woman Missing Amelia Earhart and MentorNet's mission By David Porush, CEO This year's movie "Amelia" (starring Hilary Swank) reminded me that when Amelia Earhart went missing on her legendary attempt to fly around the world (in 1937), we lost a great hero and also gained a tragic allegory. Many don't know this because her legend as an aviator crowds out much of her other amazing achievements, but in addition to her courage and innovation as a pilot, Amelia Earhart was a powerful advocate for women's rights and increased role in education. Earhart was a visiting professor in the department of aviation at Purdue in 1935. She was brought there explicitly to serve as a mentor and exemplar, encouraging women to pursue careers in science and engineering. While at Purdue, she also helped design the Lockheed L-10E Electra which she would eventually try to fly around the globe. She was also an entrepreneur - she launched the first air shuttle service- and a successful executive (of National Airways) in addition to many other leadership roles... Read the rest of this story here WEPAN Engineering Poster Contest Winners Selected! Message from WEPAN -- Our 5th Annual poster contest concluded on November 12 and the posters were the best we've ever seen! Each year, the competition gets better. This year we had 201 entries from students all over the United States. The theme this year was "Engineers of America" and the designs submitted were thoughtful, smart and dynamic. It was very apparent that students have a deeper understanding of engineering careers. Not only did they show us that they understood engineering but also that the image of the engineer has vastly improved. All of the posters are motivational and could easily inspire many students to put more effort into exploring STEM careers. First Place winners Susanna Bunt_Harlan, Southwest Tennessee Community College, and Shelby First, Portage Lakes Career Center, are shown above. See all the winners here. Featured Opportunities Travel Grants The 16th IEEE International Symposium on High-Performance Computer Architecture High Performance Computer Architecture (HPCA) will provide limited travel grants to full-time students. These grants are intended to partially cover the expense to participate in the conference. Grant amounts will be based on the available budget, number of applications, and details of the applications. Students from underrepresented groups in computer science are especially encouraged to apply. More information Featured Fellowship The Space Telescope Science Institute is pleased to invite applications for a 1 year postdoctoral fellowship, with possible extension for up to three years, to work on radio galaxies at low and high redshifts. Deadline: December 31, 2009. More information Featured Internship Significant Opportunities in Atmospheric Research and Science (SOARS) at University of Colorado - Boulder Research internship for students interested in the atmospheric and related sciences. Summer research in a diverse group of peers, mentoring, community support, tuition support. Deadline: 2/1/10. More information Have a Question or Suggestion? We welcome your feedback. Subscribe to receive MentorNet News through email 1275 S. Winchester Blvd Suite E | San Jose, CA 95128-3910 US