Promoting Women’s Participation: Leadership, Excitement, and New Traditions

The motivation for this handbook is that women in science and engineering, while very important (chapter 20), are persistently in the minority in many areas. Most sections in the book are aimed at assisting women already in science and engineering. This section is for people who want to take action toward a better gender balance. It presents a high-level strategy within which programs, projects, and everyday actions can be directed toward positive change. This section is adapted from the vision statement of the 1997-2002 NSERC/Petro-Canada Chair forWomen in Science and Engineering, Atlantic Region in Canada (Williams and Emerson 1998).