Under the Graduate Experience Project, several programmatic interventions will be established. For example, graduate school recruitment publications emphasizing the UM's commitment to the recruitment and retention of women will be developed. Presentations will be made to each department, sensitizing faculty members to the issues of "women-friendly" recruitment techniques. Additionally, annual orientation events will be developed for incoming graduate students in engineering and the physical sciences, providing logistical information as well as introductions to selected andministrators, staff and faculty.

Programmatic interventions developed by the Graduate Experience Project staff will also focus on peer advisor systems where upper level women graduate students will serve as peer advisors to incoming women graduate students. We believe the attrition rates of women in science and engineering may be reduced through peer advising as both mentors and mentees gain valuable experience and support in this relationship. Additionally, a variety of group mentoring seminars, conducted with both women graduate students and faculty, will be offered throughout the students' graduate education. These seminars will address topics such as: how to find and develop a mentor-mentee relationship with faculty; how to combine personal and professional lives; how to handle harassment and "chilly climates;" the dissertation process; grant writing; and how to find academic and non-academic jobs after graduation.


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