MentorNet: Large Scale e-Mentoring for Women in Science, Engineering, and Technology (SET) Fields

摘要

MentorNet (www.MentorNet.net), the E-Mentoring Network for Women in Engineering and Science, is a nonprofit organization which has created and implemented the organizational, educational, and technical infrastructures for a large-scale program to link women studying engineering and related sciences and professionals working in industry or government for structured, supported online mentoring relationships, and related networking and other learning opportunities. Using the user-friendly interfaces of the Web and email, MentorNet has also created back-end systems to create a dynamic database, internal and external relationship management system, and a customized bi-directional matching algorithm to create optimal mentoring matches between students and professionals in the database. In 2001- 02, nearly 3,200 students from more than 100 colleges and universities were matched with professionals from more than 800 employers; in addition to institutions of higher education, corporations, professional societies, and government sites provide MentorNet's programs with financial support and outreach to participants. MentorNet is beginning to expand outside the U.S.