"At the college level, I think they are doing a lot--certainly more than they did when I was a student," she says.

Targeting your Audience

But these programs only target undergraduate students.

Past research has shown that the middle school years are crucial in attracting women into the sciences, and Arnott says that there is a special need for women to enter science beyond college.

"We've recognized that there is a need for more services at later stages," she says. "We're working with WISHR to identify these needs. For example, this year WISHR started a network with graduate students."

The Graduate Student Advisory Network, the most recent addition to WISHR, pairs club members with female graduate students, said WISHR Co-President Caroline L. Kung '00.

Dr. Camara Jones, assistant professor of health and social behavior and epidemiology at the School of Public Health, says such programs are important. However, she says the best encouragement begins at home.

"It begins in the home at all ages," she says. "People should buy their girls the same blocks and legos that they buy their boys."

The Value of Mentorship

Female science students at Harvard say that older mentors are one of their most valuable resources.

"Sometimes [science classes] are kind of intimidating," says WISHR Co-President Patricia S. Cho '99. "What helped me most was knowing [the] upperclass females and graduate students."

Although more mentoring programs are becoming available to women in the sciences, Kung, a psychology concentrator, says that more students must be made aware of them.

"I think many undergraduates would feel more secure and confident about approaching research and [about] exploring careers in psychology if there was more readily-accessible information and support from the psychology faculty, particularly women," Kung says. "I have heard this complaint from many women in science."

A Lack of Women Professors

Another complaint students express is the lack of tenured female science professors.