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National Institute for Women in Trades, Technology & Science - Canada
Source: National Institute for Women in Trades, Technology & Science
The National Institute for Women in Trades, Technology & Science, IWITTS, provides the tools to successfully integrate women into male-dominated careers -- such as technology and law enforcement -- via our training, publications, products, e-strategies, and technical assistance. We work nationally and our audience includes educational institutions, police departments, employers, and women and girls themselves. Careers range from automotive technician to pilot, computer networking technician, telecommunications engineer, electrician and police officer, to name just a few.
To accomplish its mission, National IWITTS uses the following strategies to assist its clients and partners:
IWITTS's major projects to date are:
WomenTech Project – The WomenTech Project was a three-year effort funded by the National Science Foundation in which IWITTS worked collaboratively with three community college demonstration sites - the Community College of Rhode Island, North Harris Community College District in Houston, Texas, and the College of Alameda in Alameda, California - to help them increase the number of females enrolled and retained in technology programs. The Principal Investigator was Donna Milgram, Executive Director and Founder of IWITTS. Project strategies included an institutional assessment and recommendations by IWITTS and facilitation of a community college WomenTech Leadership Team, which provided leadership and implemented strategies in the areas of recruitment, retention, employer involvement and institutionalization of the project.To disseminate our work, we developed a WomenTech Project Best Practices CD and presented at a number of national and state conferences, including the League for Innovation in the Community College and the League's National Information Technology conference, the California Educating for Careers Conference, and the Association for Gender Equity in Leadership Education. Our most successful site was the Community College of Rhode Island, which doubled the number of women in its technology programs. The WomenTech Project at the Community College of Rhode Island won a best practice award from the American Association for Women in Community Colleges in March, 2003.
WomenTechWorld.Org – IWITTS worked on a national level to develop an online community for women technicians to connect with each other. The Web site features include over 50 pages of content and biographies of women role models in a range of technology occupations. The site also has several interactive areas designed to facilitate peer support among women in technology, including an online e-mail discussion group, message board, e-Mentoring, e-Job center, and career links. Womentechworld.org was a part of the WomenTech Project, funded by the National Science Foundation.WomenTechWorld e-Store – The e-Store is a central clearinghouse for products related to women in technology, trade, and law enforcement occupations. We facilitate the distribution of gender equity publications developed by academics and experts who have no means of reaching their intended market. We also provide vendors who develop products specifically designed for women and girls with a direct channel to this market based on our many years of experience working with this audience.
WomenTech Train-the-Trainer Workshops – IWITTS conducts fast-paced and interactive two-day national workshops and one-day state, regional and local workshops and online training on recruiting and retaining women and girls in the technology classroom and related careers.
Cisco Learning Institute Gender Initiative – IWITTS led a partnership with Cisco to increase the number of females in Cisco Networking Academy Programs. We developed the majority of the content of the domestic best practice portion of the Cisco Learning Institute Gender Initiative Web site. We also led online focus groups with Academy instructors, prepared case study profiles of 11 best practice sites, prepared profiles of 12 female role models, as well as presenting at three Cisco conferences.Recruiting Women to Policing Workshops – Donna Milgram, Executive Director of IWITTS, conducts national workshops for police departments on successful strategies for recruiting and retaining women in law enforcement careers. Based on best practices from small, medium and large-sized agencies, this fast-paced training offers tried and true solutions.
School-To-Work: Women in Science, Engineering & Math (SEM) Teacher Training Video – In a joint effort with the North Carolina School-to-Work Office and the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, and funded by the National Science Foundation, IWITTS produced an interactive teacher training video and has since conducted hundreds of national and statewide train-the-trainer workshops and trained thousands of educators on recruiting and retaining women and girls in the technology occupations on a fee-for-service basis.
National Institute of Justice Project – The Law Enforcement Environmental Assessment Tools (LEEAT), which enable police departments to self-monitor workplace issues, were five years in the making. The current version of the LEEAT Tools were field-tested in the Albuquerque and Durham, North Carolina Police Departments with partial funding from the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) under the "Women in Policing: Assessing the Work Environment" grant. Donna Milgram was the Principal Investigator for the NIJ Project and is the author of the LEEAT Tools. The first generation of LEEAT Tools was field-tested in the Tucson and Albuquerque Police Departments in 1995-96 with a grant from the US Department of Labor.
The Law Enforcement Environmental Assessment Tool questions are based on an extensive review of the literature on women and policing and secondarily women in the military and sexual harassment. The LEEAT Tools were reviewed by Police Chiefs and Command Staff in the field test sites and from other departments.
Law Enforcement Environmental Assessment Tools (LEEAT) – This comprehensive set of tools enables law enforcement agencies to conduct a self-assessment and develop a strategic plan for recruitment of women, preventing sexual harassment and ensuring fair promotion. The LEEAT eliminates the trial and error method of recruitment and retention of women officers and will save Chiefs time and money. An important resource for all departments and the first of its kind, IWITTS developed these tools under a grant from the National Institute of Justice (NIJ).
New Workplace for Women Project – The New Workplace for Women Project (October 1995-March 1997) provided intensive customized technical assistance to eight employers and unions on the recruitment, training and retention of women in traditionally male-dominated jobs, with an emphasis on Latinas. IWITTS collaborated with the National Council of La Raza (NCLR) and two NCLR affiliates – Chicanos Por La Causa in Tucson, Arizona and Youth Development, Inc., in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Funding for the 18-month demonstration project was provided through the United States Department of Labor, Women's Bureau, and the Bureau of Apprenticeship and Training.
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