Offer special encouragement to these students. Engage women in informal discussions of career plans, and encourage women to consider graduate study. Recruit women as research and teaching assistants. Inform women of enrichment opportunities, such as internships, workshops, and professional conferences. Attend faculty-student events and meetings of your department s student society to keep informed of student issues.
Faculty can take positive action to counter negative peer interactions.
Praise women's individual academic accomplishments to counter negative reactions from peers. Attempt to create a cooperative instead of a competitive learning environment by encouraging students to work in groups. When creating cooperative learning groups, attempt to place more than one woman in a group. Monitor cooperative learning groups for gender-related conflicts. Challenge sexist attitudes and comments.