Bryn Mawr offers a supportive environment, a sense of community, and a shared desire for success not found at coeducational colleges. For women who are less sure that they want to be scientists, women's colleges are definitely more nurturing. We have a group focus on bioinorganic chemistry overall, but I try to give everyone an individual project. I sometimes put graduate and undergraduate students together on the same project, which is especially good for the undergraduates. The more people power you can put on a project the faster it goes.
Undergraduates students are very rewarding to have as co-researchers, but there is a downside.
Because there's a lack of continuity, it's hard to complete a project in a year. Even though Bryn Mawr students are very good, it's hard for them to pick up immediately where someone else left off. On the other hand, having to go back may force us to redo something and do it better. The hardest aspect is getting the results written. Without the pressure to publish, I would be perfectly happy to go back and look again and again.