RT Journal Article ID 52366e53308b1a98 A1 Kleinman, Sharon Sue T1 WOMEN IN SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING BUILDING COMMUNITY ONLINE JF Journal of Women and Minorities in Science and Engineering JO JWM YR 2003 FD 2003-05-19 VO 9 IS 1 OP 16 AB This article explores the constructs of online community and online social support and discusses a naturalistic case study of a public, unmoderated, online discussion group dedicated to issues of interest to women in science and engineering. The benefits of affiliation with OURNET (a pseudonym) were explored through participant observation over a 4-year period, telephone interviews with 21 subscribers, and content analysis of e-mail messages posted to the discussion group during a 125-day period. The case study findings indicated that through affiliation with the online discussion group, women in traditionally male-dominated fields expanded their professional networks, increased their knowledge, constituted and validated positive social identities, bolstered their self-confidence, obtained social support and information from people with a wide range of experiences and areas of expertise, and, most significantly, found community. PB Begell House LK https://www.dl.begellhouse.com/journals/00551c876cc2f027,588fd13a4ac98f5d,52366e53308b1a98.html