Although a generation of young women has been raised to believe they can have any career they want, female engineers are still rare in our society.
Samantha Espley has been a mining engineer at Inco for 15 years. She says there are only 10 women working as mining engineers at Inco's mining operations in Greater Sudbury, and that's among an employee population of 4,000.
About five percent of licensed engineers are female and 20
percent of students enrolled in university engineering programs
in Canada are female.
Espley hopes to encourage around 100 girls between Grades 7 to
10 to become engineers at the Go Eng Girl! event at Laurentian
University's Great Hall Saturday, Oct. 14, between 9 am and
3 pm.
Female professional engineers and engineering students will be
on hand to guide the students through interactive engineering
activities. Students will learn how to make toothpaste, bath
salts and earthquake-proof structures.
"Young women should get involved in engineering because
it's a fantastic career opportunity. It's an
opportunity to use intellect as well as emotional creativity. I
think women have a lot to contribute," she says.
"I'm glad this initiative is underway because it helps our
society and it helps these girls. It's fantastic."
The free event is being held simultaneously at every
engineering school across the province.
A parent or guardian must accompany participating students.
There will be special seminars for parents about university
prerequisites, scholarships and life as an engineer. Local
companies employing female engineers will be on hand to
participate in a mini trade show.
Espley will speak to both students and parents about her
experiences at the beginning of the event, which is
co-ordinated by Ontario Women in Engineering with the support
of the Council of Ontario Deans of Engineering and the Ontario
Society of Professional Engineers.
The event is designed to "shake up interest" among young girls
in engineering, says Lionel Rudd, an engineering technologist
at Laurentian University.
"Having women engineers adds a greater dimension to the world
we live in. If you've got one gender that does all the
design and engineering work for our society, it becomes very
one-sided," he says.
"If you think about how your car is designed, it was designed
by a man to fit a man. When you have males only, you obviously
have a male-only bias. You find that the height of doorknobs
and all kinds of obscure things are a product of a man sitting
down and saying 'That seems like a good idea, and we'll
go with it'."
There's also going to be a shortage of skilled tradespeople
like engineers in the next five years, and more women are
needed to fill the void, says Rudd. The annual median salary
for engineers in Ontario is $75,000.
To register for the program, go to www.ospe.on.ca/goenggirl.
Students can also just show up at the event and register there.
For more information, phone Rudd at 675-1151, ext. 2256.
