More than 40 high school girls gave up part of their weekend in exchange for circuit boards and problem-solving challenges at Concordia University. Women in Engineering (WIE), a student association, hosted its annual event, bringing together girls aged 12 to 17 for hands-on workshops. The goal is to spark interest in STEM, especially engineering. Despite STEM being predominantly a male-dominated field, 17-year-old student Sarah-Jane Bonnefond says she is not intimidated to pursue a career in that field. “It gives me more the courage to prove them wrong and show them that it’s not just for men,” said Bonnefond. Another student, 16-year-old Joury Younes, agrees. She adds, “I don’t really know what I want to do yet, but engineering is definitely something that I wanted to look into.” Elisa Moscato, the vice-president of the WIE conference, says she has first-hand experience when it comes to the realities of the gender gap. “I’m in mechanical engineering and depending on the classes, sometimes we’re like five girls out of a class of 100 students.” Most of the workshops are run by students at Concordia University. “Because they’re younger, they can definitely relate to us more,” says 15-year-old Isabella Spagnuolo. “They’re going through the program so they can definitely explain how it is.” For Spagnuolo, who wants to become an aerospace engineer, the message is simple. “If you believe you can do it and if you have the talent to do it, then go for it.”
