'See themselves in engineering': Organization encouraging young girls to go into STEM

Wise Kidnetic Energy hosted “Go ENG Girl” on Saturday – a hands-on mentorship program held at universities across Canada. (Source: Alexandra Holyk, CTV News)

An organization at the University of Manitoba is making a push to get young girls interested in pursuing careers in STEM fields, or science, technology, engineering and math.

“It's important to expose girls to give them opportunities to see themselves in engineering,” says Wise Kidnetic Energy’s Rebecca Chin.

Wise Kidnetic Energy hosted “Go ENG Girl” on Saturday – a hands-on mentorship program held at universities across Canada. The event pairs women engineering students with young girls and non-binary kids in a design challenge.

“I think it's really good for introducing girls to engineering in a fun environment where they feel safe and they're able to explore and experiment,” says Yasmeen Shalaby, a staff member and Go ENG Girl alum.

According to Engineers Canada, in 2022 nearly 48 thousand of its members identified as women, making up almost 15 percent of the organization’s national membership.

Chin says a similar program to Go ENG Girl encouraged her to pursue a career in engineering, and she hopes it will inspire others to do the same.

“To see that there are young people, young women who are studying these fields and helping them in their design project, giving the girls in grades 7 to 9 the opportunity to see themselves in it.”

First-time participant Jia Li, a Grade 6 student, says she’s interested in engineering, but isn’t sure if it’s something she plans on pursuing as a career.

“My favorite part is the part when we have to design,” she says. “Because I get to think, and also I get to move around and use my hands.”

The Go ENG Girl program also aims to have young students foster meaningful connections.

“There’s the back-engineering technical side of things, but also that team building and seeing how to work towards a solution,” Chin says.

Wise Kidnetic Energy offers similar workshops to students in communities across Manitoba, such as a Go CODE Girl program that promotes coding education for young girls.

By offering these programs, Wise Kidnetic Energy says it hopes young people in underrepresented communities will consider careers in similar male-dominated fields. However, the organization says its first step is laying the ground work.