The BCIT Women in Engineering (WiE) student club hosted its third annual Spend a Day event at the Burnaby Campus on May 1. Women and gender-diverse high school students from across Metro Vancouver attended this event that aims to encourage more youth to explore careers in engineering.
According to Engineers Canada, despite the gains in enrollment and graduation of women in engineering programs over the past decade, about 19 percent of engineering practitioners identify as women.
The BCIT Women in Engineering (Wie) Club is a student-run club that seeks to close that gap while celebrating diversity, gender equity and inclusion in engineering.
WiE Club President Minh Tran organized this year’s initiative with the support of Marita Luk, the marketing team from the BCIT School of Construction and the Environment, and BCIT High School Partnership Manager Carol Martina.
A day of meet-and-greet with BCIT Engineering faculty
Phyllis Chong, Civil Engineering faculty, is one of many Engineering faculty members who met and talked with students. She says they were eager to learn more about what a career in Engineering and Technology looks like.
“This event provides students with the opportunity to connect with BCIT instructors and students who bring real-world experience, while also learning about BCIT’s engineering programs and how they can support their path toward a career in the field.”
After lunch, students visited the Civil Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Architectural Building Technology, Environmental Engineering, and Chemical and Environmental Technology labs and classrooms. During these visits, high school students asked BCIT students about their projects and learned more about the labs’ equipment, including robots and 3D printers.
The event concluded with messages of empowerment and an invitation to explore the world of engineering and science.
Learn more about engineering programs available at BCIT.
