Women's representation and persistence in STEM undergraduate studies

Katherine Wall at Statistics Canada conducted a study on women's representation and persistence in STEM undergraduate studies.  It is interesting to note that although women make up approximately 44% of the overall STEM undergraduate student body, only 19% of engineering and engineering technology students are female.  Additionally, the author notes that women's underrepresentation in STEM is mostly related to the majors chosen by men and women upon initial enrolment into undergraduate studies, and their subsequent career paths, rather than as a result of switching majors once enrolled in post-secondary studies.  Although further study is required, this would imply that the difference in engineering representation between genders begins much earlier than perhaps anticipated, highlighting an important reason why PEO Lambton Chapter continues to offer and support many education outreach activities for students at various levels of schooling.

The Statistics Canada report can be found in full here: https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/75-006-x/2019001/article/00006-eng.htm

Women in Engineering - How engineers of the Montreal Massacre generation are changing the world

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On Dec 6, 1989, the tragic Montreal Massacre took place at École Polytechnique. We remember the obstacles women in engineering faced and, in some respects, continue to face in this field. Despite this, many women engineers continue to make an impact in our everyday lives. Here is an article from CBC outlining just some of those achievements.

Donna Strickland first woman to win Nobel Prize in Physics since 1963

Donna Strickland first woman to win Nobel Prize in Physics since 1963

It’s not news that women in STEM fields are often underrepresented.  Comprising about half of the human population, women make up a significantly smaller portion of fields such as math, science, and engineering.  This doesn’t mean that they cannot make a big impact in their field of expertise.  Take Donna Strickland, for example, an associate professor at the University of Waterloo, who has recently won the Nobel Prize in Physics for her work as a PhD student on laser physics.  

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Go ENG Girl 2017

2017 was the first year the Lambton chapter of the PEO was able to team up with Western University to bring Go ENG Girl to Sarnia. The event hosted 47 girls in grades 7 through 10 at Great Lakes Secondary School to learn about the wonderful world of engineering: "A Caring Profession." 

The chapter would like to thank Western University for all of their help facilitating this event and bringing it to one of the few non-university cities.

We would also like to thank all of the volunteers that made it possible.