AEF CAMPAIGN CONNECTION
CIRCUIT TRAINING Students learn about electrical engineering by creating a simple circuit and drawing a circuit diagram. -photo courtesy Girls Inc.
these memorable experiences into consideration as they begin to plan their further education and careers. That they can picture themselves in STEM fields once they’ve had a chance to interact with female role models who are like an older version of themselves.” Even though more women are choosing STEM careers all the time, significant gaps remain. At the post-secondary level in Canada, about 20 to 30 per cent of engineering students are female, depending on the school. That number increases to about 45 per cent for geoscience. In the workplace, the number drops even further. Yet only about 14 per cent of APEGA’s Professional Members are women. By offering a supportive environment, Operation SMART aims to remove obstacles that might keep girls from discovering STEM opportunities before they even know or understand what they’re all about.
GETTING PAST THE YUCK FACTOR
One of those obstacles? The yuck factor. “Girls get to a certain age and think they aren’t supposed to get dirty or messy. It’s a message that they get — girls have to be neat,” says Girl’s Inc. Executive Director Ann Dort MacLean. At Operation SMART, though, that stereotype is checked at the door. Whether they’re building electronic flip-flops that light up when you walk, making slime, or cleaning up broken eggs that didn’t survive the egg drop, girls are encouraged to dive right in. “We want them to connect with the fun part of it and not worry about the yuck part of it,” says Ms. Dort MacLean. Another strategy of Operation SMART: Let participants make big, interesting mistakes. Rather than protecting them from failure, Operation SMART encourages students to solve problems on their own — ask questions, assess risks, and take chances “Some of the best inventions happened because of mistakes, especially in science,” explains Ms. Dort MacLean. “It’s important for kids to know that it’s OK to make mistakes, as long as you learn from them. You don’t have to be perfect. You just have to analyze and figure it out. Because that’s what engineering is all about: iden- tifying and solving problems.” Although it does include individual learning activities, a big part of Operation SMART is team building. Group projects help encour- age collaboration and cooperation. Teams may compete against each other in challenges, but they work together afterwards to analyze their projects and propose solutions. “There’s a lot of dialogue and conversations, so the girls really feel like it’s their program,” says Ms. Dort MacLean. It’s all about reconnecting girls with science. “Up until about age 12, girls are as interested in science, and as good in science, as boys are. When they hit 12, the message that
16 | PEG WINTER 2015
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