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FEBRUARY 18, 2019 NEWSLETTER
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Society for Canadian Women in Science & Technology
EMPOWER. INCLUDE. INSPIRE. CONNECT. SUSTAIN.
Our Communications Team is expanding across Canada!
Join us!

Interested in connecting with STEM women role models and writing about them? Are you an avid photographer? Do you enjoy attending events? Do you have other ideas to make SCWIST relevant to your career? We'd love to hear from you! Send us an email.
Feature: Why Diversity is Crucial to Success in STEM
by Christine Wiedemann
SCWIST President, 2016-18

Diversity has become a buzz word; there are diversity councils, diversity festivals and job titles that have the word diversity in them. Everyone is talking about diversity, but does it really matter – or is it just hype? Does diversity matter when we talk about STEM? 

The truth is that not only does diversity matter, without it, STEM would quickly stagnate.

When we talk about diversity, we typically talk about diversity of gender, ethnicity, age, sexual orientation, nationality etc., but we must not forget to also include neurodiversity. We not only look and act differently, we also think differently. Furthermore, it is important to understand that everyone is a conglomerate of identities, and that we cannot address a lack of diversity by viewing people as “building blocks” that individually add one dimension, or unit, of diversity.

Rather than focusing on specific attributes, building a diverse team starts with providing an inclusive environment. Inclusion allows us to bring together different people with different strengths and different weaknesses; people that complement each other and make a stronger team. We need diversity; diversity drives innovation, and diversity is key to our growth as individuals and as organizations. STEM is no exception. Read more. 

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WinSETT  Leadership Workshop Series 
Invest in yourself!

Built upon the experiences of Canadian women and proven across the country, the WinSETT Centre's Leadership Program is the only Canadian program focused exclusively on women in SETT. There are funding opportunities available through many provincial programs, and the WinSETT Centre's Leadership Program qualifies.

Throughly develop your leadership potential with six full-day workshops (9:00am - 4:00pm) over three months in two day pairings on the following topics: leadership, communication, emotional intelligence, negotiating, navigating politics, and developing networks, mentors and sponsors. Starts April 10th in Vancouver. Register here.

SCWIST-ICTC Consultation Workshop on STEM/Trades Employment
by Marcia MacDonald
SCWIST Make Possible Director, 2015-present


On January 22 and 23 2019, SCWIST collaborated with the Information and Communications Technology Council (ICTC) to host four consultation sessions at the SFU Morris J. Wosk Centre for Dialogue. ICTC’s Women in IT (WIT) Connect Initiative is aimed at deepening our knowledge of systemic organizational challenges to women’s economic security in STEM (including ICT and trades) and the challenges that affect entry, growth and retention of women in the sector. The goal of this initiative is to consult with women, employers and stakeholders to gather their input and experience, which will be used to develop and implement an action plan with partners across Canada.
 

Many thanks to all the participants who came out to share what has worked, what hasn’t worked and where gaps still persist. 


ICTC’s Women in Technology Initiative – National Survey
 
ICTC is launching a survey as part of our Women in Technology Initiatives! We want to hear from you and invite you to participate in this survey. We would like your input on this important initiative aimed at increasing the attraction and retention of women in the tech/digital sector.We are looking for insight at an individual level and at an employer level to better inform policies and decisions that benefit women’s participation in the Canadian digital-based economy. Your participation will help us create a more robust evaluation framework to measure impact and further define the conditions and actions for success for women’s economic security and prosperity.
 
Please help us get the word out and share this survey with your network!
 

If you are a woman who is working or has worked in a tech/digital occupation in Canada please click the following link to fill out a short survey.
 
If you are an employer in Canada who hires or manages tech/digital workers, please click the following link to fill out a short survey

SCWIST @ Women in Tech Regatta

For the second year, SCWIST was a proud community partner and member of the organizing committee of the Women in Tech Regatta. 

Danniele Livengood, Director for Events was captain and moderated the very well-attended "Embracing your Inner Wonder Woman" roundtable where wonder women of Tech shared their authentic stories about navigating their careers and stepping up to new opportunities towards being a "wonder woman who has it all". Speakers included: Ashwinder Bhatti (Software Engineer, Microsoft), Ashley Chen (Product Owner, SAP), Cole Brown (Lead Frond-end Developer, Take Flight), and Kelsey Dixon (Co-founder + President, davies+dixon). 

"Your Inner Wonder Woman"
Integrating Career & Parenthood

Khristine Carino, Director for Communications, was co-captain and speaker at the Parenthood session. She advocated for Returnships for mothers transitioning to careers after extended parental leave, and emphasized the need for child minding options at professional development events to increase mothers' participation. Others on the panel were: Adrian Crook (5Kids1Condo Dad, Managing Director- Adrian Crook & Associates), Kavitha Sant (CTO, Agility Forex), John Brennan (Development Manager, Clio) and Erika Finlay (Communications & Engagement Manager, Unbounce) joined by Paige Meekison (Director of Engineering, Unbounce). 

Diversity by Design

Khristine was also captain for the Diversity by Design workshop where participants explored experiences of immigrants, newcomers and people of cultural backgrounds navigating the rapid currents of the tech industry and co-created a set of diversity hiring & retention practices for organizations. Facilitators included: Hanif Ladha (Manager, Employer Relationa, IEC-BC), Humaira Ahmed (Founder & CEO, Locelle Digital Inc.), Manpreet Dhillon (CEO/Founder, Veza), and Gwen Pawlikowski (Content Creator & Strategist, Highlight Communication). 

Did you attend this year's Women in Tech Regatta un-conference? We'd love to hear your stories and see your photos! Contact us. 


YOUTH OUTREACH
Beyond STEM: STEMinar
 
On January 19, Burnaby Central Secondary School was humming with activity as high school students from across the Lower Mainland flocked together to participate in the annual STEMinar Conference. Sponsored by SCWIST’s Youth Engagement Committee through their Quantum Leaps grant, the event was organized by Burnaby Centrals Beyond STEM club, a youth-led organization dedicated to helping Lower Mainland students discover and pursue their passions in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Read more. Ashley van der Pouw Kraan
SWEET: Faculty Faceoff
(
Science World Extravagant Evening for Teens)

 Payten Smith
 

On February 15, two of our SCWIST members in collaboration with Atousa Hajshirmohammadi from SFU Engineering had the pleasure of presenting at the STEM event SWEET: Faculty Faceoff. With around 400 student attendees the event was a huge success! With 24 amazing guest exhibitors, we were lucky enough to present and learn on various topics of science! Although the event was 3 hours, there were no spare moments in which our table didn’t draw a crowd! Speaking with students ranging from grades 3 up to grade 12, we had the pleasure of discussing the fantastic E-Mentoring program and scholarship opportunities offered within SCWIST and MsInfinity. In addition, our table held a double attraction as students were mystified learning about magnetic fields and Lenz Law! If you would like to come visit our SCWIST table, we would love to see you at the Girl Guide Career Fair being held on Saturday, March 9 from 1:00-5:30  at the 
SFU Segal Building - Beedie School of Business, 500 Granville St, Vancouver. 


SCWIST MAKE POSSIBLE

Make INCLUSION everyone’s responsibility by integrating it into your organization from top to bottom:

 
  • Hold leaders accountable and align leadership on shared goals:  H o w ?  Tie components of leadership compensation to internal diversity and inclusion goals.
  • Help every employee prioritize inclusion:  H o w ?   Integrate inclusion into the performance review process for every employee.
  • Build accountability through ownership:  H o w ?
    • Encourage employees to become engaged advocates for themselves and each other
    • Provide tools like a shared core priority to track their journey
    • Ensure everyone has a stake in owning the culture in the organization


"There is no question that greater diversity and inclusion is a business imperative, and while programs and policies are important for the foundation, it's the people in an organization who bring the commitment to life.  Embedding it into our employee lifecycle — rewards, recognition, performance, career velocity, succession, development — is incredibly important work. It only takes a series of small acts fueled by awareness, curiosity, and courage, to light the fire needed to both acknowledge the past and generate momentum for the future."

Article on Microsoft’s Commitment to INCLUSION

MEMBERSHIP

SCWIST’s membership rate has dropped for the remainder of the fiscal year! (memberships reset on May 1, 2019)

 

Membership gets you reduced rates into all SCWIST events including $10 off the ticket-price to our pub night events, Wonder Women Networking Events, FREE entry to our AGM in June and more!  

Sign up now!
BE THERE!

When: March 6, 2019 (5:15-9:00 pm)
Where: Science World
Registration: https://scwist-wwne.eventbrite.ca/
Volunteer sign-up: https://goo.gl/forms/RlR5xWHoFseNE07O2

JOB BOARD
PIPSC Research Officer – Women and Science (1 Year Term)
Competition 19/01
Internal and External

The Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada, a national union representing some 61,000 professionals and scientists throughout Canada, requires a Research Officer for a one-year term at its National Office in Ottawa.
The Research Officer’s work will focus on the areas of women and science and science policy.  The Research Officer will: be part of a team of communications, mobilization and research staff; coordinate PIPSCs work on women and science; contribute to research related to government science policy and will work with members to advance projects and objectives related to women and science and government science policy more broadly.
For more information go to our Job Board.

Faculty Appointment in Translational Pathology/Molecular Medicine
Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada


The Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine at Queen’s University invites applications from internationally recognized scientists whose research is congruent with the objective of building an outstanding program in innovative translational research linking diagnostic pathology and clinical management.  The successful applicant will be eligible for a tenured appointment at the rank of Associate Professor or Professor and is expected to participate in education and supervision/mentoring of trainees at all levels.  Salary will be commensurate with qualifications and experience.  The preferred start date for this position is September 1, 2019. For more information go to our Job Board.


SCWIST NEWSLETTER EDITORS
Olga Zamudio Prieto, PhD
Khristine Carino, DMD, PhD

Accepting article, photo and event submissions.
Deadline: 12th and 25th of the month. 
Email: director-communications@scwist.ca
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