Girls and STEAM Symposium at Science World

Now in its fourth year, the Girls and STEAM symposium at Science World is a virtual day packed with workshops, hands-on activities, panel discussions, and an interactive mentorship component.

Girls and STEAM Symposium at Science World

On Saturday, November 6, 2021, Science World will livestream Girls and STEAM for free, with the aim of preparing British Columbia’s youth for the STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art + Design, Math) heavy job landscape of the future. The event will be opened by keynote speaker and popular science communicator, Dr. Samantha Yammine and runs from 9:00am to 12:00pm.

Girls and STEAM gives girls dreaming of future careers in STEAM a space to learn about a variety of scientific topics and careers from experts and mentors. Last year’s digital event saw 2,500 attendees from across the country participate. 

With Canada facing a major gap in gender diversity in STEM careers, Girls and STEAM endeavours to inspire, engage and empower girls to pursue research-focused and technical careers by connecting them with female professionals and learning opportunities to help address the major gap in gender diversity that Canada is facing in these fields.

“The gender gap in STEM fields continues to be an issue with only a quarter of jobs today held by women,” said Tracy Redies, President and CEO of Science World. 

“Women are less likely to choose a career in STEM than other fields and we believe in the importance of connecting girls to mentors at an early age to transform this. This is our hallmark annual Girls & STEAM event, we added an ‘A’ to include arts & design, and we also now host monthly mentorship events meant to nurture a love for STEAM-related careers on an ongoing basis. Diversity in these fields is essential to ensuring that all voices and ideas are brought to the table and equally respected. It’s imperative that we start this process today.” 

Schedule for Girls and STEAM

• 9:00am: Opening Keynote with Science Sam, followed by interactive Q&A. 
• 10:00am: Interactive workshop exploring how disease researchers track outbreaks. Participants will participate in predictions and surveys during the workshop and learn about free online tools they can use to explore other genetic activities after the event.
• 10:30am: Interactive mentor panels where participants can ask questions of mentors in a wide range of STEAM career fields. 
• 11:00am: Participants can explore virtual booths from the online industry showcase. Discover amazing careers that are available with some of BC’s top science and technology organizations through videos, images, and links to more information about each group. 
• 11:30am: Second interactive mentor panel session with new mentors and careers.
• 12:00pm: Closing remarks.

Throughout the online event there will also be spectacular science demonstrations and fun try-at-home activities from Science World. All mentor sessions will be available to stream after the event on Science World’s YouTube channel.

There will also be a 20-minute workshop hosted by Genome BC in which participants will have the chance to solve a fictional viral outbreak with real-world online tools that scientists use to compare DNA sequences and explore how viruses can spread through a community.

Participants are invited to learn more and register online here.