Young women who dream of being engineers and scientists now have a way to link up with the high-powered business world in Calgary at the click of a mouse.

A new program funded by PanCanadian Petroleum and the provincial government through the University of Calgary plans to connect hundreds of Alberta girls by e-mail to women mentors in the business and academic circles of Calgary and Edmonton.

Called SCIberMentor, the $270,000 three-year project is designed to expand awareness of opportunities and career paths in science and engineering, areas traditionally under-represented by women.

“We see mentoring as one of our number one career-development tools,” says Vicki Reid, a human-resources analyst at PanCanadian, which provided $60,000 in funding for the project.

Larry MacDougal, Business Edge
Dr. Elizabeth Cannon is spearheading the SCIberMentor project, which will help girls keep career options open.

“Having someone to talk to, to help you navigate your career, is what I think it’s all about for young people.”

Currently, women make up about 20 per cent of engineering students at Canadian universities.

Spearheading the program is Dr. Elizabeth Cannon, a professor of geomatics engineering at the U of C and prairie region chair for the Petro-Canada/National Women in Science and Engineering Research Council. The Alberta Women Science Network, an umbrella group for several organizations working with women in science and engineering initiatives, is also a partner.

Cannon says part-time co-ordinators at the U of C and the University of Alberta will ensure a broad, provincewide reach for the program, which will be launched this fall. Cannon will also conduct research with colleague Judy Lupart from the educational psychology department into how girls’ perceptions of math and science-based careers can be changed by mentoring.

“What we’re finding from the research is that when girls hit junior high, they start to lose some interest in math and sciences,” Cannon says. “Potentially, when they get into the high schools and have to start making decisions on courses, they may not take those that keep the doors open in terms of a math or science engineering career.

“That is the point in the development of young girls where we feel we can make a difference by linking them up with strong role models of women students and professionals in these areas.”

Cannon hopes to involve at least 200 Alberta girls, ages 11 to 18, in SCIberMentor. Girls will be linked by e-mail to female engineers at PanCanadian, academics at both major universities and female university students at the U of C’s WISE (Women in Science and Engineering) Club. A new mentor will be assigned each year to a different girl.

Reid says PanCanadian already has an active internal mentoring program for women which brings together new hires and senior workers in the 2,000-employee company.

“One of the reasons we were interested in being the sole co-sponsor of this, was that we wanted to get a lot of our women, young and more senior, involved because we are so committed to mentoring.”

E-mail is an ideal tool, and not just because it bridges long distances, observes Cannon. “It’s a nice medium, because it breaks down all those formal barriers,” she says. “You can converse with someone without being shy . . . they don’t see what you look like, so it’s nice and informal and you can pose the questions you want.”

Mentors will share the techniques they used to move into their careers as well as their thoughts and experiences. “It’s not just about math and science, it’s about life,” says Cannon.

SCIberMentor’s ultimate goal is to keep young girls excited about math and science through their school years, and motivated to keep all their career options open.

“It’s a way to connect people together who otherwise would not be connected,” says Cannon. “And I think there’s a lot of power in doing that.”