Ontario
Association of Physics Teachers |
NSERC
Chair for Women in Science and Engineering (CWSE) Outreach to secondary schools |
Valerie
J. Davidson, NSERC/HP CWSE (Ontario), School of Engineering |
Joanne
M. O'Meara - Presenter Assistant Professor, Department of Physics University of Guelph, Guelph, ON |
Through
the Research Partnerships Program, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research
Council supports regional chairs to increase the participation of women in science
and engineering. The Ontario CWSE is currently based at the University of Guelph.
The recently appointed new chair-holder will be working closely with faculty and
staff across other departments at the University to accomplish the program goals.
In particular, female faculty from the departments of Computing and Information
Science, Physics, Mathematics and Statistics, Chemistry and Biochemistry, and
the School of Engineering will be working together to develop initiatives and
activities designed to reach girls at the elementary and high school level, as
well as women in their university studies and into their careers. |
The CWSE program includes outreach to students in secondary schools to encourage young women to study science and mathematics, and to consider post-secondary programs in science and engineering. We will review previous initiatives of the CWSE program across Canada, and present the future plans of the new Ontario CWSE related to physics programs in particular. We hope that such a presentation will provoke the discussion of fresh ideas for encouraging young women in secondary schools to continue their studies in science and engineering. |