This one is grades 7 to 9 where they come with their parents, so it's before they enter high school, before they have to make any of those decisions like math and science, and the academic stream versus the applied stream. We're really trying to say, and we tell them, girls are just as good in math and science as guys are. There's no gender difference in that. You lack the confidence.
A girl would be devastated if she gets a B. A guy gets a C, and he thinks he's awesome at math. This attitude persists even in engineering.
We're trying to tell them that's a fact and say it's okay. There's a panel discussion as well so they get to ask questions of current students. A lot of the messages are that they came into engineering and failed a couple of classes, and that's no big deal. You just pick up and go again. A lot of the girls respond positively to it and the parents as well. They really like the fact that we're telling them how it is. We're not sugar-coating it at all. Also a lot of the parents thank us for it. They are happy we're telling them the story.