Status of Women committee  I took a leap of faith starting FIRST Robotics in an all-girls school. I call them my “Thelma and Louise” moments.

Status of Women committee  But we land, you know. We're not quite sure where we're going to land, or how we're going to do it, but I believe that as women, as role models, we help young girls understand that risk-taking is good. Girls in particular, little ones, have such curiosity about the world. They ar

Status of Women committee  That's an excellent question. I was a quota girl in education, a little bit later than 1978, and in leadership it was the same kind of situation. I was a woman. My name was Dorothy, and some people said afterwards, “Well, you got it because they're looking for women in leadership

Status of Women committee  I believe that what we're doing at FIRST Robotics Canada is critical. That is helping girls to understand that they are confident, to build their confidence—they have so much to offer—and that, frankly, the gender biases they experience, whether in school or in the workforce, nee

Status of Women committee  Tomorrow.

Status of Women committee  It's something we've been talking about for a very long time. I was just reading my Twitter feed before I came in, and Ontario is talking about raising the minimum wage. I'm not quite sure what the speed will be on that, but when there are issues that have been impacting and affe

Status of Women committee  Looking at tools to incentivize or to support women going into the field is often in the hands of the employers or of the universities. One of the things FIRST Canada did was to align itself with industry leaders as well as organizations to first build a network so that employers

Status of Women committee  Children need to have an opportunity in school to learn about how society works. It's critical for girls and boys to understand the need for having equity, for having diversity and inclusion in everything they do. I know that my educational colleagues would groan a little becau

Status of Women committee  The challenge with quotas, of course, is that when women are appointed or find their way through, the comment will be made that it's because of the quota. The big challenge then remains having a really carefully thought-out list of criteria that a candidate must meet. We know the

Status of Women committee  Yes.

Status of Women committee  Thank you for this opportunity. What Minister Duncan has done is to come forward and say that we will withhold resources if we don't see the changes that we need to see in research. That's a bold statement. To be able to say that we will...what is the genesis of this? We will

Status of Women committee  Yes. Actually, my two first FIRST girls, as I call them, who came and said, “Mrs. Byers, we want to build a robot,” are both practising engineers.

Status of Women committee  That was 17 years ago. The statistics state that 95% of girls who are in FIRST Robotics programs go on to STEM-related fields. A longitudinal study is under way to see where they are in their careers. In my experience with the girls in the girls-only team, many of them stay bec

Status of Women committee  Yes, and many of the teams are very keen on having girls on their teams. It's not just being on the team, it's also what they do on the team. FIRST has such an array of opportunities for girls, whether it's media or business planning, building a robot, or making presentations.

Status of Women committee  Good morning, everyone. First, thank you so much for the opportunity to speak with you today about this very important issue. As a woman in Canada who has been very fortunate to seek and enjoy a stable and enriching career in the service of others, I am passionate about my new