Standing Committee on the Status of Women FEWO Ï NUMBER 077 Ï 1st SESSION Ï 42nd PARLIAMENT EVIDENCE Tuesday, November 7, 2017 Chair Mrs. Karen Vecchio 1 Standing Committee on the Status of Women Tuesday, November 7, 2017 Women are key decision-makers in Canadian households. Women are influencers of our next generation of scientists, technologists, Ï (1100) engineers, and mathematicians. Actually, women represent the larger [English] proportion of educators in our classrooms. The Chair (Mrs. Karen Vecchio (Elgin—Middlesex—London, Because technology is an ongoing and ever-growing driver of CPC)): Everybody, we're going to get started. We look to have a innovation within multiple industries, we have an opportunity as a quorum here. Some members will be joining us shortly. We're going nation to minimize the gender gap and to ensure that we are working to continue with our study of the economic security of women in towards a more prosperous and unified nation. Canada. Today we will have two guests on our first panel. How can we address this issue? There is no one causal factor. It is very complex, very systemic, and therefore there is no one solution Carolyn Van is the director of youth programming for Canada to all of this. Learning Code. Bonnie Brayton will be here shortly. What we do know, however, is that the causes of the gender gap in We may have to mix it up a little until our second panellist gets technology have nothing to do with biological differences. In fact, here. After the presentation, we may go to questions, but we'll see while many of us doubt it, there have been numerous research how it goes. studies out there to demystify this. There is zero evidence that there are aptitude differences in math between women and men. To begin, Carolyn, I give you the floor for 10 minutes. Ms. Carolyn Van (Director, Youth Programming, Canada What we should be assessing is the design of things. What I mean Learning Code): Thank you for having me here today on behalf of by this is the design of experiences that we are all exposed to from Canada Learning Code, and please note that I'll be happy to answer the moment we are born. These are the experiences that shape what any questions following my statement. we feel we are capable of doing and what we can do. They shape our understanding of how the world works, of what leadership looks As the youth programming director of Canada Learning Code, I like, and of who can play a role in developing new technology. have the great privilege of working with my team to develop and provide accessible technology education experiences for the youth of We must empower women and young girls to feel confident, to our nation, particularly young girls. equip them with the skills and knowledge to go beyond being consumers of technology and become creators. I have the lived experience of a woman in STEM, particularly the “T” in STEM, the technology side. I am able to teach digital literacy We believe at Canada Learning Code that tech education can play skills at the post-secondary level, and I have held positions within a significant role in this. With Canada Learning Code, we have the organizations requiring me to hire for technology-related careers. privilege of designing accessible, inclusive learning experiences for This experience has helped me to understand just how problematic women and young girls, who make up two groups of Canadians that the gender gap is in this nation, and it ultimately led me here, with have been historically marginalized and under-represented. Canada Learning Code, to address this issue in a very systemic We have programs for adult women. The ladies learning code design lens on education. program aims to provide beginner-level technology experiences for The stark reality of the gender gap in technology is made evident adult women along with mentorship from those in the industry. by taking a quick scan across the room in your average computer lab classroom, by looking at the teams who build all the mobile Our youth programs are all about sparking the curiosity and applications we use on a daily basis, and by considering some interest of girls at an early age, and then providing support along the research. way as they bloom towards adulthood. Ï (1105) Studies state that women represent less than 25% of technology roles within Canada, and that of those women who make it in the Our programs for teachers are for educators of all sorts, which are industry, 25% are exiting the industry due to sexism or the meant to equip educators with all of the resources, the skills, the experience of unwelcome workplace environments—all this while confidence, and the training to enable them to introduce digital women make up half of our population. This is a problem. literacy within the classroom at the primary school level. 2 FEWO-77 November 7, 2017 As we work towards having equity, diversity, and inclusion by Ï (1110) being better represented within the workforce, at Canada Learning Code we really hope to continue to grow that pipeline within the [Translation] workforce and education with young women and girls. Mr. Marc Serré: Thank you. I'd be happy to answer any questions. The Chair: Fantastic. Thank you very much. You also said you offer teachers workshops about programming. I would like to hear more about that and what you recommend that we As we can see, Bonnie is not here yet. I'm going to ask the clerk if consider in order to determine what could be done as regards teacher there's a way that we can divide some time, because I know the first education and training across the country. person with their seven minutes may actually have questions for Bonnie, as well. [English] Clerk, is there anything that has been done in the past? Ms. Carolyn Van: Sure. The Clerk of the Committee (Ms. Marie-Hélène Sauvé): We could do half. Instead of seven minutes, we could do three minutes each. We know that to keep technology education only at the curricular level is not enough, quite frankly. At Canada Learning Code, we The Chair: Instead of doing the seven minutes, is it okay that believe strongly in getting technology education into schools at an we'll start with three minutes? Then we can go back to allow those early age. With all of our experiences teaching thousands of youth members to question the second panellist. across our nation to code, we are taking all of our very hard lessons learned, packaging them up, and providing educators with content Okay, that's fantastic. Everybody is good with that, and with in-school workshop training on professional development We're going to move on with the first three minutes of questioning days to really help teachers feel confident. We give them the for you, Carolyn, and that's going to be Marc Serré. knowledge to smash some of the myths that they have and some of the fears that they carry about introducing computational thinking Marc, you have the floor. within elementary schools. [Translation] Our programs are free for teachers. We can travel across Canada Mr. Marc Serré (Nickel Belt, Lib.): Thank you, Madam Chair. giving workshops to educate groups of educators. Whether you are Thank you very much for your presentations and the work you do. an educator in school or a Girl Guide leader, we have in-person workshop training for that and we have all of our content and helpful We have heard from witnesses who talked about high school resources online at no cost on teachers learning code. programs and programs in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, or STEM. They told us that the breakdown of girls and The Chair: Thanks very much. You have so much information. boys in those high school programs is about 50-50. At the post- secondary level, however, there is a gap, since fewer girls and Turning over to our CPC members, is it Rachael or Martin? women enrol in those programs. I would like to hear your thoughts on this. What more can we do Martin Shields, you have the floor for three minutes. at the high school level to change the decline in enrolment of women and girls in STEM programs, especially in technology? Mr. Martin Shields (Bow River, CPC): Thank you, Madam Chair. [English] Ms. Carolyn Van: Sure. I find the topic very interesting at the school level. Being an old We know that the interest in STEM for young girls drops off at guy, I remember the fight between the calculator and the slide rule. around 12 to 13 years of age, which is a significant problem. There seems to be a lot of interest from girls in areas of STEM leading up A lot of the time this comes down to school board decision- to that age and then there's this drop-off that happens. making regarding policy about what they allow and how they allow technology into the classroom setting. Something that we currently have with our programs, which we'd like to see more of, is more technology education experiences, along with a community for those girls between the ages of 13 to 17 to You're mentioning something totally different, so I believe that continue to nourish and support their interests as they look to apply you may be focusing on the wrong place. If you want to change to post-secondary institutions in areas of STEM.