ON THE CANADIAN CELEBRATION OF WOMEN IN COMPUTING

MPP Anand’s twenty-fourth Members’ Statement was on the topic of “Canadian Celebration of Women in Computing”, delivered on 25 November 2019.

See full transcript below:

“Mr. Speaker, can you imagine? Women are fewer than 20% in most undergraduate computer science programs. That’s one in five. Women underrepresentation in the IT sector is an issue that still exists in our society.

I’d like to recognize the Canadian Celebration of Women in Computing, also known as Can-CWiC, which is Canada’s premiere networking event organized to inspire and encourage female students to participate in computer science, founded in 2010 by Professor Wendy Powley from Queen’s University. On November 8 and 9, the conference was held in my riding of Mississauga–Malton, and I had the opportunity to join and address the attendees.

The conference had over 700 participants and featured 40-plus panel sessions on different issues like imposter syndrome, implicit bias, professional development and workshops for faculty and high school teachers on inclusive teaching in computer science. Attendees included 438 students, and participation was highly subsidized by many high-tech companies and sponsors from a similar field. They were able to do this thanks to the effort of volunteers: Professor Powley, Dr. Inmar Givoni, Dr. Amber, Professor Jaqueline Smith, Dr. Kelly, Dr. Sheila, Dr. Joanne, Dr. Kate Larson and Dr. Kahani.

As Milka Duno, a renowned race car driver, once said, “When you put the helmet on, it doesn’t matter if you are woman or man: Your mission is to compete to win. The important thing is your ability, your intelligence and your determination.”

Once again, I’d like to thank the Canadian Celebration of Women in Computing for doing such a wonderful thing.”