Recently, the Computing Department teammed up with Microsoft Canada to co-sponsor Vancouver’s DigiGirlz Day. The event was organized to celebrate and encourage female students entering the technology field.
About 50 female high school students from all over the metro region; a few high school teachers; and 20-plus volunteers from Microsoft, BCIT, and SAP met at BCIT’s Downtown Campus for the day. The girls built apps, participated in various tech activities and games, and spoke to a dozen mentors about career paths in IT.
Instructor Carly Orr led an interesting and fun app-building activity modeled on an actual IT project workflow in just over an hour, with help from two CST students, Nadia Dobrianskaia and Rosanna Wubs. CST Program head, Bethany Edmunds, along with Nadia and Rosanna spoke on career panels, while faculty member, Mirela Gutica, gave an overview of Visual Studio. Many other BCIT faculty and staff assisted with the games, pre-planning and promotion for the event.
The School of Computing and Academic Studies is looking forward to participating in more initiatives that help increase the number of females entering technology careers!