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Women for STEM Fund Marches Toward Goal

Ontario Tech University’s Women for STEM Fund is more than halfway to its fundraising goal of $2 million, providing scholarships and mentorship for women in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields where they are underrepresented. Lisa McBride, Chair of the Women for STEM Council, couldn’t be happier.

“When I was coming out of high school, I didn’t have the financial support needed to go to university,” says Lisa, Vice-President and Country Leader GE Hitachi SMR Canada. “It was a gift from my aunt and uncle that made it possible. I look at it as personal accountability to open doors for other women.”

Three pillars underpin the support the Women for STEM program provides to women students:

  • Scholarships for women in STEM fields of study.
  • Mentorship and networking opportunities.
  • Celebrating the achievements of women as

innovators, entrepreneurs and change agents. The Women for STEM program aims to fund 200 entrance scholarships and 600 in-course scholarships for Ontario Tech students over 10 years. Each year since 2019, the program has provided $5,000 entrance scholarships to 20 women starting their STEM education at Ontario Tech, with another $2,000 annually during their undergraduate careers as long as they continue to meet the scholarship’s criteria each year.

In addition, as third-year students, they are matched with mentors who are role models and can offer career guidance as the students navigate their path from university to the working world. Third-year Mechanical Engineering student Aisha Sarwar is one of many students who has benefited

from the Women for STEM program. “Ontario Tech’s Women for STEM program has allowed me to meet and interact with women who have similar goals and aspirations,” Aisha says. “I am very excited for the mentorship component of this program. It is uplifting to know that professionals within the industry will be here to give me support and insight into the real world of STEM. On behalf of all the Women for STEM students, thank you to all donors, Council members and mentors for your support and for making this program possible.”

 In February 2022, the Women for STEM Council hosted a Confidence Gap workshop for scholarship students and their mentors, designed to boost confidence and remind them that they are equal in talent and ability to their male counterparts. The inaugural event took place online, but plans are in the works to make it an annual, in-person event. “It’s important for these women to have confidence as they navigate their way in a male-dominated workforce,” Lisa says. “Confidence is not just about being extroverted; it can be about getting out of your comfort zone.”

“As a mature woman, I look back and wonder what my career would have looked like if I’d started working on confidence early.”