This year the faculty of applied sciences is hoping to share the perspective of first year female or non-binary engineers at UBC through their YouTube channel, Engineering Stories. The faculty is making efforts to increase enrollment of women within the faculty to 50 per cent by 2020 and Engineering Stories is a way to make the program more inviting, as well as provide a basis for what prospective students can look forward to come September.
The faculty is utilizing Eng-cite, their existing blog, to promote their vlogs. They believe that this will introduce a new frame of reference for potential female engineering applicants. Incoming students will now be introduced to stories of women who are experiencing what it really means to be a female engineering student, from the iron pin to the iron ring.
With the goal of uploading biweekly, Eng-cite believes that showing this perspective will allow high school aged students to be able to identify with the women in the vlogs with topics they care about, and perhaps increase their interest in engineering. It also aims to help new engineering students transition into life at UBC through study tips and discussing the UBC environment.
In the past vloggers have made short, one-to-two minute videos about:
- Why they chose to attend UBC
- The lead up to and an explanation of the Iron Ring ceremony
- The basics of a Capstone project
The vlogging team will be led by Megan Hall, a fourth-year Chemical Engineering student. Hall has used the Engineering Stories platform to speak about her experiences being a woman in STEM, campus tours and her decision to study at UBC.
Eng-cite is currently looking for two female or non-binary engineering students who would like to participate and speak about their time, experiences and knowledge of engineering at UBC. If you think you would be a good fit, applications are currently being accepted until August 8 and can be found here.