“Les filles et les sciences, un duo électrisant!” aims to introduce teenage girls in Secondary 2 and 3 to the exact nature of science and technology professions, and to the studies that lead to them, through group activities, demonstrations, workshops, and—the day's crowning glory—“career shopping,” which shows them the multitude of university, professional and technical programs ready to welcome them. As well, the event helps these young girls, who are approaching a decisive moment in their choice of career path, to meet potential role models: women who work in science-related fields.

Diversified discovery workshops
The workshops included sessions by Marcelle, about how lip gloss is made; Éco-Entreprise, on how to make ice cream without a freezer in less than 15 minutes; Pagel-Moreau, on how to make a device to slow down the falling speed of an object; Folie Technique, about the technical and chemical principles of molecular cooking; Poly-Chaire MM, where the girls took the controls of a flight simulator; and Poly-électrique, about how drones work. 

Special award for the next generation of women in engineering
This year, to celebrate the event's 15-year anniversary, a $1,500 study bursary was awarded to a winner who decides to pursue full-time bachelor-level studies in engineering at Polytechnique Montréal or École de technologie supérieure (ÉTS). The winner was drawn at random from among the entry slips gathered at ÉTS and Poly stands during the career-shopping portion of the day. Clémentine Le Roy, a student at the Pensionnat du Saint-Nom-de-Marie in Montréal, won the bursary for the next generation of women in engineering.

Left to right: Françoise Marchand, Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, ÉTS, and a member of the event's organizing committee; Clémentine Le Roy, student at Pensionnat du Saint-Nom-de-Marie, Montréal, recipient of the bursary for the next generation of women in engineering; Michèle Thibodeau-DeGuire, Chair of Polytechnique's Board of Directors and the event's Honorary Chair; Nancy Rancourt, engineer, Director of Member Services and Operations with the Réseau d'informations scientifiques du Québec (RISQ) and Chair of the event's organizing committee.

The Marcelle workshop where young girls created a lip gloss.

Persistent under-representation
The Duo event was created by a handful of women—volunteers, scientists, engineers, businesswomen and professors—seeking reduce the under-representation of women in certain fields of study, which has a negative impact on the diversity of qualified workers in our companies, since diversity is a unanimously recognized factor in competitiveness. For example, in a 10-year period, between the beginning of the 2003 and 2012 academic years, the proportion of female undergraduate students declined from 19.3% to 17% in the physical sciences, from 19.4% to 14% in computer sciences, and rose from 8.4% to 11% in aerospace engineering, aeronautics and astronomy, and from 12.6% to 22% in engineering (figures from the Ministère de l'Enseignement supérieur, de la Recherche, de la Science et de la Technologie du Québec). 

Satellite events were also held in Québec City (Université Laval), Rimouski (Cégep de Rimouski) and Sherbrooke (Cégep de Sherbrooke). The event is presented by the Alcoa Foundation and Hydro-Québec, in collaboration with ÉTS and Polytechnique Montréal, as well as a number of loyal partners: Arcelor Mittal, Bell, the Government of Québec, the Ordre des ingénieurs du Québec (OIQ), Cégep de Rimouski, Cégep de Sherbrooke, the Conseil du loisir scientifique de l'Estrie, the salle-de-presse Sciences et technologies Est du Québec, Université Laval, Université du Québec à Rimouski and Université de Sherbrooke. 

Thanks to everyone involved who made the event a success!

The event returns next year for its 16th edition, and will take place at ÉTS.

See also:
Facebook page for “Les filles et les sciences: un duo électrisant!”
Website (in French only)