Provincial Engineering & Geoscience Week

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2021 3 SPECIAL SECTION 30 BY 30 INITIATIVE T he 30 by 30 initiative was introduced by En- gineers Canada to accelerate achieving gender parity in engineering. Specifically, the goal is to see women representing 30 percent of newly licensed Engineers by 2030. Due to legislative mandates to protect the public by ensuring that their members re- flect the public they serve, 30 by 30 was adopted by every provincial and territorial engineering regulator and engineering faculty across Canada. In December 2017 Engineers Geoscientists Manitoba made 30 by 30 a strategic end and approved significant funding to support the plan. The initiative was adopted by the Association with their mandate in mind, which is to protect members of the public. Specifically, "as a moral imperative, but more purposefully to ensure the infrastructure, products and solutions designed by engineers in Manitoba consider diverse perspectives and therefore offer better outcomes, this helps to ensure the public interest is protected". 1 In Manitoba in 2019, 17.3 percent of newly licensed engineers in Manitoba identified as women. Among them, a significantly smaller percentage identified as Indigenous (1.6 percent). This incongruity represents the need for more attention and research to identify, disrupt and dismantle systemic barriers faced by women and especially IBPOC (Indigenous, Black, Persons of Colour) women in their pursuit of STEM and engineering education, and licensure. As of 2016 more than 50 percent of earned postsecondary certificates, diplomas, or degrees (bachelor's and master's) are possessed by women. 2 Thus, the issue goes beyond the number of women pursuing an education and deals more with targeting gendered areas of study and practice. As the road to a career in engineering begins with STEM education, the Association is committed to focusing and delivering information to students and teachers through our, Busting Bias webpages, the Girl Power and My Story campaigns and Provincial Engineering and Geoscience Month activities. In addition, resources and points of contact are also provided on the different ways students can enter an engineering program following high school. • The main objectives of Engineers Geoscientists Manitoba's Equity and Representation department's 2021-2023 strategic plan are: • To learn, investigate and create an understanding of university, industry, and licensure-based pipeline leaks. • To build awareness and increase integration of bias interrupters throughout K-12 education. • To remove barriers in collaboration with industry to hire, retain and promote women in the profession. • To leave a legacy to make way for increase long term university funding supports for unrepresented demographics. In their calls to action, Engineers Canada posits "to achieve 30 by 30, the Canadian engineering profession calls on engineering firms, academic institutions, government agencies, associates, and other organizations to take a leadership role in addressing the barriers to women that exist in the Engineering profession". At the heart of engineering is the responsibility to create and innovate keeping in mind the ways in which resources are utilized. There is none greater than the human resource. 1 Engineers Geoscientists Manitoba, 30X30 Strategic Plan 2 Statistics Canada, Census Profile (2016) At Engineers Geoscientists Manitoba (the Association), the commitment to equity, diversity, and inclusion is paramount and demonstrated through continued work with industry, educational institutions and members of the Association. It is hoped that Manitobans will receive the message and join hands in the initiative to create change in engineering. PROVINCIAL ENGINEERING & GEOSCIENCE MONTH MARCH 2021

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