Our History

The Undaunted Six

SCWIST was incorporated as a society on July 30, 1981. Mary Vickers, the founding president, remembers how the group “increased mightily” in its first year: “We presented eight public programs and started the first Registry of Women in Science in BC and Yukon. Our programs received positive responses that convinced us of the need for an organization like SCWIST. For example, we had a packed room when we held a panel discussion on the question, ‘Can a talented female scientist from a small town in the West find happiness and a permanent job in a scientific establishment?’’’ 

“It is appropriate and proper for women to have equal access to careers in science and technology.”

Mary Vickers

Mary Vickers, a biology instructor at Douglas College in New Westminster at the time, credits Maggie Benston with the success of the 1983 National Conference on Women in Science. 

“SCWIST members organized the first conference ever held in Canada for women in science, but it was Maggie who stimulated us. She was the ‘brains’ behind it.” Due to Maggie’s reputation, feminist scientists, including her twin sister, came as guest speakers from the United States and Europe, with over 300 participants attending. 

Following the successful SCWIST conference and the wide response to the Proceedings of the first National Conference for Women in Science, Engineering and Technology, May 20-22, 1983, Vancouver, B.C., the Society was more certain than ever that it could help young girls and women increase their career choices through math and sciences. The belief was confirmed by the Girls in Science summer workshops, begun in 1984, which were enthusiastically received by the girls, parents, and B.C. elementary school teachers. At the same time, SCWIST members were being invited to serve on the federal government’s Canadian Advisory Council on the Status of Women. Clearly, SCWIST’s efforts were being recognized. 

Betty Dwyer, president from 1983 to 1984, lamented the ongoing numeric disparity of women scientists in academic posts. In 1983, when only two of 42 Canadian PhDs in mathematics were women, Betty said, “No wonder the universities find it hard to apply ‘affirmative action’. There is nothing out there to affirm! Please, you Masters’ students, go on to the next step. They’re waiting for you!”  Betty noted that this scarcity of women applicants continued to be a problem during her tenure at Simon Fraser University, where she taught biometry and statistics until her retirement in the early 90’s. There was still a wide imbalance between female and male graduates. “And there were just 42 female applicants for 50 science positions offered by the university in 1991,” she said. An honourary member, Betty exemplified the Society’s ongoing determination to succeed in carrying out its mandate. She established her own fundraising project: the sale of young tomato plants.  “She grows special varieties of tomato, and being a bit of a pessimist, she always plants more than actually needed,” said SCWIST president Dr. Penny LeCouteur (1990 – 1992). “They all come up, and because she cannot bear to throw out good plants, she sells them, and donates the money to the scholarship fund.” In 1985, tomato sales brought $24 toward stamps; in 1991, her project generated over $100 toward the SCWIST Maggie Benston Scholarship Fund. 

Dr. Maggie Benston was a founding member of SCWIST and a stalwart supporter of female scientists because of her background as a rare woman in the field of theoretical chemistry and computer science. At Simon Fraser University, she moved from a chemistry-teaching career to establishing the Women’s Studies Program but also held a computing science teaching appointment. Following Maggie’s death early 1991, the executive named her the Society’s first honourary member, and renamed the SCWIST B.C. Institute of Technology scholarship in her honour. A Graduate Bursary in Women’s Studies was also established at SFU in her name. 

“It was from Maggie’s quiet encouragement and professional experiences that young women have had the opportunity to further their post-secondary studies,” said Dr. Hilda Ching, SCWIST president (1984 –1986). Hilda received a 1991 YWCA Women of Distinction Award and was the 1990-91 appointee to the Ruth Wynn Woodward endowed chair of Women’s Studies at Simon Fraser University.  Hilda recognizes and values the strong commitment of the society’s membership. 

“Since 1981, there has been a strong network built from sharing work on the projects, within the executives, and through contacts from our social program. A special rapport develops with those who attend our meetings over food, drinks, and a hospitable atmosphere. Our network keeps contact with provincial and federal government groups, representing interests in labour, employment, history, education, and women’s issues,”

Dr. Hilda Ching

SCWIST president Marian Adair (1986-1987), a biologist, and past vice president of Norecol Environmental Consultants, also highlighted the Society’s openness and friendliness. At that time in its history, midway in its first decade, SCWIST membership had swelled to 150 women with a variety of careers, interests, and backgrounds. As the achievements of the organization received greater recognition, financial support from the larger community began to arrive to supplement the financial and professional contributions from the women scientists and members. By that point, over $180,000 in project and program funding had been received from supporters. 

Moving forward on the momentum established by her predecessors, Dr. Diana Herbst, who was laboratory manager at B.C.’s Children’s Hospital in Vancouver, presided over a co-sponsored SCWIST/University Women’s Club reception for renowned astronaut Dr. Roberta Bondar in the fall of 1987. In the same month, the first Women Do Math career conference was held, and at the start of the new year, SCWIST presented its first elementary science workshops for B.C. teachers. 

Diana’s advice in the late 1980s was: “Acquire the math and technical skills that you’ll need to begin your science career. Then consider management.” 

Dr. Diana Herbst

Dr. Josefina (Josie) Gonzalez, a research scientist specializing in wood characteristics at Forintek in Vancouver, held the president’s chair from 1988 to 1989. During her term, a brief to the Royal Commission on Education and Part-time Employment, emphasizing girls and science education in British Columbia, was presented. In addition, the Secretary of State Women’s Programs funded both the Women Do Math conference, and the Visiting Scientists Project, where women scientists and tradeswomen met with grades 6 and 7 students and teachers to discuss the girls’ career choices. The program, which ran for two years, originally started out as a program with the Career Action Youth Centre and the Vancouver School Board. The idea of the Visiting Scientists was adopted later by the B.C. Ministry of Advanced Education runs to this day and is known as the Scientists and Innovators in Schools program, administered by Science World.  The Elementary Science Teachers Workshops, which also began in 1987, was an evening series held over seven weeks of presentations by outstanding teachers demonstrating hands-on activities to encourage excellence in science teaching. This project also ran for two years with enthusiastic support from the teachers in the Lower Mainland. The idea of teaching the teachers continued under the aegis of Science World as its “Loon Lake Program”.

As Josie Gonzalez was completing her presidency, an invitation came for her to sit on the Prime Minister’s Round Table on the Environment and the Economy. Incoming SCWIST president Tasoula Berggren began directing her attention to expanding the Women Do Math conference. Tasoula, a Fulbright Scholar, taught mathematics and was the coordinator of the calculus and linear algebra workshop at Simon Fraser University.  Tasoula created the Women Do Math conferences in 1987 at SFU, and then directed them for four years in the Lower Mainland and in five communities in B.C. and the Yukon. During Tasoula’s term, Imagine the Possibilities, science workshop activities for 9 to 12 year-olds, went into its second printing, and the video, What Do Scientists Do? was produced by Hilda Ching. 

By the time SCWIST neared the end of its first decade, changing demographic patterns suggested that college-age males would decline by 25 percent during the 1990s. This implied that the traditional pool of physics/math graduates would probably decrease at a time when there could be an increased requirement for professionals in these fields. Women, therefore, could be considered an untapped resource, which gave some organizations an opportunity to persuade women to turn to careers in science and math. One study showed that the achievement gap in math between girls and boys had closed considerably in the 1980s. The girls had increased their achievement scores in standard tests, and there were no longer any differences, in part, because of individual women’s dedication to equality. 

“There were women who coached, recruited, and established networks. They convinced most of us in business, education, and government that it is appropriate and proper for women to have equal access to careers in science and technology,”

Mary Vickers

SCWIST’s next president, Penny LeCouteur (1990-1992), a chemistry professor, and Head of the Natural Sciences Department at Capilano College, is one of those dedicated women referred to by Mary. She was the first woman to receive the POLYSAR award for excellence in teaching at a Canadian Community/Technical College. Penny and her SCWIST colleagues were understandably pleased with the achievements and contributions their Society had made. Penny retired as Dean of Arts and Science at Capilano College, now Capilano University. 

By the early 1990s, the Visiting Scientists program was administered by Science World, and the Girls in Science workshops were organized by regional communities rather than by SCWIST. The MS Infinity conferences and workshops for grades 9 and 10 girls were held annually, and also became community-based. Over 1,000 girls, parents, and teachers attended the first of an annual series of conferences, which was held in 1990. “They were all a rousing success!” said Penny. Also during 1992 – 1993, the Registry of Women in Science, Engineering and Technology underwent a technological update, the new Quantum Leaps and Female Friendly Science projects were held, a journal was planned, and the SCWIST Resource Centre opened. 

Undeniably, SCWIST had stepped firmly off the porch, not only into a new decade, but also into a growing reputation for education and advocacy in promoting women in Science, Engineering and Technology. 

1993 was an extraordinary year in SCWIST’s history. Dr. Michael Smith, a professor at UBC, shared the Nobel Prize with Dr. Kary Mullis, for site-directed mutagenesis. Dr. Michael Smith had long been aware of the difficulties faced by women in science. Through his friendship with Mary Vickers (1981-1983), Dr. Smith decided to create a funding foundation for SCWIST. He took the financial component of his Nobel Prize, asked the Provincial Government to match it, then asked the Federal Government to match the total. The 4X Nobel Prize created the base endowments at the Vancouver Foundation for each of SCWIST, Science World BC and the BC Schizophrenia Society. The endowment supports SCWIST to this day. Dr. Smith remained a friend, advocate and participant in SCWIST and Mary Vickers was his guest at the Canadian celebrations in ceremonies in Ottawa. “I was SCWIST treasurer then,” says Maria Issa (1995-1996) “and I can remember going with SCWIST President Jackie Gill, and Past President Hilda Ching, to breathlessly walk the actual cheque down to the Vancouver Foundation.” 

Dr. Maria Issa was president from 1995-1996 and remembers establishing SCWIST’s XX Evening at Science World, [rebranded as the Wonder Women event] and Opening the Doors run by Science World. For the first few years, Dr. Michael Smith attended XX Evening as the only ‘XY’ present. These two similar programs connected college-age and grade 12 students respectively, with women professionals working in scientific fields, with a view to creating professional networks. During this time, SCWIST also received ongoing government support for MS Infinity. Maria also singles out the honour of “meeting probably the best women in the fields of science in the province and making amazing friends for life.” She also said “Having UBC students walk up to me saying “do you remember doing a MS Infinity presentation in my BC town? I listened – now I’m in science!”: those are the moments worth living for.”

Hiromi Matsui was the Director of Diversity & Recruitment at Simon Fraser University’s Faculty of Applied Sciences and took on the role of SCWIST President from 1997-1998. Two highlights of her presidential term include producing the CD ROM, Xplore Science Careers and the report “Where are the Women?” Regarding the CD, Hiromi says “Michelle Thong was an amazing high school student who started the work on it (she ended up doing a double major in engineering and women’s studies in the US) and Mary Watt put it all together for us. Mary always said we should have done a follow-up to it. Would have been interesting since some of those women now have families and successful careers.” One of the women featured on the CD was Catherine Roome, who became Chief Operating Officer of the BC Safety Authority. She worked at a senior level at BC Hydro for many years. The second project was something SCWIST president Judy Myers (2000-2002) and Hiromi worked on together with a committee and hired a consultant, Raeanne Steele, to do a report on “Where are the Women? A Benchmark study of Women in Information Technology in BC.” They worked with the Science Council of BC and a public policy consulting firm to create a comprehensive report that was shared broadly.  SCWIST also set up a Premier’s Award for Young Women in Engineering that was funded by Motorola for a few years. 

30 Years of SCWIST

• Girls in Science was one of the first programs designed for students in the elementary schools. From 1984 to 1988, the summer workshops for girls aged 9 to 12 years were taught by women university students. There an enthusiastic response from the young participants, along with wide community support and generous funding from both the public and private sectors. This program was turned into a community-based project, presented by community centres and community women’s groups – based on the format outlined in the SCWIST publication, Imagine the Possibilities Science Workshop Activities. 
• MS Infinity – Math and Science an Infinity of Career Choices, which began in 1990, was originally a highly successful series of one-day conferences for young women in grades 9 and 10 to present career options in mathematics and the sciences. A series of talks, workshops, and panel discussions included women engineers, mathematicians, geneticists, neuroscientists, technicians and technologists. Hands-on workshops were the main focus and girls were given the opportunity to learn in a cooperative environment that was challenging, but not intimidating. Each participant gained experience in small-group sessions, which ranged from mathematics and kaleidocycles to chemistry and logarithms. From 1990 to 1993, SCWIST sponsored MS Infinity conferences in 15 different communities in B.C. and the Yukon. SCWIST provided guidance with a toolkit filled with sample programs, workshops, lists of role-models for speakers; training in Vancouver for a community liaison person; as well as paying the expenses and honoraria for workshop leaders. These conferences were so successful that many of the sponsored communities started to present MS Infinity -style programs on their own initiative with their own funding.. SCWIST provided guidance and inspiration for the development of similar programs as far away as Prince Edward Island and the Northwest Territories. In 2000, as a result of a 3-year grant from NSERC PromoScience, MS Infinity became a stand-alone SCWIST project with its own coordinator. In 2001, MS Infinity shifted focus from conferences to e-mentoring support. Run by the MS Infinity coordinator, this program created a mentoring relationship between students and mentors by providing the opportunity for professional women to act as role models for young students. 
• Project Tomorrow – For 8 years, during the 1990s, SCWIST members presented seminars and data for parents, parent advisory committees, and teachers of elementary school children to encourage them to sustain girls’ interest in STEM. 
• X-Plore Science Careers CD-ROM – This multimedia, interactive CD-ROM profiles eight working-women scientists, includes a self-survey and a listing of career resources. In 1999, it was distributed to public schools throughout British Columbia. 
• Quantum Leaps was presented for the first time in 1992 during the province-sponsored Science and Technology Week. Quantum Leaps enabled students to meet with women currently working in science, engineering, and technology. SCWIST and Douglas College in New Westminster collaborated on the first conference. The Quantum Leaps program ran as an after-school conference geared towards Grade 11 girls and, along with Douglas College in New Westminster, was run in many communities in BC including Trail, Kamloops, Grand Forks, and Surrey. Today, Quantum Leaps is a conference toolkit including seed funding and mentorship for organizers who run the conferences in local communities.
• Female Friendly Science focused on teaching strategies that help young women in high school feel more at ease with the physical sciences. Ideas from this committee were presented by SCWIST at the 1991 National Science Teachers Association conference held in Vancouver. A handbook of chemistry and physics teaching materials for BC highschool teachers was scheduled for publication in 1993, with financial assistance from the Gender Equity Committee, BC Ministry of Education. 
• What Do Scientists Do? is a video SCWIST produced in 1990, as a four-part series on science careers for intermediate students. Based on a research project carried out by grade 7 students in Vancouver, the video portrays women scientists at work in a variety of settings. It is available to teachers from the BC Ministry of Education, and was regularly broadcast on BC’s Knowledge Network between 1991-1994. 
• The Registry of Women in Science, Engineering and Technology was started as an on-line database, listing women working in the sciences and technologies in B.C. and the Yukon and made available to the public on a user-fee basis in 1993. 
• The first MS Infinity Science Day was held in 2003. Science Day provided hands-on workshops for Girl Guides to help them earn their Computer Science, Scientist and Engineering badges. 
• Where are the Women? in high-tech fields in science and technology in British Columbia. – This report was commissioned by SCWIST in 1999 and revealed the large gender disparity that existed in the high-tech industry with women comprising only 14.4% of the high-tech workforce in BC and 16% in Canada. Among the reports recommendations is that the lack of women enrolled in computer science programs needs to be addressed and companies should make the workplace more gender friendly. Employment opportunities were growing in the high-tech sector in BC and the industry needs to attract more women to fill the vacancies. Women who worked in the sector highlighted in the case studies in the report revealed high job satisfaction. 
• Wonder Women Networking: Since the 1990s, and continuing to this day, SCWIST organizes an annual networking event in partnership with Science World. Originally called XX Evening at Science World and now known as Wonder Women Networking,  this annual event brings together post-secondary students with women working in the STEM sector for mentorship, networking and inspiration. 
• Immigrating Women in Science (IWIS) One of SCWIST’s flagship programs, designed by Shauna Paull in 2001, IWIS has expanded to support more women and increase its community presence. IWIS provides support and resource information to immigrant women in STEM who are newly arrived in Canada. In 2003, IWIS received funding approval from Status of Women Canada  (now WAGE), for a community research project to address critical issues affecting the career continuity of immigrant and refugee women in STEM. IWIS provides an e-resource for women; responds to requests for credential accreditation information, referrals, immigration information’; liaisons with community and immigrant serving groups; provides mentorship and collaborates with other organizations