Year of Competition: 2018-2019
Grant amount: $800
Project Duration: Single Year
Type of Report: Final
Period Covered: January 2019 till May 2019
Description of Activity:
Our event was a networking and career focused wine and cheese for undergraduates from math, physics and computer science to hear from McGill alumni from these departments. We had three industry speakers, all of whom were womxn-identified and additionally from either racially marginalized groups or the trans-gender community. Our speakers provided the undergraduates with inspiring stories about their lives and journeys from their (not-so-long-ago) undergraduate degrees. After these talks and question periods, speakers mingled with the students over food and drinks.
Assessment of Effectiveness:
Planning this event was mainly taken on by the department of mathematics and statistics, though much necessary assistance in reaching out to alumni was provided by the departments of physics and computer science. Undergrads from all of these fields attended and had the opportunity to engage with the speakers. Attendance was around 30 people throughout the event and many students praised the initiative thereafter. It was also a good opportunity for alumni to continue to engage with the McGill community. Overall, our undergraduates gained new exposure to potential career paths from womxn whose identities are not traditionally represented at networking events in these industries. Most importantly, our undergrads gained new insights that could only have been provided by such industry representatives, and this is the first time, to my knowledge, that such an event has been instigated by the department of mathematics. It was overall seemed a success by all parties.
Future Plans (if any):
As I am no longer a member of the McGill community, Prof. Louigi Addario-Berry who’s amazing idea this was, and his colleagues are the ones interested in further mixers between students and alumni at McGill. Additionally, McGill STEM Support Committee, an undergraduate EDI committee, would continue to assist with these endeavours as they did this time.
Financial:
| Rental of location | $340.00 |
| Food | $477.70 |
| Drink | $154.85 |
| Gratuity | $95.15 |
| Altogether with tax | $1229.63 |
Please contact me separately if you would like a copy of the receipt.
Contact Name: Megan Roda
[September 25, 2019]
