CALGARY — More than 100 female high school students in Calgary attended a conference Tuesday to learn more about careers in business, along with science, technology, engineering and math, also known as the STEM fields.

SheBiz is a day-long event created by the national non-profit, Women in Capital Markets.

“Calgary has this incredible group of women in these professions that want to advocate for the new generation joining this profession,” said Nishka Gupta, Co-Chair of Women in Capital Markets Calgary, and SheBiz event organizer. “I’m very used to being the only female in the room whether it be the boardroom table or with executives in my firm, and they’re a wonderful group of people, amazing colleagues, but man, I wish there were more women in the room because they’re incredibly supportive and we’re just hoping these girls will consider finance and STEM careers as a career option.”

According to Statistics Canada, women are less likely to choose a career in STEM areas, particularly in engineering, mathematics and computer science.

Statistics Canada research has shown males with lower marks in high school were more likely to choose a STEM program than females with higher marks.

“I have become a sincere believer that more diversity around the table making decisions in any sphere be it political, business, community, environmental leads to better outcomes because it brings all kinds of different perspectives to the table and one of the most basic forms of diversity is gender diversity,” said Gupta.

Gupta said she hopes the conference will allow girls to meet successful women in STEM professions and encourage students not to be intimidated to enter what have typically been male dominated professions.

“I’ve seen it in boards that do have some diversity, we’re making better decisions, we’re asking better questions and honestly it sets a different tone,” said Gupta. 

“There’s a lot of brave women out there that are breaking barriers, breaking glass ceilings but we need more galvanization, we need more of our male colleagues supporting these efforts,” said Gupta.

This is the third year the SheBiz conference has been held in Calgary. 

The students heard from keynote speakers and take part in activities geared towards learning about finance and engineering such as a stock market challenge and a bridge making challenge.

Students in grades 9 to 12 from all schools in the city were invited to join the free event.

More information on SheBiz can be found online.