Written by Juan Zambrano
Third year Journalism student
The technology and trades fields are increasingly becoming more gender diverse. It's important to recognize women in Mohawk College’s Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) programs. They demonstrate the rich networking and community supports available and can encourage even more women to enter a STEM field. Tanya Spence, a recent Mohawk College graduate, found many open doors through Electrical Engineering Technology.
Tanya started her academic journey after visiting the college during an Open House event in 2017. She completed the Pre-Technology program earlier that year, and meeting faculty members and seeing the campus inspired her to pursue her program at the college.
She remembers meeting Professor Mini Thomas, one of the Electrical Engineering Technology faculty members at Open House. Thomas gave Spence a tour of the robotics lab and she instantly fell in love with the Electrical Engineering Technology program.
“I loved the idea that there was a strong female presence in the field,” Spence said. “It just empowered me to want to do it myself.” For Tanya, seeing someone like Mini Thomas in the field was inspiring and another motivator in studying electrical engineering technology.
To advance her educational experience, Tanya completed her Co-op at Alectra Utilities. For Tanya, the placement was crucial in finding her place in the field of electrical engineering technology. “The Co-op program is really great,” she said. “It really gives you an idea of what you want to do in the field and if you’re going in the right direction.” A Co-op placement gives students the opportunity to apply their learnt knowledge in real time and create a network within the industry.
According to Tanya, the broad range of skills, such as automation, robotics, power and protection, and control, acquired through this program opens the doors to a variety of fields within electrical engineering technology.
Beyond practical applications, robotics gave Tanya the chance to learn from one of the people who inspired her to study electrical engineering – Professor Mini Thomas.
Tanya believes the future of electrical engineering looks bright as she prepares for work in the field. She also said a lot of what she learned in the program will come in handy in the future.
Technology has evolved as we move forward in time. “Everything’s going towards robotics and automation and protection and power,” Tanya said. “All of these other things are coming into play and they all kind of come together in this program. You’ll go into the field, and you’ll find out that thing you learned in first semester has kind of come full circle.”
Tanya is preparing to join the rank of the women who inspired her to enter the program in the first place. Tanya said highlighting the importance of women in trades is on her mind as she enters the workforce.
Working to encourage more women to join Mohawk College’s STEM programs, Tanya joined the college’s Women In Technology and Trades (WiTT) group. WiTT provides networking opportunities and support for women and gender diverse people across all fields of technology and trades.
“As a mom of a young girl,” Spence said, “to know that this is available to her and she has me to see that she can do it, it’s very important for me.”
As she concludes her journey at Mohawk, she is nervous but excited to see what the next chapter will be as her bright future lies ahead.
