BCBusiness

F irst, the bad news: women aren't anywhere close to reaching gen- der equality in science, technoloy, engineering, mathematics and computer science (also known as STEM). In 2016, Canadian men aged 25 to 34 with a STEM degree were twice as likely as their female counterparts to work in science and technoloy, Statistics Canada reports. Part of the explanation for this dis- parity: the women studied diˆerent STEM disciplines than the men, favour- ing biological sciences over engineering or computer science. Females still account for fewer than 25 percent of STEM jobs in Canada—roughly the same proportion as 30 years ago. When it comes to entrepreneurship, things look even worse. Only 5 per- cent of Canadian tech companies have a solo female founder or a female CEO, according to a recent report co-authored by MoveTheDial, a national advocacy group that aims to boost women's participation and leadership in the sector. At the average tech "rm in this country, women make up just 13 percent of the executive team and 8 percent of directors. Fifty-three percent of Canadian tech companies have no female executives, and 73 percent have no female directors. Why do relatively few women work in STEM, how can we reverse this long-standing trend, and who are B.C.'s most in˜uential female players? For help answering those questions, we turned to our expert panel of women—all of them STEM luminaries in their own right. Over lunch at the Vancouver Club last November, panellists agreed that sexism remains a huge problem. They also stressed how much girls and young women with STEM ambitions need role models. "When I talk to boys about tech, I talk to them about the stuˆ," said engineering professor Elizabeth Croft. "When I talk to girls, they're asking me very diˆerent questions. They're asking me about my kids and my life, and they need to see themselves." Panellist Gerri Sinclair re˜ected on what's changed since she sold her Vancouver software "rm, NCompass Labs Inc., to Microsoft Corp. in 2001. Back then, there were no female role models in high-tech and no other women on NCompass's senior management team or board, Sinclair recalls. "We've moved the bar a little, but speci"cally the role model piece, I think we need to do a lot more work there." The good news: despite these obstacles, B.C. is home to many female innovators at various stages in their careers who are making a big diˆer- ence in STEM "elds as diverse as biotech, robotics, telecommunications and health care. The list you'll "nd here is representative, not de"nitive, and it isn't a ranking. All of these women contribute to a brighter future for our province—and inspire others to follow in their footsteps. ROBOTiCs AnD ARTiFiCiAL inTeLLiGenCe suzAnne GiLDeRT Co-founder and CEO, Sanctuary AI As she outlines her new company's plans to build highly humanlike robots that can live alongside people, Suzanne Gildert makes it all sound doable—and inevitable. Such machines would resemble those in the dystopic HBO show Westworld but "with- out all the horrible parts," says Gildert, who radiates youthful enthusiasm. "We don't want the things we create to become slaves, or entities that end up being tor- tured or treated like playthings. We want them to be eventually thought of as being the same as we are, like having citizenship and rights." Gildert, previously chief science of¤i- cer at robot maker Kindred Systems Inc., is well-equipped for the task. Raised in a work ing-class neighbourhood in Manchester, England, she earned a PhD in experimental physics at the University of Birmingham, specializing in quantum physics. In 2010, Geordie Rose recruited her to his D¨Wave Systems Inc., the Burnaby-based developer of the world's "rst commercial quantum computer. Four years later the pair left to co-found Kindred, headquartered in San Francisco, whose original goal was to create human- like intelligence in machines. Gildert's Vancouver-based arti"cial general intelli- gence (AGI) research group diverged from the rest of the company, which now makes non-humanoid robots for industrial use. With Rose and other members of the group, she recently launched spinoˆ Sanctuary AI. Sanctuary, which will be privately funded to start, won't focus on a market product anytime soon. Expecting its robots to develop "in a childlike way in the "rst few years," Gildert says her team's current mind architectures follow how evolution built brains. "The part we consider human is a thin veneer on top of an old brain that could also control a giraˆe or a honeybee," she explains. "So we're looking at a lot of the lower-level stuˆ as a foundation." —N.R. hOW CAn We GeT mORe WOmen inTO sTem? Because the technology sector has so many men in leadership roles, women must seek out those who are open to helping them rise, gildert says. a female men- tor isn't essential, she contends: "you could find a male mentor who's very pro–women in tech, too." eLizABeTh CROFT dean, faculty of engineering, monash University (formerly professor, department of mechanical engineering, and associate dean, UBc) sARAh mORTOn entrepreneur in residence, Women's enterprise centre JiLL eARThy chief growth officer, frontfundr GeRRi sinCLAiR managing director, kensington capital partners sARAh LuBik director of entrepreneurship, Beedie school of Business, sfU JiLL TiPPinG president and ceo, Bc tech association OUR PAnEL OF ExPERTS march 2018 BCBusiness 31 BcBUsiness.ca

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