CS 400Y Work Cultures in Tech Ecologies

Why the World Needs More Women in the Tech Industry It is no secret that women are often under-represented in the global tech-sector. According to  Next Generation Recruitment article  Why Aren't There More Women in Tech? , this problem is one that has been stated to commence in the early years of childhood development. Just about everything one can think of from sports, toys to clothing and everything in between, is marketed to children by gender. As a ramification, children begin to internalize and eventually, subscribe to these dominant hegemonic gender roles. Consequently, this can limit the realm of potential capabilities of both men and women. This may begin to offer a possible explanation as to why so many girls at the high school level, are often discouraged to take science, math and computing courses.What do you think, could the ‘pinkification’ of job possibilities directly impacts the amount of women who pursue math and science related degrees at the Univ...

The words creativity, efficiency, technology, idea, and modernization come to mind when thinking about innovation. Through this class, we have been able to explore a wide range of ideas about innovation and what it means. If you are innovative, you are progressive and changing the times. Think about technology and medicine- the advancements in both of these fields have been revolutionary and have changed the way we carry about our daily lives. Innovation has made our lives easier and more efficient and has overall contributed to the bettering of society. However, I also do not think that innovation is limited to the creation of something revolutionary like the automobile, computer, or cellphone, it can be something small- it is all about the process of creating something new.

To outsiders, it seems like Canada's tech sector is thriving. The name silicon valley of the north is used to describe Waterloo and the cities big companies like Shopify and Vidyard receive a lot of press coverage. We are experiencing huge growth in the sector and this is leading to a big problem; a shortage of tech talent. As these companies grow they require more and more applicants coming from a STEM to fill their new roles. The problem is that Canada has a serious shortage of tech talent, making it hard for companies to grow and meet their sales projections. It's estimated that by 20/20 there will be a shortage of 220,000 tech workers in Canada. This problem is caused by two things. The first is that a lot of Canadians tech talent moves down south to join companies in the valley or grown companies at their American head offices. The second problem is that we have a relatively low number of students graduating from STEM programs. To make it worst the need for technical rol...

The technology industry is one of the most exciting industries to work in right now. However, when visiting a job board the job titles can be very confusing or be intimidating to someone who has never worked in that industry before. As new grads, these jobs may seem inaccessible so but these are openings are more within reach than many realize. The reality is that the technology industry can be easy to break into once you take into account the wide variety of jobs for both technical and nontechnical workers. To help make this easier here are Workopolis' 5 tips to break into tech. Take on technical projects – The best way to see if you are technically inclined and gain basic experience is to dive in head first. Work on side projects within your current role, or in your free time, to expose yourself to the field. Learn more tech skills – While going back to school for a four-year degree may not be in the cards, some type of education and training can go a long way. Talk to others...

As I mentioned in class one day, I volunteered with the WLU Career Centre this year. One of my duties was to publish an article for the 'Career Forward' newsletter for the month of April. For those that are maybe unaware, the newsletter is emailed to all WLU students at the beginning of each month and usually have information about upcoming events, workshops, and articles written by support peers (like me!). In the second half of this course, many of our discussions and presentations have surrounded topics relating to job searching, networking, and social platforms such as LinkedIn, drawing on Illana Gershon's book, Down and out in the new economy: How people find (or don't find) work today. I wrote the Career Forward article before the assigned readings, but I found myself relating to much of what Gershon was writing about in terms of networking and utilizing LinkedIn from my own experiences this year. Like many of you, I am graduating and have been using LinkedIn...

We've come across it several times throughout the duration of this course: nanotechnology. On the surface, nanotechnology is a branch of technology that deals with dimensions that are less than 100 nanometers. Essentially, it is the study and application of extremely small things that has implications across all of the technological and scientific fields, including chemistry, biology, physics, and engineering, to name a few. Now, while this may sound boring to some, nanotech has been referred to as perhaps the next great and revolutionary general purpose technology, which stands to have an impact on nearly every sector of technology and science, and serves to be the next source of economic growth and opportunity. While it may still be a bit too far away from commercial viability, the potential for nanotechnology applications is very promising. In the article I have shared from The British Heart Foundation, they talk about how nanotechnology has applications to help heart failur...

As I write this post, I am sitting in the Queen Street Commons Cafe, and affordable coffee shop run by the Working Center in the heart of Downtown Kitchener. There is a division in the people I see around me. Some are locals, they sit together greeting familiars as they enter, they know the staff by name. The other group stand-out from the rest. They, like me, sit by themselves, headphones on and tapping away on their laptops. This, I feel, is a good representation of the current tensions at work in Downtown Kitchener and one that lies at the heart of many blossoming creative cities. I was surprised throughout the year to hear many of you say that you considered Kitchener a sketchy, dangerous place and that it has failed as a creative city. I spend a lot of time in DTK and aware of a wealth of arts and culture events that take place throughout the year and contribute to a vibrant and active creative scene within the local community. However, I feel like Kitchener's reputation mak...