Badge Day 2025: Building confidence in STEM.
Badge Day is an annual event where universities across Canada invite Girl Guides to get first-hand experience with engineering concepts. As a proud participant in this important program, Toronto Metropolitan University welcomed dozens of Girl Guides this past February. Organized by the Faculty of Engineering and Architectural Science’s (FEAS) Teaching & Outreach Office, Badge Day is part of year-long programming designed to help address systematic barriers that prevent young women from pursuing an education in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM).
“My favourite part of the day was building the flashlight!”
Participants had fun designing and constructing their very own flashlights! Engaging workshop activities like these help build confidence in technological skills and can positively impact a young person’s perception of their competency in STEM.
Having mentors and professionals show participants that failure and iterations are part of the engineering design process is another way to address misperceptions about who can pursue STEM education.
(Left) Current Faculty of Engineering and Architectural Science (FEAS) engineering students mentored the participants, helping them problem-solve throughout the day. (Right) Vanessa Van Decker, a FEAS alumnus and mechanical engineering graduate, shared her journey and experience working in space robotics.
“I felt like I was an engineer in training!”
The participants enjoyed their final results and showed off their flashlight creations. To celebrate their achievements, participants earned an Ontario Network of Women in Engineering (ONWIE) badge.
It can be challenging for youth to see themselves in a career that doesn’t welcome, celebrate, and lift women. Initiatives like Badge Day help to demonstrate that there are communities of support for girls and women in STEM. The Badge Day program was supported by The Ontario Network of Women in Engineering, Rodney Yip, and Hydro One, through the WEMADEIT program. Also, a special thank you to the volunteers and mentors who made this important event possible.
Photography credit: Ashvin Kalaivannan
About FEAS Teaching and Outreach
The FEAS Teaching and Outreach team actively partners with schools, and other youth-oriented organizations, to inspire and educate the next generation of STEM students. We run in-classroom workshops and on- and off-campus events, with our engineering students and alumni as mentors and educators. We also equip teachers with resources to promote STEM within their classrooms.
If you would like to join, host, or sponsor an outreach initiative, please contact Minakshi Suri, Manager, Equity and Community Inclusion at minakshi.suri@torontomu.ca or visit our pre-university programs webpage.