Inspiring young women
High school student gets view of top job at Wilfrid Laurier
WATERLOO — High school student Muneeza Sheikh’s huge smile made plain her excitement at being inside a working laboratory at Wilfrid Laurier University.
Her tour guide was Laurier president Deborah MacLatchy, who gave the Milton teen a view into the university’s top job on Wednesday as part of Plan International Canada’s Girls Belong Here initiative to celebrate the International Day of the Girl.
MacLatchy was among Canadian leaders, including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who shared their offices for the day to change perceptions and inspire girls’ leadership.
“It was a really awesome experience getting to see a university lab in person,” the 17-year-old said. “It was an amazing opportunity.”
After a tour of MacLatchy’s fish research lab, the teen had lunch with MacLatchy and Waterloo MP Bardish Chagger. She also sat in on meetings with MacLatchy and heard from other senior leaders what it’s like to have an executive role in a large organization.
MacLatchy said it’s important for young women to see themselves reflected in leadership positions.
“It really does show girls and young women that is a pathway they can embark on,” MacLatchy said.
Laurier’s three most senior leadership roles — president, chancellor and board of governors chair — are currently held by women and it’s the only Canadian post-secondary institution participating in the Girls Belong Here initiative.
Laurier is focused on diversity and equity and part of that is supporting organizations like Plan International, MacLatchy said.
The university wants young women to know they’re welcome on campus.
“They do belong here and they belong in all the areas we have,” MacLatchy said.
Sheikh joined about 500 girls in more than 60 countries by stepping into leadership roles and positions of power where girls and women are traditionally under-represented.
“I think Muneeza embodies the hope that we really are trying to engender in the next generation of girls and young women,” MacLatchy said.
“My pathway to leadership was through science and following a passion … Their achievements will come if they do follow their heart.” That’s exactly what Sheikh plans to do. “I’m in love with science,” she said. The lab tour confirmed her ambition to pursue a career in the sciences, in particular hands-on research like in MacLatchy’s fish lab.
“It was really interesting seeing all that. That’s what I want to do.”
She thinks there has been a lot of progress in encouraging girls’ participation, especially in the disciplines of science, technology, engineering and mathematics, and initiatives like Girls Belong Here give girls a chance to see women in leadership roles.
“They deserve equal opportunities to chase their dreams,” she said.