St. Clair College tops in female computer networking students
Trushna Patel came to Windsor from India to study business administration at St. Clair College.
She had taken computer science and engineering back home but was still searching for the right academic fit.
She soon realized it wasn’t business either.
“It was not my field,” the 23-yearold said.
At the suggestion of faculty member Ruth Susannah, Patel sat in on a several computer networking courses and knew she had finally found her niche.
“I had a couple of trial classes and I found it so interesting,” Patel said. “I feel like this is where I can showcase my skills.”
She’s not alone.
St. Clair College has been recognized as having the most female students of any Canadian institution offering computer networking programs through a partnership with global IT leader Cisco Systems.
Cisco Network Academies are offered at 211 Canadian learning institutions, including high schools, community colleges and universities.
St. Clair has offered CNA certified programs since 2006.
The school’s 2017 class of firstyear students featured 50 females, representing 23 per cent of student enrolment. That’s almost double the national average of 13 per cent.
Instructor John Ulakovich has seen female numbers increase steadily over the past few years.
“I think there will be even more next year,” he said. “We have some great female role models here at the college and I think that attracts female students to the program and having an industry partner like Cisco helps because they’re recognized all over the world.”
Ulakovich has also seen the number of international students increase through the efforts of program co-ordinator Susannah.
“Over the past few years, I’ve been going to India,” said Susannah of the college’s ongoing efforts to attract more international students. “The girls there don’t get the opportunities that we get here.”
By coming here “they get a life where they can make their own decisions and have a good future,” she said.
The chance for advancement convinced 24-year-old Annette Inja to leave her home in India and study here.
She had worked for a small IT company there in network maintenance.
“It’s been a great experience here working in all the hands-on labs,” Inja said. “I love playing with routers and switches.”
Students can earn a diploma after two years or take an advanced diploma three-year course.
They learn about programming, cyber security and cloud technology.
Cisco Academy students built the network that powered the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto.
“The learning is practical knowledge,” Patel said. “It’s actually done in a business environment.”
Philippe Landry, the program manager for Cisco Networking Academy Canada, said he would be “hard pressed” to explain the high ratio of female students at St. Clair
“Of course, this trend is widespread across many STEM fields in post-secondary institutions,” he said.