By CAGIS
“I just really love solving problems and studying how that applies to our entire world and society.”
Karah Jensen is a student completing her Honours Bachelor of Science in Mathematics at the University of Toronto. As she looks to the future, she sees a world of possibilities: “math is really exciting and you can apply it to so many different things like quantum optics, astronomy and black holes, or data science to understand all the data that comes through the internet. There are so many applications and so many different career paths I could take with math as a baseline.”
Karah discovered her love of math at a CAGIS event: “visiting an aviation centre with my CAGIS group really got me interested in how planes fly and the physics surrounding that.” She took all of her high school mathematics and physics courses (and completed her requirements by grade 11)! In university she has been taking a breadth of courses in addition to mathematics, including economics, physics, statistics, political science, and business.
Karah’s breadth of interests at university expands beyond academics and highlights a stereotype she wants to challenge: “there are a lot of stereotypes about math, like the nerd stereotype. People think that we spend 100% of our time studying, but it’s not true; I grew up playing hockey, rugby, and basketball, and I’ve been modelling since I was a teenager. The idea that people studying math are only studying math and not doing anything else in their lives is just a stereotype, and that’s it.”
Karah is now breaking these stereotypes as a role model for the next generation: she volunteers with CAGIS and has led hands-on mathematics events for CAGIS Virtual and her local CAGIS Chapter.
When looking at the future of STEM, she sees her three younger sisters, all of whom participate in CAGIS. The next eldest (after Karah) is even a Teen Ambassador. Karah reflects that “CAGIS has really given us the confidence to go into many different fields in STEM.”
Girls and gender-diverse youth face barriers in their science, technology, trades, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) journeys, from limited role models and mentorship, to bias affecting exposure, evaluations of competence, and more.
You can help us break barriers and provide more opportunities for girls and gender-diverse youth across Canada, today. Donate now.
