International Girls in ICT Day was eventful in the Cisco Toronto office – we hosted high school girls from Cardinal Leger Secondary school for a unique opportunity to speak with counterparts over 1,000 km away in North Carolina. The day was meant to be an exciting introduction to technology careers, but as usual, we not only had fun but also learned a lot more than we expected from the girls. And in an industry struggling to attract female talent, we were all ears.
Here are some of the lessons we learned from the Cardinal Leger students, and how you can put them to good use if you’re interested in holding a similar event. (Are you listening Canadian educators?)
Just coming to the office was an experience for them. We got comments like “Wow, you have such a nice office! We thought all engineers worked in a lab with wires hanging over their head!” Coming into the work environment helped demystify what a typical workday is like for a person working in the technology sector.


