Margaret-Ann Armour

Associate Dean of Science, University of Alberta

Past Vice-Chair and Founding Member of WISEST

“To see black ink separate into its blue and yellow and red and purple–the various dyes that make it black–that gets students hooked,” says Margaret-Ann passionately.

She is still thrilled by students’ spontaneous delight with discovery. She is still tickled by their appreciation for a summers life-changing experience.

Twenty-five years ago, Margaret-Ann was a keen founding member of WISEST, a committee created by the vice-president of research at the University of Alberta, to encourage young women to consider careers in the fields of science, engineering and technology. “I recognized that if we wanted women to choose careers in the sciences, they needed to have the opportunity to try science and find out what it was like.”

The WISEST Summer Research Program, partially funded by Alberta Ingenuity, annually supports almost 60 students who have completed grade 11 to work with research groups at the university. While the students learn that research is necessarily repetitious, they also experience the excitement of creating new knowledge. The sense of family that develops over the summer is particularly important for the rural students, who often feel isolated in school simply because of their interest in science. At the end of the program, the students present posters of work to faculty, teachers and parents. “They are SO keen to tell you about their work and proud they could accomplish something in research,” says Margaret-Ann.

WISEST has touched a generation of women and influenced many to consider science as a career, but despite the impact of the program, far fewer women than men proceed to post-graduate studies in science. And across the country, women hold only 15 per cent of science faculty positions. Margaret-Ann is helping to address this disparity. She knows what changes must be made and is coaxing them along. “All we need,” she says, “is a flexible, inclusive working environment, to persuade bright women of science to stay the course.”

• Born in Scotland
• Receives B.Sc. in chemistry from University of Edinburgh
• Works as research chemist in a paper mill, awarded M.Sc. degree and begins PhD studies at University of Alberta
• Returns to the University of Edinburgh as a post-doctoral fellow
• Emigrates to Canada
• Co-ordinator of undergraduate organic laboratories in the chemistry department at U of A
• Joins Academic Women's Association at U of A
• Founding member of WISEST
• Appointed President, Canadian Coalition of Women in Engineering, Science Trades and Technology
• Named an Edmontonian of the Century and awarded an Alberta Centennial Medal
• Made a member of the Order of Canada
  Still to come: Plans to help to establish a Canadian Centre for Women in Science, Engineering, Trades and Technology. Maybe retirement!