Winnipeg company hopes to increase the number of women working in tech sector

WINNIPEG -

A Winnipeg-based program is aiming to increase the number of women working in the tech sector.

Ubisoft Winnipeg created the Nova program to help deal with the underrepresentation of women in STEM (Science Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) careers.

"We have an amazing, talented group of women here at our studio here at Ubisoft Winnipeg,” said Ashley Smith, human resources manager at the company. “We have a lot of work to do, and that’s one of the reasons why we started the Nova program, not just in our studio, but in the community.”

Nova was launched two years ago to help teach leadership skills to women in technology and gaming. Smith said the goal is to address key barriers for women entering the industry, including gaining confidence, work/life balance, networking and negotiation.

The women at Ubisoft went through the program. The company also partnered with the University of Winnipeg’s women in computer science student group.

Nicoli Martins, a participant in the program, is not a co-op student at Ubisoft, and praised the program.

“We had a chance to put into words things that were in my head that I didn’t know how to say,” she said. “We had an awesome group of people, other women, and we had a safe place where we could talk about all of those issues and discover new ways to solve problems that we always had.”

With success at the university level, Ubisoft is looking to expand its reach to Winnipeg high schools.

“Some of the feedback that we got from the women after they finished the program is that they wish they would have learned the skills and things that they learned in Nova earlier on in their careers, and even just in life,” Smith said.

As for Martins, she hopes the goals she has set for her career and her industry are well within her reach.

“Having women in leadership positions makes workplaces more diverse, and that is all we want,” she said.