Young women explore career options in agriculture at Leth Poly

By Alejandra Pulido-Guzman - Lethbridge Herald on November 22, 2024.

LETHBRIDGE HERALDapulido@lethbridgeherald.com

The Southern Alberta Collegiate Institute offered young women in Grade 7 through Grade 9 a hands-on career exploration session in sectors critical to the regional economy at Lethbridge Polytechnic.
The Southern Alberta Collegiate Institute is a unique partnership of six school divisions, Lethbridge Polytechnic and two non-profit organizations to give middle and high school students across southern Alberta an opportunity to explore career pathways online or on Lethbridge Polytechnic’s campus.
On Thursday nearly 80 students had the opportunity to explore a variety of careers that are possible to pursue in Alberta’s agriculture sector, by taking part in rotating workshops about plants and animals and interactive equipment spaces as well as hearing from women in industry during a discussion panel.
Kaylee Day Chief, director of sales at AdvancedAg Inc. was one of the panelists and she talked to media after her discussion.
“I was asked to be a part of this event to share my journey in agriculture, how career paths aren’t always linear and how I came to be the director of sales for AdvancedAg,” said Day Chief.
She said she hopes that by sharing her story girls would get inspired to join the agriculture sector as a career path.
“As director of sales, I see a lot of ag tech start-ups and women-owned companies. So it’s very important to talk to young women about it because women bring an entirely new and fresh perspective to an industry that hasn’t always been as accepting of women,” said Day Chief.
She said it is great to see women starting up their own companies on Ag doing robotics and drone work, being of soil Biologists and just doing things outside the box that women normally aren’t seen doing so.
“There are tons of interest from women and also, they’re bringing these amazing ideas and tech to the industry. They’re solving a lot of world issues and challenges that we’re having specifically on food storage and security,” said Day Chief.
She said they want to inspire youth to hopefully see that there is a career path outside of just being a farmer and agronomist when it comes to careers in the agriculture sector.  
“I would say find what excites you, it might not necessarily be farming or agronomy, but maybe you really love animals, or you love technology and you really want to get into drone work or a robotics like I mentioned before,” said Day chief. “Just find what excites you and really focus on that and then try to tailor all of your schooling and your efforts on getting you to that career choice.”
Ayla Mcllwraith, a Grade 8 student from Coalhurst High School, said she took part of the experience because she grew up around animals and is interested in pursuing a career in the field.
“It’s a really cool experience, to be able to see in real life the things you do here and how you do it and learning what careers I could go into and the steps to get there,’ said Mcllwraith.

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