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Three dynamic women who have staked out successful careers in the gaming industry will inspire your female students to explore new career pathways.Female role models help get this career on the radar of women and girls because they’re able to see someone who looks like them on the job. This video reveals the personal experiences and insights of successful women working in this field. Gaming and related industries employ millions of people. Increasing numbers of women are establishing rewarding careers in the traditionally male-dominated gaming field. |
Career Options for Women -- Gaming:
This 24-minute video features profiles of three women with successful careers in gaming:
- Dianna Schwanke is a dealer and floor supervisor at a casino
- Leanne Painter is a jockey who rides and races thoroughbreds
- Suzie Dumont is a game designer and multimedia wiz who produces interactive lotto games
Additional information from co-workers and supervisors supplements each job profile.
Meet the role models featured in the Gaming video:
Dianna: Dealer
A career in gaming was not originally in the cards for Dianna Schwanke, a dealer and floor supervisor at Casino Yellowhead in Edmonton, Alberta. While taking psychology at a university, she decided to earn some part-time money at a casino and loved the work. Dianna completed her studies, but continued full time in the gaming business. As luck would have it, the psychology degree still comes in handy.
Dianna knows how to deal all games at the casino: craps, roulette, blackjack, baccarat and poker. The most difficult game to deal is craps because it requires 3 dealers and 1 floor supervisor. The easiest game to deal is blackjack which is what all young dealers learn first.
As a floor supervisor, Dianna observes the gaming process, making sure that everything is done according to government standards and laws.
When training to become a dealer, you learn games, casino rules and security procedures. There are no minimum educational requirements, although casinos prefer well-rounded individuals with at least a high school diploma. “It's a really fun atmosphere. You get to meet a lot of interesting people and I enjoy being around people.”
Leanne: Jockey
Leanne M. Painter's career was off to the races when she got into gaming as a thoroughbred jockey. Clients who like her riding style get her to ride their horses.
With just a very light saddle between her and a lot of horsepower, Leanne races these speed machines at over 30 miles an hour. There's danger, excitement and little room for mistakes. It's all in a day's work for Leanne, a day that starts at around five in the morning.
Leanne can't eat much before a race. She has to be at her posted weight and this is checked before every race. Leanne's race weight is around a 118 lb, including her saddle and race gear.
Racing takes a lot of nerve. And a lot of cash, if you're an owner. That's why they call horse racing the sport of kings. When a horse does win, the jockey and the owner split the purse based on a percentage. “I love winning. It's the most amazing feeling. It's a big adrenaline rush when you know that you're far in front.”
Suzie: Game Designer
Suzie Dumont is a multimedia whiz who played the hit and miss game of the freelance world for a while before signing on as a Lottery Games Designer for Ingénio, a subsidiary of Lotto Quebec. You can win money playing the interactive games they sell.
Suzie scored her job from a newspaper ad and became part of the startup team. The gamble paid off. Her responsibilities now consist of coordinating the creative team and bringing new games to fruition.
Suzie works with a team of programmers, graphic artists and creative directors for eighteen months to produce a new interactive game for Ingénio. While users might win a pot of gold playing the game, creating it is the jackpot for Suzie.
Video details:
Run time: 24 minutes total, including three segments of approximately 8 minutes each.
Format: DVD. Closed-captioned.
Year: 2006
Note: Videos are interspersed with Canadian salary and labor statistics, which are similar to the numbers in the United States.
Policies: There is a no-return policy on these videos.
Grade level: Middle School, High School, Two-Year College, Four-Year University
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Three dynamic women who have staked out successful careers in heavy equipment operations will inspire your female students to explore new career pathways.Female role models help get this career on the radar of women and girls because they’re able to see someone who looks like them on the job. The video reveals the personal experiences and insights of successful women working in this field. Heavy equipment operation and related industries employ millions of people. Increasing numbers of women are establishing rewarding careers in the traditionally male-dominated heavy equipment operation field. Role Model Videos: Career Options for Women -- Heavy Equipment Operation
$99 
Item #: EDV58 |
Career Options for Women -- Heavy Equipment Operation:
This 24-minute video features profiles of three women with successful careers in heavy equipment operation:
- Chelsea Orvis, a haul truck operator who transports excavated oil-rich material
- Stephanie Jacques, a professionally trained crane operator
- Nathalie Desrosier, a tarmac heavy equipment operator who clears snow and ice from landing areas
Additional information from co-workers and supervisors supplements each job profile.
Meet the role models featured in the Heavy Equipment Operation video:
Chelsea: Haul Truck Operator
Chelsea works at the tar sands of Fort McMurray in northern Alberta, hauling excavated oil rich material to the mill for processing. Once the oil is removed, the remaining material is hauled back.
Chelsea likes her work, but cuts to the chase when it comes to salary. Payday's the best part of the job and why wouldn't it be. With overtime, an experienced operator can make upwards of a hundred grand a year! “I enjoy what I am doing. I see lots of room for improvement and advancement. And I can see myself doing this until retirement.”
Heavy equipment operation offers quite a range of job opportunities, none of which were on Chelsea's resume when she wheeled in to apply. Chelsea's background was office work and a university education. Being a desk jockey was not her driving ambition however. After coming across an ad for heavy equipment training at a local college, Chelsea chose a different route to success.
Stephanie: Crane Operator
Size doesn't matter when it comes to operating a crane. Just ask Stephanie Jacques, the first woman in Quebec to be professionally trained as a crane operator. She's tiny!
Still an apprentice, Stephanie admits to being a bit awestruck when following crane operators on-site. You have to know your stuff and there's very little room for mistakes. Once she's put in enough hours, Stephanie will be granted her Class A permit and be ready to scale the heights of her profession. Stephanie had to go through a rigorous selection process once she applied to be a crane operator. There were math tests, manual dexterity tests and 3-dimensional eye exams. In the end, she was one of 15 applicants selected by the committee.
Stephanie enjoys good working conditions and there can be big money in operating a crane. The more experience she gets, the more money she will make.
Nathalie: Tarmac Heavy Equipment Operator
For Tarmac Heavy Equipment Operator Nathalie Desrosier, the more nontraditional the job, the better. She's cleared a path for other women, working first as a railway conductor before landing a job at Dorval International airport as an equipment operator. She helps keep the runways in perfect condition in rain or shine - or in several tons of snow!
Nathalie can operate all types of heavy equipment at the airport. This involves clearing snow, de-icing the landing area and performing basic maintenance duties on the machinery.
Nathalie enjoys the solitude of her job. Even in a team, she works alone, because the only contact when in action is over the radio. Her easy-going personality is an asset in this male-dominated environment. She takes things with a grain of salt, just as they do.
$99
Item #: EDV58
Video details:
Run time: 24 minutes total, including three segments of approximately 8 minutes each.
Format: DVD. Closed-captioned.
Year: 2006
Note: Videos are interspersed with Canadian salary and labor statistics, which are similar to the numbers in the United States.
Policies: There is a no-return policy on these videos.
Grade level: Middle School, High School, Two-Year College, Four-Year University
Three dynamic women who have staked out successful careers in information technology will inspire your female students to explore new career pathways.
Female role models help get this career on the radar of women and girls because they're able to see someone who looks like them on the job. The video reveals the personal experiences and insights of successful women working in this field.
Information technology and related industries employ millions of people. Increasing numbers of women are establishing rewarding careers in the traditionally male-dominated information technology field.
$99
Item #: EDV59Career Options for Women -- Information Technology:
This 24-minute video features profiles of three women with successful careers in information technology:
- Coraleigh Hine, a computer service support technician specializing in sales and installation
- Shawna White, a desktop support analyst who troubleshoots and repairs client problems
- Nancy Nadeau, a software developer producing high-end tools for digital image creation
Additional information from co-workers and supervisors supplements each job profile.
Meet the role models featured in the Information Technology video:
Coraleigh: Computer Service Support Technician
Coraleigh Hine is a Computer Sales and Service Support Technician who works for "Business Pro Computers." Her duties include on-site customer support, installing desktop systems, software and user interfaces, peripheral maintenance (printers, palm organizers, scanners), server software upgrades and user network administration, diagnosing and dispatching of all system problems, responding to customer requests for hardware/software quotes and customer follow-through to ensure needs are met.
After she had graduated from high school, Coraleigh went straight into a two-year program called Automated Business Equipment Technician. In her second year, she specialized in computers.
There are three things that Coraleigh likes best about the field: She enjoys the problem solving, she likes interacting with people and she enjoys the challenge of learning new things. The benefits of being in the computer industry are great. There are tremendous opportunities in all areas and new ones arise quickly as the industry changes extremely fast. It offers a range of salaries based on knowledge and technical skills. "Educate yourself first, then look for a company that offers the opportunity to grow and learn. Follow your passion and the money will come."
Shawna: Desktop Support Analyst
As a Desktop Support Analyst for TELUS Communications, Shawna provides Tier 2 support, which is the level after the help desk. This means that she actually goes to the client's computer to troubleshoot and repair the problem after the help desk has received the call. With most calls, she fixes software and assesses hardware problems.
Shawna finds it very rewarding to fix a really tough problem quickly and make the customer happy with the solution. Another reward for her is the personal interaction. Everyone has her number and they all call her! When she gets a thank-you from her customers, that's also a bonus. On average, she deals with 25-30 in-house clients a day.
After high school, Shawna took a year off and did some part-time art courses in art and design. She discovered that Art & Design wasn't going to make her happy financially. Her compromise was Computer Graphic Design, but she had no idea how to use computers. She knew how to turn a computer on but not much more! To increase her computer knowledge she enrolled in a Computer Systems Technology program. Two years later, she graduated with a diploma in Computer Systems Technology and went to work "on" computers rather that "with" computers.
"There are so few women in my area of expertise. This career choice not only offers great potential for growth and diversity, but it is ever changing. The technology and the type of work is always expanding which means we need more women in it."
Nancy: Software Developer
Nancy Nadeau works for Softimage as a software developer engineer. Softimage is a provider of high-end tools for creating digital images. Nancy develops tools that facilitate the work of the software users, so they can create better, more realistic special effects or images. These tools are mainly used for special effects in movies such as The Matrix or in game creation at Sega and Nintendo. The company also works with Industrial Light & Magic, which did the special effects for Star Wars. Nancy has a bi-disciplinary in mathematics-computer science.
Directly after university, Nancy started working at Softimage. She was the first woman to join the Research and Development team at Softimage. Nancy never really saw herself as a woman working in the midst of a group of men, but rather as a person working with colleagues, trying to make the best software on the market. Nancy encourages other women to enter the field of computer science, but also recommends other fields outside of this realm. Computer graphics can be one option, and there are also other fields such as Artificial Intelligence, Operational Research, or Speech Recognition, just to name a few.
Computer science in general is a field where people are paid fairly well. Benefits can also include stock options. "Things change so fast that there is always new technology to learn, new algorithms created...I was once a project leader. I liked it a lot, but I also like to be close to the code."
$99
Item #: EDV59
Video details:
Run time: 24 minutes total, including three segments of approximately 8 minutes each.
Format: DVD. Closed-captioned.
Year: 2006
Note: Videos are interspersed with Canadian salary and labor statistics, which are similar to the numbers in the United States.
Policies: There is a no-return policy on these videos.
Grade level: Middle School, High School, Two-Year College, Four-Year University
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Three dynamic women who have staked out successful careers in the manufacturing industry will inspire your female students to explore new career pathways.Female role models help get this career on the radar of women and girls because they’re able to see someone who looks like them on the job. The video reveals the personal experiences and insights of successful women working in this field. Manufacturing and related industries employ millions of people. Increasing numbers of women are establishing rewarding careers in the traditionally male-dominated manufacturing field. |
Career Options for Women -- Manufacturing:
This 24-minute video features profiles of three women with successful careers in manufacturing:
- Marnie Zimmerman, an instrumentation technician who repairs circuit boards for air conditioning systems
- Kristina Bouchard, a machine operator for an aerospace company
- Darlene Fitzgerald, a horticulturalist who manages a large production staff
Additional information from co-workers and supervisors supplements each job profile.
Meet the role models featured in the Manufacturing video:
Marnie: Instrumentation Technician
Marnie Zimmerman is a Service Technologist at Delta Controls, a company that designs and manufactures heating, ventilation and air conditioning control systems (commonly referred to as HVACR). Her job is to repair the circuit boards that come back in from the field.
Marnie attended the Faculty of Science at Simon Fraser University (SFU) for her first year of post secondary education. She then left SFU to register for a two year technical program at a technology institute.
The most satisfying part of the job for Marnie is doing her job quickly and efficiently. This results in customers that are happy with their service. The job can be challenging though, especially if there are a large number of items to be fixed. “Explore all your options, a technical career can be just as challenging and satisfying as an academic career.”
In the future, Marnie plans to back to school for a bachelor of technology degree or engineering degree. Then, she can design systems rather than just repair them.
Kristina: Machine Operator
Kristina Bouchard is a machine operator for Aerospace Hemmingford. The company manufactures aircraft engine components. Kristina's job is to machine various materials (metals). This includes drilling precise holes, taking excess material off by milling methods, lathe work, assembly work and doing set-ups on machines.
In addition to carpentry and construction, Kristina also has a certification from Pratt & Whitney to weld. She says that while her job is not physically demanding, it is mentally challenging. Kristina learns something new every day. Kristina and her co-workers are always inventing better ways to complete certain jobs and set-ups. If she ever had to leave the company, she believes that she would have many opportunities. Kristina could be a machine operator for another company, a full-time welder, or simply go back to carpentry school. In the future, she hopes to become a tool room foreperson even though the job appears to be very stressful.
When asked if she would recommend other women to enter the field, Kristina replied, "Yes - because it can be a lot of fun. Also, the sooner we women advance in these fields, the less we will be stereotyped."
Darlene: Horticulturalist
Darlene Fitzgerald is a horticulturist. Her job involves deciding what is to be planted and when. She oversees the planting, soil testing, scheduling of watering and fertilizing, and monitoring of pruning and twisting. In addition, she supervises staff and troubleshoots problems. Her stock management duties also include the computer tracking of cuttings and the trials of new plants and ideas.
Darlene thinks her interest in horticulture started in second grade when her mom encouraged her to grow a School Garden and enter her vegetables and flowers in the local Agri-Fair. In college the instructor of her first horticultural course showed her the many diverse opportunities available in the horticultural industry.
After graduating from high school, Darlene enrolled in part-time general studies at the local college while working full time. She completed courses in Psychology, Computers, Criminology, and Business. Darlene liked business and computers, but knew she'd hate working behind a desk all day. After taking a few horticulture courses, she realized horticulture was the perfect mix.
Video details:
Run time: 24 minutes total, including three segments of approximately 8 minutes each.
Format: DVD. Closed-captioned.
Year: 2006
Note: Videos are interspersed with Canadian salary and labor statistics, which are similar to the numbers in the United States.
Policies: There is a no-return policy on these videos.
Grade level: Middle School, High School, Two-Year College, Four-Year University
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Three dynamic women who have staked out successful careers in the marine transportation industry will inspire your female students to explore new career pathways.Female role models help get this career on the radar of women and girls because they’re able to see someone who looks like them on the job. This video reveals the personal experiences and insights of successful women working in this field. Marine transportation and related industries employ millions of people. Increasing numbers of women are establishing rewarding careers in the traditionally male-dominated marine transportation field. Role Model Videos: Career Options for Women -- Marine Transportation
$99
Item #: EDV61 |
Career Options for Women -- Marine Transportation:
This 24-minute video features profiles of three women with successful careers in marine transportation:
- Manon Turcotte, a boat pilot accustomed to busy shipping lanes and port harbors
- Gina Gray, a ferry deckhand working her way up to Second Officer
- Louise McGowan, a naval engineer who maintains shipboard mechanical equipment
Additional information from co-workers and supervisors supplements each job profile.
Meet the role models featured in the Marine Transportation video:
Manon: Boat Pilot
Manon Turcotte originally wanted to become an accountant, but realized an office job wasn’t right for her. Then she saw a presentation on careers in the marine industry and decided to chart a course in this direction. She attended a Marine Institute and spent several years on ships. Today, Manon is one of only three female marine pilots in Canada, out of a total 350 marine pilots nationwide. She is a pilot on the St. Lawrence Seaway and works for a company called Mid St. Lawrence Pilotage, navigating ships through the seaway from Montreal to Trois- Rivieres.
The St. Lawrence penetrates over 2,300 miles into the North American continent. Its geography is complex and varied, with 500 islands dotting its course. Pilots like Manon are called in to take ships through this tricky, potentially dangerous waterway and into the right harbor safely. Manon helps all kinds of ships from all over the world, from cargo ships to tankers to passenger ships, even submarines and destroyers! A pilot on the St. Lawrence Seaway makes a good living. The hours are demanding and very irregular. You can be called in at anytime. Manon says she has learned to sleep whenever she gets a chance. “I like my job because it is never routine. Every day is different with different ships.”
Manon’s job keeps her very busy. So in her spare time she likes to go for quiet walks in Trois-Rivieres, where she lives.
Gina: Ferry Deckhand
Gina Gray is a deckhand with BC Ferries and is working her way up to Second Officer. She took her Watchkeeping certificate at the Pacific Marine Training Campus and got some hands on experience in the Navy. This combination was her ticket onboard the Queen of New Westminster. The ship is about 430 feet long with 15,000 horsepower and room for 286 cars. It may sound like a lot to handle, but Gina's got it covered.
Gina works ten hour days, five days on and five days off. She likes working at the British Columbia Ferry Corporation because they offer great benefits. Her future goals are to move up through second and first officer and eventually become a captain. Gina enjoys the responsibility her job offers. She says the work is always changing and, although some days are uneventful, her job can get very intense in emergency situations.
Gina did a lot of other things before choosing a career on the ocean. She went to theater and film school, and even did some production work on a few films. Nowadays, her role at BC Ferries has all the production elements she requires. “I love working outside with the changing scenery. I have the most beautiful office in the world.”
Louise: Naval Engineer
Ever wonder what it takes to keep those big Navy ships in top notch condition? Ask Louise McGowan, Marine Engineer on the HMCS Ville de Quebec. Marine Engineers, or "stokers" as Louise describes herself, are the personnel who operate, monitor and maintain a ship's mechanical equipment. Louise spent all of her teen years as a sea cadet then joined the Navy when she was 22. Louise signed up because she figured it was time to settle down. Settle down and travel, from the looks of it!
Louise says it's a job that's right for her. Her future aspirations include writing a book about the life perspective of a Canadian sailor. Louise believes other women would enjoy her job because it’s never routine. Every day is unique with new horizons and different challenges. “I love the adventure of being at sea. You're sailing out into this hostile environment and you never know what's going to happen.”
$99
Item #: EDV61
Video details:
Run time: 24 minutes total, including three segments of approximately 8 minutes each.
Format: DVD. Closed-captioned.
Year: 2006
Note: Videos are interspersed with Canadian salary and labor statistics, which are similar to the numbers in the United States.
Policies: There is a no-return policy on these videos.
Grade level: Middle School, High School, Two-Year College, Four-Year University
