Torch - Spring/Summer 2019

I’ve always been impressed by the number of girls who apply outside of those more typical programs that girls go into.

Grade 11 and 12 students attend Career Connections, hosted by Havergal’s Guidance and Advancement & Community Relations departments.

— Heather Johnstone

students are also applying to traditionally male-dominated fields such as computer science, mathematics and engineering. While Johnstone notes that applications in these fields have increased, especially in engineering, she’s noticed throughout her 14 years at Havergal that they have always been relatively strong. “I’ve always been impressed by the number of girls who apply outside of those more typical programs that girls go into. We have good representation across the STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) fields and we always have.” Perhaps one of the best confirmations of career-planning success is graduates returning to Havergal to report on their achievements. This often happens during university reading weeks, when students poke their heads into Johnstone’s office for a chat. “They come back to visit and seem well equipped at university, which means that we are doing a good job preparing them for post-secondary. The great luxury we have here is they check in and keep coming back, even after two or three years. We’re always really proud of them.”

the right personal decision. “I think it’s really important to not separate those two elements because it has so much to do with finding a good school: knowing and understanding each student and all the things that she likes,” she says, adding that some students have a strong idea of what they want to do from an early age, while others need more guidance in exploring their options. Havergal also helps students through the university exploration process by bringing in representatives from around 60 universities across Canada, the United States, Europe and the United Kingdom. At the university application stage, Guidance Counsellors further help students narrow down the options that would suit them, from city to class sizes to programs. Today’s average graduating class is around 120 students and they apply to institutions across Canada, the U.S. and the U.K. Some go as far afield as Holland, France, South Korea, Hong Kong and the Caribbean. Popular programs include commerce, economics, sciences (including biomedical programs) and social sciences. Havergal

Today’s new paths start with Guidance Skip forward a hundred years or so and the question about why education for women is needed has fallen away. But the happier dilemma of what to study after graduation remains. Students first begin the more formal contemplation of career path as early as Middle School, then in Grades 9 and 10 start to consider what they are good at and enjoy. By Grades 10 and 11, they start to focus on selecting prerequisites they need for programs in university, and by Grade 12, they are applying for post- secondary programs. At Havergal, the entire process is guided by a team of Guidance Counsellors: one for the Middle School, two grade-specific counsellors for Grades 9 and 10, and two devoted to helping Grade 11 and 12 students work on their university applications. Head of Guidance Heather Johnstone says that alongside the academic counselling, students also have access to social/ emotional support to help them make

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