Diversity is a growing strength of our Faculty and incoming first-year students reflect this more than ever before; over 25 per cent are women, and nearly 27 per cent come from outside Canada. Diverse international students enrich the learning experience for everyone. We are actively building a global educational environment — rich with varied perspectives — in which our students can thrive. This is an important part of preparing our students to work in a global economy.
complete the Engineering Strategies and Practice course series to continue in a program of study.
The diversity of our applicant pool is due in part to our growing international reputation and enhanced recruitment initiatives, including: continued applicant relations events in regions like Turkey, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Asia and India; use of video conferencing with prospective students; collaboration with other Faculties at U of T to expand our reach worldwide; and, building stronger relationships with educators in international schools. We also redeveloped recruitment materials and the Discover Engineering website (discover.engineering.utoronto.ca) to align with Boundless messages. To read more about these new promotional materials, please see the Communications chapter.
The increase in female enrolment is also an encouraging sign and can be attributed to a number of factors. For example, the new Girls’ Leadership in Engineering Experience (GLEE) weekend held in May 2012 attracted nearly 100 newly admitted female students. This initiative aims to empower female students who are about to join a community where women are at the forefront of engineering leadership and innovation. In 2012, 82 per cent of those who attended the GLEE event ultimately chose to attend U of T Engineering in the fall.
Our International Foundation Program (IFP), now in its third year, continues to draw highly qualified international students. We welcomed 31 IFP students in 2012–2013, up from 26 last year. This program allows students who are academically strong but have lower English facility scores to be conditionally admitted to the Faculty as non-degree students. Students in this program must complete an intensive eight-month English language program and also
As the number of our international students grows, so do our efforts to ensure they adapt successfully into a new learning and cultural environment. Our International Student Ambassador Program, for example, connects new international students with upper-year engineering students to help ease them into a new community, city and country.
We also held a number of other on-campus recruitment events at various stages of the applicant cycle to attract the best local students to U of T Engineering, including Fall Campus Day, March Break Applicant Event and Welcome to Engineering. Together, these collaborative efforts position U of T Engineering as a first-choice destination for high-performing students of every kind from across the world.
Figure 1.3 Incoming First-year Undergraduates with Percentage of Women and International Students, 2003 to 2012 23.7% 20.3%
20.3%
21.2%
20.4%
22.8%
23.9%
23.6%
22.6% 18.9% 13.5%
12.1%
13.2%
14.1%
1,236
1,201
1,235
251 150
245 159
262 174
25.4% 23.4% 23.9%
26.8%
18.4%
5.1% 1,200 61 284 1,139 916
1,064 216 144 848
2003 Men
920
2004
985
1,086
2005
956
1,042
2006
Women
973
1,061
2007 Domestic
1,090 249 206 841 884
1,300
1,201
1,213
1,191
287 221
286 274
279 285
980
927 939
912 906
2010
2011
914
2008
2009
330 348 970 952
2012
International
Note 1.3: Student counts are shown as of November 1. Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering | Annual Report 2013 | Chapter 1: Undergraduate Studies | 11
Figure 1.3 Incoming First-Year Undergraduates with Percentage of Women and