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Grades 9-10: Job Shadow Day

May 13, 2019

On May 10th, several 9th and 10th-grade girls visited and attended Cisco’s girl power tech program, which specializes in developments associated with internet connectivity. Throughout the day, the students had the opportunity to participate in introductory experiments and learn the backstories of female managers, influences the internet has on daily life, and the life experiences of Cisco volunteers.

This visit started with a presentation given by two female managers who found success despite the challenges faced by women in IT. They discussed the common obstacles faced by women in IT fields—many associated with gender stereotypes. They commented on the dominance of males in the field, which has largely been due to the huge gap between the numbers of men and women involved in the IT community. Beyond overcoming stereotypes, they also emphasized the importance of applying individual skills to different areas, which is crucial in succeeding in all fields of study.

The lecture also included a discussion on how the internet currently benefits society and how it potentially could in the future. A demo video on vehicular network technology showed us an extended form of vehicle data sharing, which not only improves our lives via a higher degree of safety and efficiency but also provides better quality of entertainment with lower costs. Furthermore, the “city brain” also improves as technology advances. The city brain functions though three main steps: input, processing, and output. A common application of this technology is directing traffic. The terminal processes inputs from real-time traffic and directs traffic with outputs. With major progress in processing, Shanghai is ranked No. 57 instead of No. 5 as the most congested city in China. This demonstrated the important role the internet plays in our daily lives.

After an informative lecture session, the girls participated in a small workshop involving both software and hardware. Before the actual experiment, they were given an example code, information about the hardware parts, and directions for the whole experiment process. The first task was to assemble a light system with cables and a wiring board. They then had to write codes for the system to function. Although it seemed like a daunting challenge at first, everyone mastered the procedure after understanding the concise instructions and the logical connections in the code.

As the visit came to an end, the girls participated in one last workshop session: speed mentoring. This session gave the students an opportunity to explore the lives of Cisco volunteers, lending further insight into the IT field. Their work experiences disproved many stereotypes, one of which being that they have very tight and repetitive schedules. Instead, they plan out their agendas for future weeks beforehand and have the flexibility of managing time on their own. Many mentors also shared their experiences leading up to their careers in IT—particularly throughout high school and college. From their perspective, students should be grateful for the wide range of course choices they have now as engaging with basic concepts in professional academic fields will give them an advantage when deciding their major in the future.

Job Shadow Day at Cisco was both informative and engaging, offering the opportunity to interact with professionals and engage in experiments in a highly comprehensible way. This highly beneficial and memorable event allowed students to understand how IT is utilized in daily life as well as how to better plan a career related to the IT fields.

(Written by 9（2）Dora Chen Pictures by Tianzhou He and Cisco Supervised by Tianzhou He)