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On the Job: A Case Study
Student Handout

Step 1

Choose three careers that you would like to have.  What fields are they in?

Career	Field	
Example: Biologist	Biology, Science	

		

Visit Library and Archives Canada’s Celebrating Women’s Achievements website.  Read the biographies of some of the women in the fields you have chosen. If the field you have chosen is not there, use another career choice, or choose something close.

Choose one of the women that you admire.  Gather the following information from the LAC Celebrating Women’s Achievements website as well as from other sources:

•	Personal info about the individual (birth date, education, etc.)
•	What field were they in -- give details about the field:
•	What does it involve? (education, skills, work, lifestyle, etc.)
•	Why is it important? (e.g. Engineering turns scientific principles into usable devices which can improve or threaten our lives.)
•	How does it affect our lives? (e.g. Librarianship improves our lives by making it possible to access information and by preserving books.)
•	Who are other notable scientists and what are other important developments in this field? (e.g. Other notable people in science include Marie Curie, who isolated radium, Albert Einstein… .)
•	Why what this person accomplished was important. Research and brainstorm reasons.
•	What challenges this person faced. Give details: 
•	How did they overcome them?
•	Would they still face them today?
Finish by answering these questions: 
•	What makes the accomplishments of this person exceptional?
•	Should it have mattered (or did it matter) that they were women?

Next, use your findings to make judgments about your own career choices.
•	Did you learn about any challenges that you think you might have to face?  
•	How could you handle these challenges?

Step 2

Make a life plan toward achieving your goals.  Elements to include:

•	A timetable of education you will need;
•	Personal characteristics you may need to develop in order to succeed (e.g. discipline, math skills, public speaking abilities);
•	Practice and other activities outside school you might need;
•	Resources (money, equipment, etc.) needed, and ways you might get them; and
•	Any other strategies you can use to accomplish your goals.

Some Possible Sources:

Library and Archives Canada: Celebrating Women's Achievements 
URL: http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/women/ 

Related sites:
Herstory 
URL: http://library.usask.ca/herstory/
Famous Five Site 
URL: http://www.famous5.org/
Library and Archives Canada: Memorable Canadians
URL: http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/8/2/ 
Canada Career Consortium: Career Directions
URL: http://www.careerccc.org/careerdirections/