Women in STEM

Only about 29% of the STEM workforce is women. But more telling, the number of women in leadership positions in STEM is much smaller. Only 8% of biotech CEOs are women, and less than 20% of academic research lab directors and academy of science members are women.

Early in my career, I saw the disparity. I was determined that things would be different for my two daughters. But sadly, change has been slow. As my daughters chart their own paths in science and medicine, I have found myself preparing them for challenges that I hoped would no longer exist today.

I believe that girls need to see women in the roles they aspire to in order to feel that it may be attainable for them one day. Not just one woman, but many women in successful leadership roles. (Mercedes has done a great job of capturing this recently in their “Be One of Many” campaign, launched for International Women’s Day — I recommend a quick watch if you haven’t seen it.)

When I was preparing to IPO my first company, I was also coaching my daughters’ softball team. It was a girls under 14 softball league. But all the other coaches were men, and all the umpires were men. I left one particularly difficult work meeting (the only woman in the room yet again and being told that what I wanted to do was impossible) and headed directly to a softball game, where the umpire favored the male coach on the opposing team and made a series of unfair calls against our team. We were down by nearly 20 points. Many of the girls on my team started crying out of frustration and wanted to quit. I remember giving the team a pep talk that went beyond softball. It reflected what my day as a biotech CEO had been like. This was not fair, but a lot of things in life are unfair. We don’t give up. We don’t give in. We get back out there and do such an amazing job that there is no possible path forward other than success. And there is no crying on the softball field. That line became a joke during many tough times that we would repeat: “there’s no crying on the softball field.” Now, ten years later, many of the girls from our softball team reach out to me for career advice or internship connections in biotech. I feel very grateful that I had the opportunity to be their coach, and now to be their mentor.

As a mentor, I talk openly about what building a biotech company actually entails — the funding that falls through, the trials that take years, the nights you carry the weight of other people’s lives, because the glossy version helps no one. It’s very hard, but very important work. And I try to be the kind of presence I would have wanted: someone who tells younger scientists the truth and then opens the door.

I have found that most women in STEM are very encouraging and supportive of other women in the field. This certainly helps a lot. And it’s important not only to celebrate the “wins” together, but also to be there for one another when things don’t go well and to support other women who are struggling. I also believe that if we are going to see any real change, we have to lift up the next generation of women with us. Leading by example is important, but opening doors, providing introductions, giving specific advice is also critical — the tangible things many of us didn’t have access to early in our careers.