WEST Wisdom Blog

Join Katie Donovan to learn pragmatic approaches to achieving pay equity, from both sides of the compensation negotiation process. 

On July 1, 2018, the Act to Establish Pay Equity, amending G.L. c.149, §105A (MA Pay Equity Law) went into effect in Massachusetts. For women and other systematically underpaid groups, the MA Pay Equity Law is the biggest thing since the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act sliced some equality bread back in 2009.

The MA Pay Equity Law forbids employers from asking about salary history. The law enables women and other minorities to escape the cycle of underpayment resulting from systemic and unconscious bias. The law also means that the lower salary you accepted for that dream job at a startup that didn't make it can't be used to lowball you down road. 

Topics: Events, Women, Science, Career, Community, Network, Job, Women in STEM, Networking, Upcoming Events, Professional, Biotech, Discussion, Equal Pay, Connect, Gender Pay Gap, Leaders, Impact, Own It, Advocate

Your next job is more likely to come from a referral than a posting. That means your network is just as important as your resume.

As a B2B tech content writer, I rarely meet my clients or readers in person. To them, my physical existence is hypothetical beyond pixel configurations. Most of what I write about can't be touched—though I’ve often wished I could hug SQL. Everything is conceptual, visible but intangible.

Still, when I redesigned my website, all my mentors, from the copywriters to the engineers, were emphatic that I use as many pictures of my smiling face as possible. Eye contact, even simulated, hypothetical eye contact, is crucial for establishing trust.

Topics: Events, Women, Science, Career, Community, Network, Job, Women in STEM, Networking, Upcoming Events, Professional, Biotech, Connect, Leaders, Impact, Own It

Innovation and all the benefits that stem from it, are correlated to board diversity. Regardless of whether you’re planning to join a board, you should be aware of where organizations that impact your life sit on the spectrum of board diversity. 

Check out some of the best infographics in the Missing Pieces Report: The 2018 Board Diversity Census of Women and Minorities on Fortune 500 Boards. Download the complete report, a multiyear collaboration by the Alliance for Board Diversity and Deloitte here.

Topics: Events, Women, Science, Career, Community, Panel, Cambridge, Network, Women in STEM, Networking, Upcoming Events, Innovation, Professional, Biotech, Connect, Board of Directors, Leaders, Impact, Own It, Diversity

Join WESTorg at Takeda on Wednesday, January 23, 2019, for the #WESTawards to honor individuals in the Boston science and technology community that embody WEST’s 2018-2019 theme, ‘Own It: Empowering Your Career & Your Life’. 

WEST is a learning community that provides women in the enterprise of science and technology with the inspiration, knowledge and connections to reach their full potential. Please join #WESTorg and our sponsors, Takeda, Johnson & Johnson and Safety Partners at Takeda’s Cambridge offices for the 2019 #WESTawards and Networking Night to honor individuals in Boston’s STEM community who embody WEST’s mission and our ‘Own It’ theme in their service of inclusivity and empowerment in STEM and STEM initiatives that benefit the community at large.

Topics: Events, Women, Science, Career, Awards, Community, Giving Back, Interview, Cambridge, Success, Network, Inspire, Women in STEM, Networking, Upcoming Events, Professional, Biotech, Rockstars, Connect, Making a Difference, Inspiration, Role Models, Volunteer, Compensation, Strengths, Support, Leaders, Impact, Own It, Sponsor, Advocate

It was an early October WEST event. Dr. Amy Rebecca Gay had just started her presentation on self-advocacy and negotiating-while-womaning. I wasn’t expecting the rip tide surge of emotion. It barely touched the surface, but it took the room underwater with a collective two-beat sigh, an almost visible miasma of bang-your-head-against-the-wall frustration. Dr. Gay had just explained Dr. Hannah Riley Bowles’ observation that women pay a ‘social cost’ for effectively negotiating for themselves even when the same exact behaviors and outcomes earn men respect and a social capital bonus. Insert two-beat sigh here. Innnnn, and oooooout.  

Topics: Events, Women, Science, Career, Community, Interview, negotiation, Women in STEM, Networking, Biotech, Interactive, Connect, Gender Pay Gap, Compensation, Leaders, Career Development, Advocate

Ros Deegan, President and CBO of Bicycle Therapeutics, sat down with WEST to discuss her insights on twenty years working in the enterprise-side of pharmaceuticals and biotech as an avowed generalist.

Topics: Women, Science, Career, Community, Interview, Women in STEM, Networking, Biotech, Connect, Leaders

For me, holiday networking is a bit easier because it’s both energized and relaxed. Like holiday light displays, there’s a practical core: light the longest nights of year—build the network. But—pun alert–there’s fun in the function: those glowing colors and twinkling patterns distract me from the cold, dark walk from the office to the T station.

Topics: Events, Women, Tech, Science, Career, Community, Women in STEM, Networking, Upcoming Events, Biotech, Connect, Own It, Holiday Party

You look back on the year and you nailed it. All of it. You checked every box and made every milestone. Graduated with honors. Got that dream job. Finally took that vacation paid for with the raise that came with your promotion. So why does it seem like you forgot something? Like the puzzle is missing a piece?

Topics: Events, Women, Tech, Science, Career, Community, Cambridge, Success, Women in STEM, Workshop, Networking, Upcoming Events, Biotech, Interactive, Connect, Strengths, Values, Career Development, Own It, Learn

Just as leadership is a role best executed by personal example, in The Speed of Trust, Stephen M.R. Covey explains that the foundation of trust is personal credibility, which Covey describes as the product of “Four Cores”:

• Integrity: Do your actions align with your values?
• Intents: What’s your agenda? Are you thinking about your year-end bonus or your team’s long-term success in the context of your organization’s mission?
• Capabilities: As important as what you know and how you do it, is your ability to accurately gauge your competencies and execute accordingly.
• Results: Listed last, but this really comes before everything. This is the track record that proves a person worthy of that initial trust that gets things moving.

Topics: Events, Women, Tech, Team, Science, Career, Community, Women in STEM, Workshop, Networking, Upcoming Events, Biotech, Interactive, Connect, Trust, Career Development, Influence Without Authority, Own It, Learn

For most of us, this is a question about long-term goals and working environment preferences. Combining an MBA with your STEM skills would prove valuable in situations that require leaders who can wear many hats—lab managers, project team leaders, entrepreneurs or anyone at a startup.

Topics: Events, Leadership, Women, Tech, Science, Career, Community, Panel, Women in STEM, Networking, Upcoming Events, Career Path, Career Development, Self-Reflection, MBA