Often we think of our career path as something that happens to us. We think in terms of doing what we can to prepare ourselves, but tend to think there’s only so much we can control. By thinking with such a scarcity mindset, we’re setting ourselves up for a career that we endure as long as we have to and then retire as soon as possible. The good news is: we don’t have to live like that. We can learn to create a personal brand and use that brand to market ourselves in a way that allows us to take charge of our careers and create a career path built for us.
Read More
Topics:
Career,
Communication,
Resources,
Influence,
Career Path,
Self-Awareness,
Confidence,
Personal Branding,
Challenges,
Career Development,
Influence Without Authority,
#WESTevent,
Identity,
Hiring Women in STEM
The month of May celebrates Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. WEST's 2022-2023 annual theme is "Strong Women, Strong Science, Strong World," and these women are a perfect example that science knows no geographic or gender-based bounds. Women of Asian and Pacific Islander descent have made, and are currently making huge strides in their fields of study, and are part of the development and discoveries that are constantly changing our world for the better. These are just a few of the innumerable women of Asian or Pacific Islander heritage that have made a huge impact on our world.
Read More
Topics:
Leadership,
Gender Balance, STEM,
Gender Balance,
Community,
Inspiration,
Career Path,
Gender Pay Gap,
Confidence,
Career Possibilities,
Diversity,
D&I,
Gender Parity,
Hiring Women in STEM
You know your company is downsizing, your boss calls you into their office. You go in, sit down, lump in your throat, you know what’s next. The conversation is pretty straightforward. Your boss says something like: “I’m really sorry, but as we downsize we’re cutting a lot of positions, and yours is one of them.” At that point, you’re not quite sure what to say or do, whether you expected it or not. The reality of being laid off leaves so much more uncertainty than you could possibly have prepared for.
Read More
Topics:
STEM,
Career,
Interview,
Panel,
Job,
Professional,
Change,
Solutions,
Career Path,
Developing Your Skills,
Career Development,
New Opportunities,
Hiring,
STEM Women,
Hiring Women in STEM,
Experience
Mental health struggles can happen to anyone. Being in a negative situation for too long is bound to have its effects, and sometimes it takes a lot of work to undo that damage. In many cases, mental health struggles are a result of one specific situation, or a toxic boss or co-worker, something easy to pinpoint. In STEM, that can be true, but even more so, women have seen a higher rate of mental health struggles because of more industry-wide issues. There’s still a stigma, in some places, that women don’t belong in STEM professions or that women are not going to be as smart or as well-educated as men.
Read More
Topics:
Gender Balance, STEM,
STEM,
Gender Balance,
Communication,
Community,
Choice,
Resilience,
Mentoring,
Coaching,
Culture,
Networking,
Discussion,
Mindfulness,
Change,
Collaboration,
Emotional Intelligence,
Self-Awareness,
Empathy,
Gender Pay Gap,
Confidence,
Challenges,
Career Development,
Empowerment,
Mentor,
Inclusion,
Diversity,
Organizational Culture,
Corporate Culture,
D&I,
Gender Parity,
Equity,
STEM Women,
STEM Leadership,
Female Representation STEM,
Hiring Women in STEM,
Strong Women
In 1920, women earned the right to vote. In 1963,
congress passed the Equal Pay Act of 1963, protecting women from being paid a lower rate than men for substantially similar work. As part of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, it became illegal to discriminate in employment based on race, sex, color, religion, and national origin. It’s now 2023 and women have been making progress towards equality in the workplace for over 100 years now. While there’s still room for major improvements, women have come a long way in the workplace.
Read More
Topics:
Gender Balance, STEM,
STEM,
Gender Balance,
Women,
Career,
Women in STEM,
Annual Theme,
Equal Pay,
Change,
Making a Difference,
Gender Pay Gap,
Challenges,
Career Development,
Organizational Culture,
D&I,
Gender Parity,
Equity,
Organizational Change,
STEM Women,
STEM Leadership,
Female Representation STEM,
Hiring Women in STEM,
International Women's Day,
Women's History Month,
Strong Women,
Strong World
WEST’s Career Possibilities Panel & Speed Networking series has been incredibly popular. Our first Career Possibilities event of 2023 gave around 100 people the opportunity to learn about STEM communications positions from people that were currently working in that area. We’re thrilled to see the turnout for these events consistently increasing, allowing more and more STEM professionals, and STEM professionals-to-be an opportunity to prepare themselves for their next career move.
Read More
Topics:
Leadership,
Career,
Community,
Mentoring,
Network,
Job,
Networking,
Career Development,
Career Possibilities,
Speed Networking,
New Opportunities,
#WESTevent,
STEM Women,
Hiring Women in STEM
I have been thinking a lot about the success of women who work in Engineering, Science, and Technology from a post-pandemic lens. As more and more women considered dropping back, or out of the workforce in the past two years, I began to wonder what strategies and behaviors could be used to keep them in their professional careers. There is a large body of work dedicated to uncovering research behind women in the workforce and their reasons for leaving yet not much has been written about the support systems women have that enable their rise in the workforce to be successful. I decided to interview a couple of women in engineering, science, and technology to learn a little bit more about the workforce policies that helped them rise and the kinds of people that have lifted, mentored, or supported them along their journey including both professionally and personally.
Read More
Topics:
Gender Balance, STEM,
Gender Balance,
Career,
Interview,
Work Life Balance,
Success,
Network,
Inspire,
Mom,
Leader,
Women in STEM,
Working Remotely,
Professional,
Relationships,
Resources,
Solutions,
Connect,
Career Path,
Values,
Support,
Impact,
Career Possibilities,
Empowerment,
New Opportunities,
Learn,
Inclusion,
Diversity,
#WESTorg,
Parenting,
Equity,
STEM Women,
Female Representation STEM,
Hiring Women in STEM,
Experience,
Ally,
Allyship,
Strategies,
Reflect, Reimagine, Emerge Stronger
By now you may have heard about the great resignation but if you haven’t it’s the shift from an employer’s market to a candidate’s market and there are now more jobs than there are people to fill them. Companies are especially struggling to attract and retain female employees and this is especially concerning in the STEM fields where womxn are already grossly underrepresented. This blog post attempts to outline what womxn are looking for in a post-pandemic world and how companies can modify their policies to recruit, mentor, retain and promote top talent while addressing burnout and supporting women who are still feeling the effects of the pandemic.
Read More
Topics:
Best Practices,
Leadership,
Women,
Career,
Awards,
Community,
Resilience,
Mentoring,
Success,
Women in STEM,
Professional,
Resources,
Change,
Tools,
Empathy,
Values,
Support,
Leaders,
Impact,
Career Development,
Learn,
#WESTorg,
STEM Women,
Retaining Talent,
STEM Leadership,
Female Representation STEM,
Hiring Women in STEM
