Take charge of your development. Take advantage of the opportunity to join events virtually from anywhere. WEST has many exciting upcoming events to help you improve communication, bypass your inner critic in public speaking, practice fearlessness, refine your presentation skills, and much more.
Topics: Events, Leadership, Women, Career, Communication, Resilience, Panel, Network, Presentation, Women in STEM, Networking, Upcoming Events, Mindfulness, Developing Your Skills, Career Development, Learn, Advocate, #WESTevent, #WESTorg, Be Fearless, Be Brave, Webinar, Fearlessness, Parenting, Public Speaking
On April 2, 2020, WEST will honor those who exemplify the mission of WEST. The two key award categories this year will be Making a Difference in the Community (e.g. running non-profit, helping in a soup kitchen, volunteering with animals) and Making a Difference for Women (e.g. supporting women's causes, mentoring, championing diversity). Do you know someone who is making a difference in one of these categories? If so, please nominate them here by 2/6/2020. Nominations are open to the WEST community including members and the larger community of supporters, friends, and allies. Awardees will be announced mid-February.
Topics: Events, Gender Balance, Women, Tech, Science, Nominate, Awards, Community, Giving Back, Panel, Network, Giving, Inspire, Making a Difference, #WESTorg, Be Fearless, Be Brave, Gender Parity
You’re the boss of you. You author your own self-fulfilling prophecy when you decide whether to limit yourself to, or expand upon, your natural talents. Everyone, extrovert or introvert, has to be intentional about networking. And success in anything, not just networking, is far more strongly correlated to continuous effort than the hand that fate or genetics dealt you. A chance event may point you in a certain direction, but only you can keep yourself moving along that path or venture off to go bushwhacking elsewhere, if so inclined.
Topics: Events, STEM, Women, Career, Cambridge, Network, Women in STEM, Networking, Upcoming Events, Empowerment, Advice, Inclusion, Diversity, #WESTevent, #WESTorg, Be Fearless, Be Brave, D&I
Learn more about past events listed below
5/15: Finding your Voice Among all the Chatter
6/12: How to Inspire, Advocate and Grow During Change
6/20: Building Your Company Culture and Developing Your People
Topics: Events, Best Practices, STEM, Women, Boston, Tech, Science, Career, Communication, Community, Panel, Cambridge, Network, Women in STEM, Workshop, Networking, Innovation, Biotech, Discussion, Interactive, Change, Lessons Learned, Connect, Management, Developing Your Skills, Leaders, Own It, Advocate, Diversity, #WESTevent, Change Management, #WESTorg, Organizational Culture, Corporate Culture
Topics: Events, Leadership, Women, Science, Career, Community, Cambridge, Success, Network, negotiation, Women in STEM, Workshop, Networking, Upcoming Events, Professional, Relationships, Biotech, Interactive, Change, Connect, Influence, Management, Leading Ourselves, Developing Your Skills, Self-Awareness, Support, Conflict Resolution, Leaders, Impact, Career Development, Influence Without Authority, Own It, Empowerment, Learn, Advocate
Pay equity expert Katie Donovan gave a mind-blowing seminar on equal pay negotiations for WEST community on March 13th.
Katie provided a few paradigm-shifting ideas which will change the way we communicate about salary negotiation. We, as women often don’t realize that we are being underpaid. And we tend to think that pay is not negotiable and that organizations will pay us fairly. However, the statistics from US Bureau of Labor clearly demonstrate the issue of unequal pay between men and women [Chart 3 below]. Since 2004, the women’s-to-men’s earnings ratio has remained in the 80 to 83 percent range [data]. That’s the awakening mindset Katie challenged every woman to bear in mind.
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
Join WESTorg for this flagship event to learn from seasoned senior leaders as they tell us about their inspiring journeys to success in the fast-paced world of science and technology. The topic will be our annual theme, "Own It! Empowering Your Career & Your Life." Hear advice they have for owning your career and taking charge of your future by exploiting your strengths with confidence and fine-tuning your skills to ask for what you want and need. Network with movers and shakers in the science and technology community and support career advancement of the next generation of women leaders in STEM!
Topics: Events, Leadership, Women, Science, Career, Community, Panel, Network, Women in STEM, Networking, Annual Theme, Upcoming Events, Professional, Biotech, Discussion, Female, Connect, Inspiration, Lead, Leaders, Own It
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
Do you think you deserve a higher salary in the job offer? Are you aiming to score that promotion this year? Frustrated by the growing workload and the dwindling resources? Couldn’t get to agreement with your team about project deliverables and timelines? Regardless of your role, we negotiate everyday. And these difficult conversations always wrack our nerves. WEST’s first workshop in 2019 by Amy Rebecca Gay provided a framework and practical tools to help us navigate self-advocacy and increase effectiveness in negotiation.
Topics: Gender Balance, Network, negotiation, Workshop, Networking, Relationships, Tools, Developing Your Skills, Compensation, Empowerment