WEST Wisdom Blog

2019 Women’s History Month career panel on gender diversity hosted by Vertex’s Employee Resource Network IWILL (Inspiring Women in Leadership & Learning)

Vertex Employee Resource Network hosts panel on gender diversity

As part of Women’s History Month celebrations at Vertex, IWILL (Inspiring Women in Leadership and Learning) sponsored a panel on gender diversity with some of Vertex’s top executives. IWILL co-chair Mary-Lynn Fulton explained that IWILL was the first of four Employee Resource Networks (ERN) at Vertex and that IWILL focuses on “attracting, retaining, and developing women at Vertex, particularly into leadership roles.”

Trish Hurter, PhD, executive sponsor of IWILL and an instrumental figure in launching the ERN, moderated the panel. The table below has more information about Trish and the panel participants.

Topics: Leadership, Women, Science, Career, Panel, Women in STEM, Biotech, Discussion, Connect, Inspiration, Leaders, Mentor, Diversity

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

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

Meena Subramanyam was born a scientist – for as long as she remembers, she was always interested in math, biology and how nature works. She aligned her coursework at school to ensure that she attended as many science classes as she could, and then pursued a degree in microbiology, with a focus on human anatomy, immunology and physiology in college which prepared her for pursuing a career in applied research. She focused on understanding the development of resistance to tuberculosis drugs for her Master’s thesis and shifted to studying the response of the immune system at the molecular level when she came to the USA to continue her graduate studies. From there, hard work, focus, a desire to learn about drug development and commitment to make a meaningful difference drove an impressive career and her current position as a VP and Global Program leader at Takeda.

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

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