My thoughts on what it feels like to be a women in the biotech start-up space.
A quarter.
I can remember buying brightly colored LafyTafy squares for a quarter, such a small thing, but I cannot let go of the analogy. How insignificant those candies seemed unless there were many of them. This is how I have been feeling, like a small thing, and I am not comfortable with it at all.
Why am I comparing myself to a brightly colored piece of candy? Because I am a women in science, and like that candy I represent about a quarter. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (2015) women on average make up 23.75% of STEM jobs ranging from 12% in civil engineering to 39% of chemists and material scientists. While this is something that I have always known it has only recently become my daily truth. This is because while women earn around half of the STEM degrees, at the Bachelor level and over 40% of advanced STEM degrees, we do not hold anywhere near 50% of STEM jobs (NSF: Women, Minorities, and Personswith Disabilities in Science and Engineering statistics last updated in 2016). My transition out of academics and into the biotech world has put a very fine point on this fact. For 1.5 years I was the only full time woman employed at my current company, granted its was a four person company the day I started, but I still faced down that 25% every day.
The company has grown since I joined the team over 2-years ago, but that percentage has never exceeded 25%. In fact by the time I hit the 1-year mark I was the only woman on a six person team, slipping down to not even 17%. There are now two women in our eight-person start-up bringing the female presence back to 25% but were are in different fields and we cannot always be there to amplify and support each other.
What I am not saying is that I, as a woman in a scientific field, deserve a larger piece of the pie. What I am saying, however, is that until more women are in the STEM workforce we will continue to feel isolated and small. Part of these feelings come from my own self-doubt, but the facts are real.
I am a quarter.
I will carry this number with me as I grow in my career and at this job, it will constantly motivate me to reach out and engage other women in STEM.
This number will be my battle cry!
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