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Not-Your-Typical Career Tips For Woman In STEM – From Telle Whitney, Founder, Grace Hopper Conference

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Science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) are still male-dominated industries, with women making up only 24% of the STEM workforce – still. This 2017 data from the U.S. Commerce Department tracked by the nonprofit Catalyst, which focuses on women’s economies.  

The stats are even worse when it comes to software developers, apps and systems software, where women are only 18.7%, or computer network architects where women are only 4.2%, or aerospace engineers which are only 8.9% women. In 2020?!

To find out what women can do themselves to advance, I spoke with Telle Whitney, PhD., former CEO of the largest organization for women in technology, Anita B.org, and cofounder of the renowned Grace Hopper conference, which attracts ~18,000 attendees each year.

Here are a handful of her suggestions for women in STEM fields, from an in-depth conversation I had with her recently on my podcast (we also talked about steps employers can take to recruit and promote more women, which you can read about here):

1. Take a hard look at how you present your skills: So many women in STEM fields think their skills will speak for themselves through their work, but often they don’t. You cannot assume that whoever is reading your resume, or talking to you can tell what you’re good at; you have to make it clear to them.  “Make sure it comes through what you are offering other companies and understand how to present yourself,” Whitney said.

2. “Be very careful you don’t become obsolete”: Stay abreast of industry trends and participate in webinars or take courses to refresh your skills.  The work you do every day is not enough to keep you current, because the STEM fields especially evolve so rapidly. “Never stop learning.”

3. “Degrees don’t matter so much”: Make sure you can do what they need done and show them you can, and that does not always require an expensive education in today’s world.

4. “Demonstrate why you would be great in that job”: Be clear about “what you have to offer, why you belong in that position,” she said, adding bluntly, “you’re selling. Sometimes there’s skepticism on the part of the hiring manager and you have to get passed that and show why you’re a great fit.”

5. Look underneath the job description: “Job descriptions are almost always out-of-date and there’s a lot of boilerplate, so you don’t necessarily know what they’re hiring for,” Whitney pointed out. So, research the organization, reach out to them and find someone you know there or someone you know knows there to find out what the role is truly about.

6. “Recognize when it’s time to…do something different”: Whitney changed careers from computer science to being a vice president of a semiconductor company to managing a nonprofit when she took over from Anita Borg when Borg became quite ill, and soon discovered latent skills she had as she grew the organization from a few people to founding the Grace Hopper conference to serving thousands of women and organizations.

“It isn’t a lifetime commitment in terms of one career….It’s almost always in those big changes that you see real growth,” Whitney said.

“Don’t think of all the reasons why you can’t make the change, just do it,” she insisted.

I can relate. If I had thought about why I could not live in Fargo, North Dakota, I would never have taken the job at Chrysler that changed my life forever for the better, for example.

You never know where your skills will take you – or can take you – unless you explore other options, even while you keep your day job.

To listen to my full interview with Telle Whitney, click here. To read my Forbes blog about what Telle Whitney suggested employers can do to recruit and promote more women, click here.

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