What qualities and skills help women assert themselves in the STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) sector? What gender-based challenges and biases are they confronted with? How can we bridge the gap for future generations?
Despite advancements in recent years, women still make up less than 30% of the workforce in STEM fields. In industry and in academia this underrepresentation already exists at entry-level, and it becomes even more pronounced for senior leadership positions – a phenomenon which is often referred to as «leaky pipeline problem».
You are cordially invited to join us in an open discussion with successful women in STEM giving you the opportunity to meet and exchange with inspiring role models for the next generation of female professors, researchers, entrepreneurs, and engineers.
After a short introduction, participants will be split into three groups for the discussions. In each round, they will be joined by two speakers who first introduce themselves shortly and then open the floor for questions. The discussion will be loosely guided by a list of prompts and questions shared with the speakers beforehand, but participants are encouraged to ask their own questions – be it about speakers’ personal experiences, their thoughts on diversity in STEM (or the lack thereof), or how we can move forward and bridge the gap for future generations. The aim is to learn what it takes to be successful as part of a minority, to become aware of possible biases and common pitfalls and to gather insights on how they are breaking glass ceilings (and how others can do it too). The last 30 minutes of the event will be dedicated to networking, allowing participants to ask follow-up questions and possibly sparking mentor-mentee relationships between attendees and speakers.
Location: Online via Wonder
Timing: 7:00 – 9:00 pm; 15 mins introduction, 3 x 25 mins discussions in smaller groups, 30 mins networking
Language: English
Lead: Angéline Pouget and Maria Lung, Werner Siemens fellows and members of the Swiss Study Foundation
Coordination: Dr. Barbara Dankwa-Egli
Administration: Michelle Hug
Experts: Academia:
- Prof. Dr. Sarah Springman (Principal at St. Hilda’s College Oxford, former Professor of Geotechnical Engineering and Rector at ETH Zurich)
- Prof. Dr. med. Angèle Gayet-Ageron (Professor of medicine in the Division of Clinical Epidemiology at the Université de Genève)
- Prof. Dr. Jelena Klinovaja (associate Professor at the Department of Physics, Universität Basel and Deputy Co-Director of the NCCR SPIN)
- Dr. Meike Akveld (lecturer at the Department of Mathematics at ETH Zürich)
Industry:
- Ming Ming Khov (Alumna, Design Quality Engineer at Smith + Nephew Orthopedics AG)
- Adyasha Dash (Software Engineer at Meta)
- PD Dr. med Cristina Rossi (Co-Founder of b-rayZ and Quantitative MRI Unit Leader at Universitätsspital Zürich)
- Lara Riparip (Co-Founder at Girls Code Too)
Participants: max. 30 attendees
Target audience: Supported students and alumnae/alumni of the Swiss Study Foundation of all subject areas
Optional readers:
