6 Tips To Lead The Way As A Woman Working In STEM

Britain has the lowest percentage of female engineers in Europe. Last year, 35% of girls studied STEM subjects in A level. So it’s not that women aren’t studying STEM subjects.

At Crucial Recruitment, one of the globe’s leading recruiting firms for STEM candidates, it’s always about finding the best person for the job, regardless of sex. Despite this, I still see a shortfall of female STEM candidates. Women formed only 15% of engineering undergrads and only 11% of engineers in work. So there is a large drop off of women who study STEM subjects but don’t choose a career in them.

For International Women’s Day, I’ve talked to some women I find inspirational working within STEM. I’ve compiled their advice (with some points of my own) to help women looking to break into STEM as a career.

Our  Inspirational Women in STEM

Yasrine Ibnyahya: Principal, Advanced Concepts at Inmarsat

Yasrine is a female space scientist and recognised as a role model by the UK Space Agency. She is also a rock-climbing champion and credits evening theatre classes with supporting her confidence.  

Sophie Burr: Director at Simplic8

Sophie is a self-employed satellite communications consultant and has previously worked with the Ministry of Defence. Her partner is a dairy farmer, meaning she often spends her evenings in wellies working with cows.  

Laura Le Masurier: CEO at Crucial Recruitment

I head up one of the leading recruitment firms in disruptive tech. I’m a keen surfer, and box at a gym where my opponents are male.

Here are our 6. tips for women looking to lead the way in STEM...

1.Find Your Confidence

Yasrine Ibnyahya

“I realised over time that building up confidence is a journey that everybody goes through... it  comes with experience but not necessarily competences.

Over time I realised that my confidence was building up because I kept going, persevering, working to the best of my abilities, even when I was completely out of my comfort zone. When I stopped waiting for other people’s validation, and blessing in my everyday actions my confidence started building up.”

Laura Le Masurier

“My advice to women starting out in the field is to do things that make you feel uncomfortable - that’s where you’ll strive, and don’t be afraid to speak up and challenge if you are the only female. Once you find your voice, you’ll go far in your career.”

2. Don't Be Afraid To Go It Alone

Sophie Burr

"Starting out, I would regularly be the only woman in meetings. I remember feeling very intimidated the first time this happened, but within the first few minutes my focus turned to the agenda and the content of the meeting - I didn’t let it phase me in the slightest.

More recently, however, the number of women excelling within the industry is noticeably higher and I no longer find myself as that lone female."

Laura Le Masurier

“I’ve always been passionate about travel. At the age of 15-years-old I did my first solo trip to Ecuador, and at 24-years-old I travelled alone for 14 months. I’ve now visited over 50 countries.

Being alone was fantastic, but the biggest challenge was keeping connected to my friends and family. This was at a time when there was no Facebook, or even Skype. I had to rely on limited calls and emails, but even that was difficult due to coverage. This experience gave me an affinity to connecting people. We’re in an era of dramatic technological change and this steered me towards a career in communications."

Yasrine Ibnyahya

“I studied Engineering, so I was often part of the less than 15%-20% women represented in the classroom. That number dropped further, as I evolved in my career. But there is nothing to be worried about.

Even though STEM roles are sometimes perceived as being lonely jobs, behind a computer, I actually find myself interacting with so many different people every day and I have the privilege of being in charge of technology innovation which combines perfectly creativity, technology and communication.“

3. Use Your Scarcity To Your Advantage

Sophie Burr

"For me, a typical misconception is that being a woman in the STEM sector, and as such being in a minority, is a bad thing. One thing I like about being the minority is that I am well-known.

At industry events I tend to be noticeable because I’m a woman, and that can be hugely beneficial. It actually encourages more interaction, rather than suppressing it."

Laura Le Masurier

"Being female in this environment definitely has benefits. Because we bring a different life experience, you can add another dynamic to the conversation – and this alternative perspective can be incredibly insightful."

Yasrine Ibnyahya

“There is a saying by M. K. Gandhi that I really like that says:  “I do believe that woman will not make her contribution to the world by mimicking or running a race with man. She can run the race, but she will not rise to the great heights she is capable of by mimicking man. She has to be the complement of man.”

This captures perfectly my views that everybody has something to contribute, that diversity of thoughts and perspectives is essential and that it can be used to someone’s advantage in the workplace.“

4. Don't Compromise Who You Are

Sophie Burr

"...As a woman, you don’t need to dress or behave like a man to progress, you just have to make sure that whatever you do, you do it confidently make yourself heard, and know your topic.

Don’t expect any special consideration for being female, you should be treated the same as anyone else in the room, your gender is irrelevant. And you should do the same to others."

5. Find Your Role Models…

Laura Le Masurier

“Gwynne Shotwell from SpaceX has been inspirational to me. She’s the President and Chief Operating Officer, launching and selling rockets, and has been called the company’s ‘secret weapon’.

She is also outspoken about the rise of the female CEO, and a big supporter of women in engineering.”

6. ...And If You Can’t Find a Role Model, Become One

Yasrine Ibnyahya

“As I grew up, I struggled finding role models I could relate to. So we should, as a society, put more effort in putting under the spotlight female role Models in STEM. By doing so, Girls and Boys may feel that they have equal access to STEM roles and that they can have fun doing it.

In 2018, I founded Inmarsat Women’s Network, representing the Women in the company in order to create not only a community, give some tips and tools to bring your whole self at work, but also identify inspirational role models.“

Sophie Burr

“Encouraging women into STEM has to start at school. Schooling is very different now and it’s great to see that gender stereotypes are slowly being broken down, and young women can choose any industry to pursue their career.  

Science is no longer seen as being men in lab-coats.”

ABOUT CRUCIAL GROUP

Laura is the CEO of Crucial Recruitment, part of Crucial Group. Crucial Recruitment are one of the globe’s leading recruiting firms for STEM candidates.

Crucial Group’s Crucial Academy has recently been awarded a government grant as part of the Cyber Skills Immediate Impact Fund (CSIIF), to drive diversity in cybersecurity.

If you are looking to advance your career in STEM, please feel free to get in touch on our LinkedIn to see how we can help.