Transforming Your STEM Career Through Leadership and Innovation Inspiration and Strategies for Women von Bush, Pamela McCauley (eBook)

Transforming Your STEM Career Through Leadership and Innovation

Chapter 1

A Call to Leadership

Chapter Outline

You Made It!

You Matter

Where We are Today

Perspectives from Other Women

Women in Industry

Women in Politics

Technology: Grace Hopper

Environment: Wangari Maathai

What Can You Do Today?

The Challenges We Face

Lead Today

Summary

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be?

Marianne Williamson
You Made It!

You have succeeded in fostering a vision and achieving a STEM career, something that far differentiates you from most men and women. Many of the women I talk to and interact with around the world are leaders in their STEM fields, and yet so many of them don't realize what an important contribution they are making to their communities and the world. Given the challenges you've overcome to secure a career in a STEM field, it is imperative that you realize the significance of your achievements to date, and use this as fuel to propel you to the next level, and carry others with you. The world needs innovators to address global challenges like environmental destruction, economic crisis, and health issues, and those of us with knowledge and experience in STEM careers must do our part to help develop solutions to these challenges.

Your days are probably already incredibly full with various responsibilities from career, family, and the community. For most of us, we manage to do this well but it is difficult in the scarce remaining time to find time for your many other interests. Somehow, we find a way to juggle the various roles we are required to play. So how do we begin to think about adding something else to our lives in the midst of all we have going on today? It's actually a management action. In many ways, you are a manager each day - managing tasks at hand, at home, or at the workplace and managing people and relationships around you. But there is a difference between managing and leading . A manager is one who functions within defined parameters and works toward a definite goal. A person's intelligence, inherent skills, knowledge, creativity, and personality contribute toward this end result. However, it is passion that makes a leader out of a manager. A manager with a passion to make a difference, sculpt change, or create something new, goes beyond managing to leading. In a company, the CEO who achieves targets is likely a good manager, but the shift supervisor, who instills in people the desire to be the best in the company, may actually be the true leader. So for our careers, we must be managers as well as leaders. In other words, we must engage in the activities on a day to day basis (manager role) that will result in achieving the long-term vision we have for our career and life impact (leadership role). Yes, it takes effort to do this but it can be accomplished and the results are well worth the effort.

So, recognize the fact that you are a success as a professional, student, or aspiring STEM educator, innovator, or leader. Truly take time to celebrate yourself and where you are today. In my experience, this celebration and appreciation of our achievements can be powerful in restoring and maintaining the confidence we need to move forward. You made it! And let this moment be a celebration of your success, vision, and ambition today as well as the launch-party for your plan to go to the next level! It's time to transform your STEM career as a leader and an innovator.
You Matter

You matter when it comes to making a differe