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Women In STEM: Empowering Leaders

S2BN Admin
Mar 23, 2022
2 min read

Renee Cosme | March 23, 2022

On February 10, 2022, the S2BN Guelph Chapter hosted an exciting career panel to celebrate the International Day of Women and Girls in Science. S2BN's 3rd annual all-women career panel featured an interactive discussion with 4 distinguished leaders in STEM:

Nirali Rathwa, PhD, VC Consultant/Early Stage VC (Early Stage Ventures)
Noha Rayad, PhD, Director of Clinical Pharmacology (Paraxel International)
Asha Parekh, PhD, Co-Founder & CEO, (Front Line Medical Technologies Inc)
Monica Granados, PhD, Senior Policy Advisor (Environment and Climate Change Canada)

The panel was an interactive opportunity to gain insight into the perspective of women leaders in STEM, and to learn valuable career advice about thriving in the workforce!

How Can Students Develop Their Careers?

When asked this question, each panel member had different, yet amazing responses. According to Nirali, she advises that, “If you’re doing research for a topic, then why are you not doing research about your career? ask for help. Spend time for your next goal.” Meanwhile, Asha advised guests to "carefully plan your next steps," while Noha recommended several solutions. "Call people, schedule coffee breaks, and look into volunteer opportunities."

What Are Some Helpful Networking Tips?

Each speakers offered their personal experiences from their career journeys, offering valuable insight into networking strategies and establishing vital career connections.

Noha: During the early stages of her career, she reached out and talked to people, did occupation research, and explored the market. “Be flexible to change”she advises. Your personal skills will allow you to be resilient when shifting plans and and evolving market!
Monica: Bridge the gap through government programs. There’s a lot of way to enter the government, especially as a Masters student. These include recruitment programs such as FSWEP.
Asha: Don't be disheartened if you cannot connect with everyone at the same capacity. Everyone is different, and that's okay! While networking, you’ll find people that you’ll connect with better than others.

Which Industries Offer Work-Life Balance?

An attendee asked Dr. Rayad: considering academia versus industry, which area gives a better work-life balance? Each panel member offered their diverse insight:

Asha: There are top priorities in life, such as school, health, and family. Unfortunately, we spend most of our time in one, but not the others. Because of that we’re not going to feel good, feel like something is missing. So, we need to make sure we’re making time for other things in our life, through work life balance: that’s what keeps us fufilled!
Monica: The government has great work-life balance. Initially, felt guilty for not overworking, but eventually, she accepted the fact that no one writes an email to you over the weekend!
Noha: Work-life balance is crucial, because it's important spend time with your family. Work and research is not your priority, but family is.
Nirali: As a young professional, she admits to little work-life balance, because outside work she is putting into energy into things she's passionate about. She also encourages professionals to celebrate your bad days!