We need more equitable solutions to progress and inspire Black professionals - #BlackHistoryMonth

Black women remain vastly underrepresented in STEM fields.

The situation has improved since I came into the pharmaceutical industry 30 years ago, and since then I have been offered many opportunities to grow both professionally and personally. But I faced many challenges when I was first starting out, some of which are still faced by Black women today.

I first became aware of the unique challenges I would face as a Black woman in STEM when I set out to find a job. I was glad when I got invited to several interviews, however I soon realized the offers were not simply because of my qualifications. My name also played a role. Upon realizing I was Black, interviewers would question me about my French-sounding name. Clearly, I was not the person they thought they had invited to interview.

I got my first big break at a graduate recruitment fair, where I spoke to a male analytical manager about a novel technology his company had invested in. I had used that same technology during my BSc research project, and my specialized capability opened the door for me to Pharma.

Keep an open mind and build resilience 

This was a time of significant personal growth and adversity for me. There were no other Black female STEM analysts and no Black managers at any level in the department. I had to learn to navigate the mainly white-dominated organizational political landscape on my own, frequently being passed over for promotion because I didn’t match the “success prototype” and wasn’t playing the cultural game. I was also becoming aware of microaggressions and stereotyping – the aggressive Black female was one label I had to contend with.

During this period, I was also pursuing my Master's degree along with three other female analytical chemists. While we all were awarded Distinctions, there was always this underlying assumption that I was not as capable as the other scientists. This provoked me to work harder as a scientist and seize opportunities to add value to the business. 

My career started to take off when a male manager identified me as high-potential talent. I was asked to take up my first leadership position in his team. Since then, I have worked in three different companies taking positions of increasing seniority.

New initiatives are addressing the imbalance

Even when Black women embark on careers in STEM, they frequently quit because there is a perception of limited opportunity for career growth. The industry is making efforts to address the imbalance by implementing Diversity and Inclusion policies, addressing gender pay discrepancies and structured recruitment approaches inclusive of female applicants.

Many of these initiatives, however, do not have a specific intersectional focus that address both ethnicity and gender, so progress in addressing gender inequity is not reflected for minority ethnic gender inequity.

Developing networks for Black women is key. Many companies have established structured mentoring programs for women, including Black women to support them in their leadership development. Organizations for Black women in STEM have also created a space for like-minded women to meet and support each other in progressing in the workplace.

Room for improvement in providing equitable solutions

To provide equitable opportunities, both organizations and policy makers need to continue focusing on:

·       More deliberate recruitment practices that ensure gender and ethnically diverse candidate pools are considered to improve Black female representation in STEM companies at all levels

·       Increasing transparency of pay equity by ethnicity and gender, against industry and internal benchmarks

·       Staff training in diversity and inclusion and identifying unconscious biases

·       Establishing mentoring schemes inclusive of Black female STEM professionals to help progress their career

·       Offering flexible working arrangements that support Black females as they seek to balance home and work

While these benefits are ingrained in the cultural fabric of Sandoz and are part of the reason I joined the organization, they are still not widely available across the STEM Industry. STEM organizations need to focus on ensuring employees are given every opportunity to fulfill their potential and contribute to making our world a better place, irrespective of their race or background.