I was lucky. From early on, I had the background and support structure to pursue a career in science. I grew up in China with parents who believed you could be whatever you wanted to be as long as you worked hard. As it happened, both of my parents were well-educated; my mom had a college degree at a time when that wasn’t typical for women in China.

Because I was an oldest child, I naturally assumed a take-charge role at school, and teachers often chose me to lead activities. (At one point, I thought politics might be in my future!) I was also good in science – better than the guys in my class. So early on, I had both the leadership and technical components – traditionally, hurdles for women – that would serve me well for both a career in STEM and, eventually, leadership roles. That’s not to say I didn’t encounter certain stereotypes about women and science along the way.

Fifteen years ago in Japan, I attended a meeting I’ll never forget. At the time, I was working for another company in a senior R&D leadership role. During the meeting, I discreetly glanced at my watch. A male colleague leading the meeting saw me check the time and at the first opportunity, he took me aside and reprimanded me for being disrespectful. Over and over he kept repeating how rude I had been. It was upsetting on so many different levels. I was in an R&D leadership role in charge of creating products that would bring in millions of dollars for my company, and this man assumed I was an administrative assistant just because I was a woman. He even threatened to call my boss.

The Good, the Bad and Reality

We’ve made progress but still have a long way to go. Today, while there are women running companies or major scientific divisions of companies in STEM industries (DuPont’s Ellen Kullman, IBM’s Gini Rometty and Laurette Lahey at Boeing Defense Space & Security are a few examples), the percentage of women at the highest levels of R&D management is low.

At the high school level, girls are taking more math and science credits than boys and earning higher GPAs in those subjects, according to the study Why So Few? Women in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics from The American Association of University Women (AAUW). But the study also revealed that at the college and graduate school levels, we’re seeing slower progress, although more women are earning STEM degrees. And at the professional level, women are underrepresented in many STEM occupations, most notably, engineering.

And that’s not all:

• The U.N.’s International Labour Organization (ILO) recently urged countries to address the lack of women in science and technology fields, saying the gap between women and men in these industries “constitutes an obstacle to nations’ progress.” The ILO strongly encouraged countries to put “measures in place to address discrimination and change traditional attitudes.”

• A Yale University study published last fall in the “Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences” found a gender bias against hiring women science graduates for research posts.

Talent in the Pipeline … and then What Happens?

I often wonder why, given the higher percentage of women majoring in STEM fields, there aren’t more women running R&D, Information Technology, and Manufacturing Engineering at the highest levels in companies.

I frequently attend meetings for people who lead R&D divisions. There are executives from many industries: chemical, IT, personal care, pharmaceutical and automotive. What’s surprising is how few women there are. At a recent scientific leadership conference, only two of 40 participants were women.

A 2008 article in the Harvard Business Review entitled “Stopping the Exodus of Women in Science” cited an astonishing percentage of women who drop out of STEM jobs. The authors – Sylvia Ann Hewlett, Carolyn Buck Luce, Lisa J. Servon - summarized their study “The Athena Factor: Reversing the Brain Drain in Science, Engineering and Technology,” noting that in the lower rungs of STEM “corporate career ladders, fully 41% of highly qualified scientists, engineers and technologists are women. But the dropout rates are huge: Over time 52% of these talented women quit their jobs.”

The researchers linked this “fight-or-flight moment” of women in their mid to late thirties to a number of factors, calling the STEM workplace the “Alamo – a last holdout” of “machisimo.” And they blamed extremely long workweeks, grueling travel schedules, family obligations and a sense of isolation in the male –dominated upper echelons.

I think women’s leadership style is one of the reasons we don’t see more women reaching the highest levels of STEM. As in any other field, in general we tend to be more emotional. When people debate us, we feel as if we’re being attacked and don’t think of it as “just all business.” But in science, detachment is even more important. In science, you can’t take no for an answer and must be very critical. You need to be comfortable being critical of others’ ideas and having others analyze yours; you have to keep your emotions in check.

So What Can We Do?

Female leaders in STEM need to serve as role models for future generations of women. We must continue to set the stage for progress by highlighting and elevating deserving women in STEM, who in turn will serve as future role models. We must also continue to share our experiences and the lessons we’ve learned along the way with future leaders. In paying it forward like this, we will be helping all the women who will follow us, both in our labs and executive suites.

Women in STEM leadership roles also need to share their passion about the wonders of science and help young students to understand the real-world, tangible benefits of STEM, be it in new medicines, handheld devices, beauty, makeup, etc. I feel so lucky; every day I get to use my STEM knowledge to make perfume, anti-aging cream and lipstick for a living – what woman doesn’t love beauty products?

We also need to plant the STEM seed early with girls and build their confidence in their scientific abilities so they can enjoy and succeed in these fields. This means eliminating fear and doubt among girls, who tend to be more risk averse. Because to advance in STEM, you need to be willing to break rules and challenge the status quo. The very nature of science involves experimentation and failure. Girls need to be okay with that – to even be mischievous! – so they’re not afraid to go big when it comes to trying something new. If scientists, including female scientists, don’t attempt the big things, then they’ll never have the “big ideas.”

Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbeswomanfiles/2013/04/26/the-role-of-science-technology-engineering-and-math-for-women-in-business/?sh=3ca6bb4e43a0