Blog | Leadership

[Video] So You Want to Work in STEM

Women in Leadership, Part 1
May 10, 2021

CMT is excited to launch our new webinar series: Women in Leadership! Over the next few months, we will be featuring CMT’s outstanding women in leadership positions from within CMT, and among our partners. Our first installment of the series, So You Want to Work in STEM, was held on May 4th, and featured CMT’s Sharon Gadonniex, VP of Engineering, and Lakshmi Shalini, VP of Risk & Insurance Analytics. They led a roundtable discussion about how to equip, enable, and empower women in their STEM careers.

The panel shared personal stories about how they honed their technical and communication skills, developed in leadership positions, and ultimately advanced in their careers.

When Shalini is asked what skills are important to have in STEM and how to balance between technical and leadership when working on your career, she explains that you must have the fundamental skills in statistics, math, computer science. But, as you grow in your career you have to constantly upgrade your skills, both on a technological front, and as a leader who manages soft skills.

For the women who are entering STEM and want to continue to develop the necessary skills to advance in their careers, Gadonniex suggests actively practicing and preparing questions before a meeting. There are fewer women in STEM, and from Gadonniex’s personal experience, when you walk into a meeting there is a tendency to first see you as a woman and then as an engineer even if it’s on a subconscious level. Establishing your credibility by deliberately expressing your understanding of ideas and your familiarity with the subject is a good way to kind of bring awareness back to your competence and not your gender. 

Shalini agrees that you should always prepare and communicate in advance for a meeting because having specific ideas documented on record prior to the meeting will always help focus the group’s thoughts on what you’ve presented and establish your credibility. 

If you want to hear more, watch the recorded version now!

Don’t miss our second installment of the Women in Leadership series, Building Your Place in The Workplace, on May 25th, from 11:00 AM EDT. CMT’s Katherine Wellman, VP of Product, and Heather De Jesus, VP of Program Management will meet with Kristin Young, Technology Manager – Telematics at State Farm, for a 45-minute roundtable discussion. We encourage you to save your seat!

Register Now