Data from the 2019 U.S. Census Bureau reveals that while women make up over half of the workforce in the country, they only make up 27% of those employed in STEM professions. This was a topic of discussion in a recent Puget Sound Business Journal “Women Who Lead” event, which featured a variety of perspectives from female biotech professionasl.
Seattle-based biotech executives, Caren Tidwell, vice president of grants and contracts at Just-Evotec, Connie Ortega, vice president of operations and product at Ozette Technologies, SEngine co-founder and CEO Carla Crandori and Kayla Young, chief operating officer of Seattle-based Phase Genomics all shared experiences and advice on being a woman in the field. According to Life Science Washington’s most recent Economic Impact Report, women make up about 44% of the life science workforce in the state.
“I think it’s just a matter of women entering the pipeline and feeling successful and feeling that anyone can do it,” said Caren Tidwell, vice president of grants and contracts Just-Evotec Biologics. “Anyone can be successful in these careers. It takes time.”