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As a female engineer with almost 10 years in the industry total, I wanted to share some of my career tips for women in STEM fields on a monthly basis to provide some lessons-learned from my career journey, and hopefully help you navigate yours. (PS- I’ll be sharing a ton of insights over the next few months, so you’ll want to be sure you’re subscribed to my blog so you won’t miss anything! 🙂 )

This month’s career tip for women in STEM is:

Stand up for yourself.

I mean, this is true in life as well as in any career! You’ve gotta stand up for yourself in order to have the career you want. I’ve found through my experience that a lot of times, women in STEM are unfortunately still bulldozed in the workplace unless you stand up for yourself and assert yourself.

I definitely have struggled with this as I’m really not an assertive person; I tend to be quieter and more reserved at work, and I 100% don’t like confrontation. It’s taken me a while to learn to assert myself (professionally, of course!) during meetings and to not just be quiet if others interrupt or talk over me. It takes practice, but little exercises in being assertive can go a long way to gaining others’ respect and setting boundaries in the workplace.

As a woman in STEM, I’ve also unfortunately come across people who have tried to control my career path, deterring me from pursuing options that were open to me that I wanted to pursue, and instead working behind my back to not let those opportunities happen. I feel like this happens a lot to women in particular, and it’s something that shouldn’t happen. Your career is yours, and yours alone. At the end of your career, you don’t want to look back and have regrets that you didn’t do what YOU wanted. I mean, you’re spending 40+ hours a week doing something for a living, so it needs to be something you want to be spending your life on! If people try and stick you in career areas that you don’t want or don’t align with your goals, push back if you can, or don’t be afraid to work towards another position if you’re not getting where you want. Don’t let yourself be bullied into where others think you should be, especially if you know you belong somewhere else.

Here’s some easy ways to start standing up for yourself and being assertive at work:

• Speak up during meetings
• Share your career goals with your managers
• Ask for opportunities that you want
• Don’t let others control your career; be persistent in seeking your career goals
• Be persistent if you believe your solution to an issue is the best option
• Don’t allow yourself to be deterred if others talk over you or interrupt; insist on finishing your narrative

While women have historically been deterred from standing up for themselves in the workplace, times need changing and I’d like to encourage you to begin rewriting the narrative! Unfortunately, no one is going to stand up for you in this world if you don’t stand up for yourself first. You’re worth it and have so much to offer, so make sure others know you expect respect!

Stay tuned for next month’s career tip for women in STEM and be sure you’re subscribed to my blog for all the engineering, fashion, and career content!

Xx Tabi