Women Make Great Scientists, Engineers, Investors, CEOs and more!
A few memories and some thoughts from my recent meetings and travels
When I was a little girl, I thought women ruled the world. I constructed this reality from substantial evidence (like any good scientist). First, my mom. An incredible force of nature, teacher, born leader… I joke that I called her Mrs. Kruse until I was ten! Her mom, my grandmother Harriet — equally strong, charismatic, funny, and clever — was a massive influence on my life. She taught me to read at age 2 and encouraged all of my scientific pursuits even at a young age. I was also surrounded by talented and effusive aunts. ALL of our neighbors were women running their own households solo — widowed young and managing everything without missing a beat. I grew up thinking that women did all of the yard work!
In grade school, every single one of my teachers was a woman, including our principal (who was also a nun!). Science, math, art, English, history — all taught by VERY strong women. I didn’t even go to an all-girls school — it was just a small Catholic school in the southern suburbs of Chicago. It wasn’t until I was in 6th grade that I even had a male teacher, he came in part-time to teach us something new and exciting…“computers.” I still have my binder (covered in stickers!!!) that charts my first explorations in programming in BASIC. Speaking of male teachers, my dad, my champion — he made sure I had wonderfully varied childhood experiences (there was room for both Barbies and Star Wars ) — he would take me to my dance lessons, but we always had time to watch hockey together. Yes, I was his daughter, but I got to choose how to express that unique self.
As I mentioned in my introduction after joining Prime Movers Lab, I have been a scientist since day one, which was a little confusing to my English teacher parents. I often tell folks that no one overtly encouraged me to pursue science, it’s just that no one told me I couldn’t! As an only child and an avid reader, I had a vivid imagination and could easily imagine what women scientists looked like because I read about them in books like Madeleine L’Engle’s “Wrinkle in Time” series, which was my childhood favorite, and still my favorite author. I’d never actually SEEN a woman scientist but that early science fiction, in addition to the mountains of books I had in which the girl/woman was the heroine, helped me imagine a future where I could be anything I wanted to be. And I wanted to be a scientist.
It wasn’t until I got to high school, a much larger public high school in the same town, that I quickly realized that women didn’t exactly rule the world in the way that I’d imagined. As a matter of fact, that realization has unfortunately persisted into adulthood. However, the die was already cast — and I was determined to pursue the scientific path — regardless of, at times, the bad advice and counseling I got in high school. What pushed me through in high school was not my teachers and classes but the incredible opportunities that I had outside of the classroom including magical (nerdy magical) summers at Argonne National Laboratory where I got to do hands-on cutting-edge science, see real scientists in action, and solidify my vision of “what scientists did.” I could be it because I could see it.
Why am I sharing these stories? I’m moved to recount these tales because I recently had the most impactful personal experiences of the power of women’s leadership and the depth of their expertise. Over the last few months, I participated in the Women’s Venture Capital Summit, the All Raise VC Summit, and the Women in Bio events at BIO 2022. Each one of those events has helped reinforce my confidence in myself, strengthen my commitment to support my colleagues, and increased my hope for an equitable and prosperous future for all of us. It feels important to talk about where each of us has been on our journeys so we can have context and openly share where we want to go. And, up front, I want to say that these experiences are mine and I’m not trying to represent anyone else’s journey or perspective. I welcome all experiences and insights as we learn and grow together.
This synthesis of the past few months was prompted by a question from my brilliant colleague Ipshita Mandal-Johnson, founding partner and CEO of Global Bio Fund, for our most recent panel at the Women in Bio event.
Our event was the Founder Innovation Showcase and pitch competition, with a discussion among bio investors and ecosystem builders to kick off the event. Ipshita asked us the simple question “how have you supported women entrepreneurs across your career?” I didn’t expect the wide range of feelings that came up for me as I took a mental tour through my own career and thought about the ways that I lifted others up — while simultaneously trying to support myself. At the panel, I shared how I had started a support group for women in science during graduate school so that we could band together, learn from each other, and survive finishing our PhDs. At that time, women graduate students were far outnumbered by men in the sciences (yay, it’s changed) and we really leaned on each other for advice and counsel. We also started a really bad basketball team. But at least I can shoot a free throw now!
At the event, Women in Bio shared this incredible graphic where they show their involvement across the ecosystem.
Seeing that graphic was an insight for me — something you only realize in hindsight when someone points it out — the virtuous cycle of having the right encouragement, influences, mentors, and peers at the right stage. At every stage. At every level.
I didn’t discuss it in depth during the panel, but throughout my career, I have tried to go as far upstream into that virtuous cycle as possible. For several years, I served as a judge at the Broadcom MASTERS middle school science competition (way, way more challenging than your average science fair).
If you ever get discouraged about where the world is headed, have an incredibly passionate, articulate middle schooler explain to you how they are going to change the world, solve the climate crisis, etc. — it’s a very optimistic thing. In the Broadcom program, serving as a judge is akin to serving as a mentor — someone who is the thing that the other person is seeking to understand or model. It’s one way that I have tried to “increase the funnel” of young girls excited by and inspired by science. It’s also the reason that I always say yes when a colleague or friend asks me if I will speak to their daughter, niece, etc. It’s my small way of helping those girls “see” something that they can “be.” Science fair judge isn’t something you put on your LinkedIn resume — but it matters. It matters a lot.
I also recalled my role as a government program manager at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). During my tenure, the organization was robustly staffed with incredible women scientists and engineers. It was the first time in my professional life that I felt truly equal and operating on a level playing field. Some might be surprised to hear that — but within the Department of Defense, there was broad respect for women as program managers and leaders. My scientific programs and review meetings were always diverse, and I had plenty of women engineers and scientists as principal investigators in my efforts. Other women scientists would comment that my meetings were a departure from their typical experiences — where they were rarely given speaking opportunities or featured on panels. As I look back, I am proud of the environment that it created and how it represented the best scientific work of the nation.
And yet, when Ipshita asked that question, I also had pangs of jealousy. I started my career early enough to be the only woman in the room many, many times. Other than shorter lines at the bathroom, it certainly has its challenges and drawbacks. I’ve been the only female executive with a technical background in a company. I am still the only woman director on the boards that I serve on right now. I thought — hey — who is looking out for me (too)? It turns out — lots of incredible women have my back.
Now I’m a scientist AND an investor — another world where women, people of color, and many orientations aren’t fully represented. Here, I am on less sure footing, having come into the investing world more recently. But again, being around articulate, smart, powerful women has helped me immensely and this is where I do get to rely and lean on my colleagues for advice, counsel, and support. Last year, I joined an All Raise Cohort where the most badass women who are investing across all topics, including software, deep tech, biotech, and all the good science-y stuff, come together to learn, compare notes, and build each other up. Their leadership and experience have been the “be” that I needed to “see” to take on this role as general partner and investor.
Circling back to the Women in Bio event: the pitch competition — absolutely one of my favorite activities as an investor because of the opportunity to quickly interact with so many CEOs and companies at one time. I will tell you a little secret: for all of its challenges, being an investor is still the most optimistic job I’ve ever had. Listening all day to passionate individuals tell you how they are going to change the world — it’s hard to have a bad day. The days are long, but they are filled with hope. And I love being a woman investor on the other end of the Zoom or meeting with a female founder or CEO. I can’t tell you the number of times that I’ve had a woman founder share that they have never been on a pitch call with a woman investor. Whether I’m investing or mentoring, I take very seriously the role of representing myself in this way.
The evening before the panel was the Women in Bio Plenary Event. While the whole evening was outstanding, the fireside chat with author and journalist Joanne Lipman was personally the most impactful for me. Joanne’s book “That’s What She Said” is a must-read for women and their allies around increasing women’s representation and voices in every aspect of the work environment. I had not read the book prior to the event and quickly ordered the e-book while sitting in my seat. I devoured it over the next few days of traveling that I had, simultaneously depressed and encouraged at the same time. Depressed by how little has changed in some ways, but emboldened in others to not give up on what I and so many others have fought for and accomplished in science, business, and investing. The book is so well written and well researched and I can’t begin to recount all the details here, so please do read it for yourself. But Joanne does end the book with some takeaways that anyone can use and I thought I’d share just a few of them here.
“Use amplification and brag buddies” — I love this tip! Often women’s ideas or contributions are not heard the first time they are shared — and then often acknowledged only when someone else, typically a man, repeats them. We can help break this cycle by repeating our colleagues' great ideas and making sure that she gets credit for them! Women are often socially penalized for “bragging” about themselves — whereas men aren’t viewed in the same way. Enlist allies to help “brag” about women’s accomplishments on their behalf. If you team up — it’s a win-win! LinkedIn is a great platform for this type of amplification.
“Interrupt the interrupters” — It’s probably not shocking that women are interrupted at least three times more often than men when they are speaking. The suggestion for team meetings is that no one get interrupted — neither men nor women. Enacting this norm helps level the playing field in discussions and helps ensure that all great ideas and insights are heard. This norm makes it acceptable to interject when a colleague is interrupted in order to let them complete their thought.
“Don’t decide for her” — This one stunned me, but it’s so simple and true. Often individuals in power assume that a woman won’t want a new role (promotion opportunities, breakout assignments, etc.) because it will require her to move/travel/put in extra hours or that she has a baby/young kids. Joanne’s own personal story from the book was so clear — her bosses kept offering her roles until she was ready. Keep asking. Don’t assume. Wow, yes.
“Introduce formal mentorship programs” — This one is at the organizational level, rather than just the individual level. I have NEVER been at an organization that had a formal mentorship program. I was left to sort that out on my own and assemble ad hoc my own mentors and allies. It’s not easy. It’s one reason that I was so thrilled to see the mentoring programs at Women in Bio, and of course the work of All Raise and other organizations, but we need more.
There are so many more recommendations in Joanne’s book — I’m already building my own list of action items to take away. The other thing that the book and these experiences together helped me see was the many ways that I want to keep learning, growing, and contributing. At times, I can be overwhelmed by what’s ahead, but I’m also inspired and challenged to bring my best to the companies that I support, the CEOs that I coach, and the limited partners that I invest on behalf of. I also can’t wait to brag about my incredible colleagues to help shine the light on their work and efforts. I can’t wait to see what we’ll do next and what new roles we will create to profoundly impact humanity through science and technology.
Prime Movers Lab invests in breakthrough scientific startups founded by Prime Movers, the inventors who transform billions of lives. We invest in companies reinventing energy, transportation, infrastructure, manufacturing, human augmentation, and agriculture.
Sign up here if you are not already subscribed to our blog.
