spring to action 2024

Written By New England GWiSE

Promoting Gender Equity and Equality in STEM

aPRIL 13, 2024

We were privileged to welcome Dr. Stacey Blake-Beard as the keynote speaker for our annual Spring To Action event this year. Dr. Blake-Beard, a distinguished scholar, speaker, and mentor, has made substantial contributions to the ongoing dialogue on gender, diversity, and mentoring, with her work prominently featured in esteemed publications such as the Academy of Management Executive and the Psychology of Women Quarterly. Her expertise and research in promoting women's careers and fostering diverse mentorship networks has earned her prestigious accolades, including multiple awards from the National Science Foundation (NSF).

During her address, Dr. Blake-Beard led an engaging discussion on the conference theme, "Promoting Gender Equity and Equality in STEM," emphasizing the pivotal role of networking and mentoring in advancing equity within the workplace and workforce.

We were also incredibly lucky to host two brilliant and established panelists, Dr. Stephanie Kong and Dr. Theresa Cheng. Dr. Kong, a former co-president of gwaMIT and currently a senior scientist at Amgen, and Dr. Cheng, formerly of Harvard and now a UAW staff member, provided unique perspectives around the conference topic and shared their personal and professional journeys as women in STEM. Because of their insight and varied industry experiences, the participants were actively engaged in the panel discussion and learned about championing equity and fostering professional development.

We could not have done this without our esteemed sponsors, New England BioLabs, Tufts University GWISE, and The Harvard/MIT Cooperative Society, whose generous support played a pivotal role in ensuring the success of this event.

New England GWiSE

NE GWiSE is an alliance between GWISE groups from universities across New England. We are joining together to support and celebrate women and gender minorities in STEM fields, to increase awareness of the issues we face, and create change within our community. We support ideas and actions to increase diverse gender representation in STEM departments, create fair and positive workplace environments, increase the support and mentorship students receive, and enact equitable university and federal policies. Through advocacy, diversity, outreach efforts, and networking opportunities, as well as collective actions and supporting developing GWISE groups, NE GWiSE works to advance policies and programs across New England to promote equality and improve the experience of students. All members of the graduate community are welcome to become NE GWiSE members and attend our events.

Previous

WINTER 2025: careers in science policy
Next

Fall 2023: The Academic Kaleidoscope