On November 13, NDB welcomed three female Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) to speak at an event about being women within the field of Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). This event, entitled Breaking the Glass Ceiling, was a function organized by the Capital Campaign committee in order to highlight the importance of females within the workplace and promote the school’s STEM wing, for which money is currently being raised.
The night began at 6 p.m and ended at 8, during which three panelists, Jodi Andrews from Protrials, Rachel Haurwitz from Caribou and Elizabeth Jeffords from Iolyx, were interviewed by event moderator Pete Casillas, the Publisher of the San Francisco Business Times. Towards the end of the night, a Q&A section occurred, allowing students to ask the women about their careers as well.
The main topic that was covered was regarding the CEOs’ rises to power within the STEM field, which is traditionally male-dominated. This was the inspiration for the event itself, as the title refers to women breaking into such industries.
“I feel like women have had more of a voice in the last few years, but really I think when it comes to leadership and management, there’s very few women in the boardroom, and sometimes you’re the only woman sitting at a table of men and what I feel is important is that you voice your opinion,” said Jodi Andrews. “No matter if people agree with you or not, you voice your opinion, you have an equal weight in any room, whether you’re a woman or a man.”
All three of the women discussed the importance of being treated equally to their male counterparts, as their jobs as the CEO of a company are the same.
“[As the CEO] I have to be willing to roll up my sleeves to do what the company needs, and that involves overtime … It is fundamentally my job to set the strategy for the company, to hire great people to be on our team and to help raise money to do what we want to do,” said Rachel Haurwitz.
Students and staffulty were invited to attend the event, with many students participating in a meet-and-greet before the panel, which was a chance for them to ask more personal questions and learn about high school-specific topics.
“I think [it was good to have the CEOs visit] because it just gives students an idea [that] there’s all different paths to get somewhere,” said Math Department Chair Jennifer Walton. “And I think it’s really encouraging to see how STEM’s important, and just to kind of diversify your path of doing well in college and then going on, and doing well here too, but also realizing that you should have try and have fun and have a balance in your life too.”
The women also spoke on the importance of encouraging the next generation of women to take part in STEM, particularly emphasizing how all-girls schools such as NDB can nurture students’ enthusiasm.
“I think that all-girls schools are incredibly powerful, right?” Elizabeth Jeffords said. “This is a set of young women who can do anything with their lives, so it’s wonderful if we can inspire women to just stand up and find [their] passion, and then keep going and be resilient, and go through all the knocks and the hard times but also come out ahead, also supporting each other along the way.”
With the final message that all high school students should follow their passions in any field they choose despite challenges that come their way, the event concluded. Since then, the Capital Campaign has increased its promotions of the STEM wing, hoping to raise enough money to build it out for students.
