Bridging the Stem gender gap: Perspectives from a female Apac head economist

I HAVE been in male-dominated fields pretty much my entire career – from my university days studying neuroscience and business management, till today as an economist and data scientist.

While many peers I met along the way expressed appreciation and interest in my work, there have also been others who intentionally or unintentionally made me feel like I did not belong, or worse, cast doubts on my capabilities because of my gender.

As a young professional attending my first engineering conference to share some research findings, I was excited and passionate about the opportunity to discuss my team’s work. However, at the event, I found that most of the attendees directed their questions to my male co-authors of the research paper. And when I finally got the chance to share my thoughts and ideas, it felt to me like they were quickly dismissed.