Fearless Femme Summit brings together women in STEM
According to the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, the share of women in the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) workforce has grown exponentially over the last decade.
Between 2011 and 2021, the number of women in STEM increased by 31%, from 9.4 million to 12.3 million, with women accounting for 35% of those employed in STEM occupations.
Even with this progress, however, women are still outnumbered in several STEM fields, thus the need for collaboration, advice and general support from other women in the business goes a long way.
That is why in 2024, Santa Barbara-based leadership coach Mary Jean Vignone hosted the first-ever Fearless Femme Summit, a free virtual event aimed at helping women propel their career in STEM.
The event was a success, so much so, that Vignone is hosting the second annual Fearless Femme Summit from Feb. 3 through Feb. 6 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Those interested in registering for the free event should visit fearlessfemmesummit.com.
Participants can also access the videos by purchasing an impact pass for $47.
“I do a lot of leadership coaching, I do a lot of leadership development, and I also work a lot with women and especially in the STEM fields and I’ve really seen that they are having a lot of career challenges,” Vignone told the Business Times.
“They feel like their voices aren’t being heard, or that they’re not comfortable and they don’t have the confidence necessary to excel, so in my practice, coaching women, I’ve really helped them to overcome some of these challenges and I wanted to bring the education and more of inspiration to more women.”
That was the inspiration for Vignone to start the summit back in 2024.
She noted that last year’s event had over 300 attendees, which exceeded her expectations.
“Last year, I didn’t even know what to fully expect,” she said.
“But I knew I wanted to do this, I knew it was a passion, so I invested my time and my money and what I found was that people really loved it.”
Like last year, the summit will feature 20 speakers offering guidance on how women in STEM can unleash their full potential, including Vignone herself.
Some Central Coast leaders will also be involved in the event, including former WEV CEO Kathy Odell.
Other speakers include Professional Development Consultant Suman Kapur, productivity expert Sara Caputo, leadership and career story coach Lisa Gates, UC Santa Barbara immunologist and postdoctoral fellow Melina Messing, and many others.
“I had all types of women, not just women in STEM but in different industries, because there’s a lot of knowledge that is being shared that is applicable to anyone,” Vignone said.
Bringing these women together has a huge impact, Vignone said, and could help women from burning out in their field altogether.
According to research from the University of Tennessee Professor Vandana Singh women make up only 27% of the workforce in the technology industry.
But of that 27% that join the technology industry, more than 50% are likely to quit before the age of 35, and 56% are likely to quit by mid-career, with many citing burnout as a key reason as well as gender gap pay, not enough responsibility and sometimes a toxic work culture.
And diversity in the workplace does have its benefits.
According to The McKinsey Global Institute, for every 10% increase in diversity on executive teams, organizations saw an 8% increase in profitability.
“I think it’s so valuable to have this because I’ve seen women burn out,” Vignone said.
“Especially in STEM, you want to have a woman’s perspective on how to have the best product for all people so it’s so valuable to support women to come into this. It’ll increase the ROI in the hit in the organization, it will make a healthier environment so that people can thrive and it will just have a positive impact.”
And the benefit to doing the summit virtually, is that while it will benefit the Central Coast, it will also benefit any woman across the globe.
Given that STEM fields are becoming more and more necessary in all parts of the world, it is important all women have access to good advice and good mentorship, Vignone said.
“We need as much talent as possible to handle all of the problems that we have and the technology and the shifting and all of the things that are going on in this world,” she said.
“We need all people, and especially women, to be able to feel that they can contribute, that they can bring their intelligence, bring their perspectives, and bring their talents to making things better.”
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