The advancement of science has been a major cornerstone of our society for the past century, with biotech serving as one of the key industries driving this progress. However, despite their great successes in the field and their contributions to our present-day advancements in life sciences, women are still underrepresented on this cutting edge front.
As a woman who has made a name for herself in biotech, Leen Kawas firmly believes that with hard work and determination, women in the industry can turn the tide when it comes to their representation in leadership positions. However, she also believes that the industry can do more to help women break the glass ceiling limitation, and as such share a few of the strategies she believes will help women surmount this stubborn limitation.
Here are a few of Leen Kawas’ suggestions.
1. Increase funding for women-led companies
Even though women-led companies have the potential to become huge game changers, they are still not receiving enough funding. Leen Kawas points out that venture capital investments in female-led companies decreased to 2 percent in 2021 from a height of 2.8 percent in 2009. This was most likely due to the fact that there are not enough women investors to take up this role, as well as the unfair stereotyping of women investors.
2. Mentorship
There are already a lot of women mentoring women in the biotech field, but there is still not a large enough number to serve as mentors and role models to all the aspiring female leaders in biotech. Leen Kawas believes that it is important for men to also take part in this mentorship process, and that it should be based on equality with both sides providing support towards each other.
3. Sponsorship
Sponsorship goes a long way to help individuals advance and also promote them to the outside world. As more and more women are in positions of leadership within the industry, this trend is only likely to grow, and Leen Kawas believes that it is important that women are given a bigger platform to promote themselves.