MOTIVATING WOMEN AND LATIN AMERICANS
TO JOIN THE WORKFORCE IN STEM
Carmen Patricia Cateriano is an independent systems delivery leader who immigrated to this country from Peru. She is a STEM leader at Booz Allen Hamilton who distinguishes herself through innovations and technology, and through her efforts to develop future STEM professionals with a focus on women and Latin Americans.
She plays a significant role at Booz Allen as a functional management leader with responsibility for driving skill development, recruiting, and collaboration for over 300 staff members. As a leader in the STEM field, she drives innovations in systems delivery with clients across three different agencies -Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, Office Personnel Management, and the Railroad Retirement Board.
She drives recruiting and outreach efforts to further bring together the collective ingenuity that allows the company to showcase its STEM capabilities. She not only focuses on recruiting, but also on the development and onboarding of an increasingly diverse pool of talent to further build minority and women leaders.
In the words of Carmen Patricia Cateriano:
How is the world changing with respect to STEM?
“Building early STEM education and company commitments to placing women in STEM-related fields are critically important in addressing and solving many of the world’s challenges. Motivating women to come up with bold ideas and to invent cool, innovative things is key for change. Unless we bring more women into technology and manufacturing to do just that, there will be a significant, negative economic impact.”
What barriers are in the way to closing the gender gap in STEM?
“Simple – getting more women into well-paying jobs, traditionally held by men! By having a better integration of women into these jobs, it will help close the gender gap, while also increasing the number of workers who can fill these high-demand positions.
Ways to lessen these barriers:
- Raising visibility, broadening networks, and expanding sponsorship opportunities.
- Networks in-person or online – where women can connect, gather information, and build relationships with people to support their ambitions.
- Expose young girls to science and technology early in life so they can develop an interest and pursue these types of careers.”
Where do you see women in STEM in five years? “Companies need to start developing dedicated plans to shape programs for women in STEM within their organizations, as well as drive to hire more women STEM positions. By developing programs as such, it will significantly increase the representation of women in engineering, manufacturing, IT, and product management roles – a strategy necessary to inject urgency into addressing ongoing gender imbalance in technical fields and fully transform into a digital industrial company.”