Women in STEM – Interview with a Female NASA Leader [VIDEO]

by | Jan 12, 2015 | InPower Women Blog, Leadership

The stats still aren’t good for women in executive leadership, but they’re particularly poor in STEM careers (Science, Technology, Engineering & Math). Today at 3:30pm Eastern, Dana will interview Teresa Vanhooser, Deputy Director of NASA Marshall Space Flight Center about women, leadership and STEM careers.  – InPower Editors

The National Science Foundation (NSF) reports that while only 28% of scientists and engineers are women, this number shrinks to 17% in leadership ranks. The reasons why women are not prevalent in STEM careers are more nurture than nature, but social and cultural stories that keep women away from more analytically inclined careers are strong in our society. As a result, it’s been challenging to bring enough female leaders into STEM industries to provide good role models.

Teresa Vanhooser is an exception to the statistics. Not only does she help run one of the largest NASA facilities in the country, responsible for making rockets, but she has taken on a personal goal to help women in NASA and everywhere see how fulfilling a STEM career can be.

Watch live at 3:30pm eastern as Dana Theus and Teresa discuss women, leadership, NASA and the opportunities for women in STEM careers today.

Some of the topics they will discuss include:

  • What’s your experience in a STEM career? Has it been really difficult to excel?
  • What’s been your experience as a leader? How difficult is it to get women into STEM leadership positions? What works and what doesn’t?
  • What have you noticed about women and leadership generally?
  • What are you teaching your daughters about their career opportunities? How do they view STEM career options?
  • What’s your experience with sponsorship and mentorship – in your career and as a leader?

Guide to Women in Leadership

Organizations with women in their executive suites regularly out-perform others. Yet rising female executives (and their mentors) are frustrated at how hard it is to break through the glass ceiling. In this extensive guide, Executive Coach Dana Theus shares her tried and true strategies to help women excel into higher levels of leadership and achieve their executive potential.

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