Webinar: How to transition to a STEM role in global dev

As part of an ongoing conversation looking at women in STEM in global development, and in honor of this month’s International Day of Girls in ICT, Devex hears from three dynamic women bringing their skills and innovative thinking to the sector. These women highlight how you can pivot roles within the development sector, leverage transferable skills to do good in tech-focused positions, and how to transition from other sectors and apply interdisciplinary thinking to development and humanitarian work. In addition to advice for transitioning, they also share insights from their own experience, highlighting how you can have real impact through your work, progress in your career, and support other women in the sector. Don’t be afraid to learn on the job It was “by accident” that Natasha Beale, now assistant director of the evaluation and learning unit at The Asia Foundation, came to work in tech. Starting out with a social enterprise that was involved in producing mobile data tools, primarily for health care interventions, she spent over a year working in the field in India. During this time, she learned the technical skills for building apps and developed her knowledge of programming language and bug fixes. Her role involved liaising between technical engineers, a product team, and NGOs in the field. If you have the opportunity to do so, spend as much time as you can in the field, Beale advised. This is important to anchor your work, she added. Similarly, Mihan Borhani, now product owner at Devex, didn’t come from a tech background. She had previously worked in research and advocacy roles, so her first months working on product were challenging. She quickly had to get up to speed with tech jargon, concepts, and frameworks. Having an open and curious mindset was an important component of the transition, Borhani said. It’s also better to be transparent about what you don’t know, she advised, adding that she spent her first months listening and absorbing information from teammates. Lean on transferable skills Identifying skills from previous roles to leverage for her work on product was critical to Borhani’s career pivot. There are some core transferable skills that can be applied to almost every sector and role, she said, such as the ability to effectively and succinctly communicate with different groups of people. Being able to build relationships of mutual trust and respect has also been important. Not only is this integral in gaining support for initiatives you want to lead, it also helps you find mentors to support your career progress, she explained. Stakeholder management and the ability to bring together different actors to work on a common issue has been another key transferable skill that helped Borhani succeed in her new role. Understand the communities you are aiming to help Spending time in the field allows you to better understand the reality of the situation and prevents incorrect assumptions about access to technology, Beale explained. It’s important to be aware of your power and positionality when approaching programs on technology for development, she said. Consider things such as terminology and how this interacts with the local culture and context, she advised. When it comes to design, co-creation is important to deliver solutions that are contextually appropriate, explained Tracy Kijewski-Correa, now an assistant professor jointly appointed in the College of Engineering and the Keough School of Global Affairs at the University of Notre Dame. In addition to teaching the next generation of development professionals, Kijewski-Correa is a designer of solutions. She focuses on disaster risk reduction and leveraging interdisciplinary approaches to enhance communities’ resilience and sustainability. Building safer cities was something she was always passionate about and her transition into the development space was “decades in the making.” In most of her work, Kijewski-Correa ensures that local populations have the ability to co-design and lead in the design of solutions through innovation clubs, such as those she ran in Haiti working on post-quake recovery. Having previously worked in more traditional civil engineering roles before switching to the humanitarian space, she also found that human-centered design is a key component to successful innovations and interventions. Particularly for those with an engineering background, it can be easy to get consumed with the math and data, she explained, but this doesn’t necessarily lead to solutions that are practical to development or sensitive to culture, context, and human needs. Support and learn from other women in the sector Empower capable women in the field and advocate for them — vehemently and repeatedly — if you have the ability to do so, Beale said. Beyond teaching them new skills and products, encourage them and advocate for them behind the scenes, including for promotions. When you face challenges in your job, having a strong cohort of people with similar experiences can provide you with moral support, Borhani added. Coming together with other women to support and advocate for them is particularly important, she explained, as bias toward women in modern and progressive workplaces tends to be unconscious — but still present. For women who work in predominantly male teams, Kijewski-Correa recommended integrating with male colleagues, instead of isolating yourself from them. As a structural engineer, she is often the only woman on her team and finds that building friendships and establishing common ground with her male counterparts is the best approach. Building relationships and cooperating with people who are perceived to have strong authority can also allow you to have an impact and have your voice heard, even if it not directly, Borhani said.