A statement about injustice without action will not create change. Therefore, we have identified 4 actionable allyship goals for this website to better support the career development of women professionals, particularly women of color, in pharma/biotech.
Over the last few months, we have been living in a world with a very real pandemic and economic/financial crisis. We and our colleagues have been running on fumes, working from home, juggling childcare and eldercare, and redefining our new work-life integration strategy.
In the US, the challenges of the pandemic have disproportionately affected people of color, especially Black Americans, because of the glaring inequities in our institutions such as healthcare and education. Last week, the senseless murder of an unarmed Black man George Floyd by a Minneapolis policeman, caught on video, inflicted a trauma on our already beleaguered national conscious. The victim is just one of so many Black Americans who have suffered injustice. This event was the lightning that ignited a fire readily fueled by the dry forest in drought.
We have reached a point as a nation where many people are now compelled to no longer stay silent about the longstanding crisis of racism. In many cities across the US, we see protests and calls for systemic change.
Our roles as allies
Our blog content here at Women in Pharma Careers has focused on women’s career paths, career development strategies, working mom challenges, and the like. We realize that we cannot separate gender inequities in the pharma/biotech workplace from race inequities. Thus, our purpose to support the career development of women professionals in pharma/biotech cannot be fully achieved without also exploring how we can do our part in addressing and understanding the challenges of Black and brown female colleagues.
As an Asian-American woman and a White woman, we acknowledge that there are hurdles that Black and brown women face to enter and thrive in the pharma/biotech workplace in the US and elsewhere. These are not struggles that the two of us can personally fully comprehend. However, we feel deeply that we want to be allies and use our platform here to express our sadness and our stand against injustice and inequity.
Moreover, we want to commit to addressing these issues with specific, concrete efforts. Today, we share our allyship goals for this blog as well as our personal allyship goals.
Our allyship goals for the blog
This week, Salesforce hosted a discussion on race and injustice. Panelist Mellody Hobson, president and co-CEO of Ariel Investments, stressed that corporations can’t just say that they’re “working on it” when it comes to diversity and inclusion. Like for all their other goals, corporations must develop and vocalize measurable business targets for success. This requires intentionality and will drive people to meet such goals.
Therefore, for this blog, we propose these 4 SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, timebound) allyship goals over the next year (Q3 2020 - Q2 2021):
- Highlight role models that represent what is possible for the current and next generations of professional women in the industry. Describe at least one woman of color’s career each quarter in our Function profiles.
- Provide a venue for diverse voices. Feature an interview on or host a guest post from at least one woman of color each quarter.
- Confront topics relevant to allyship to educate and increase awareness. Write one post or host a guest post on topics such as diversity and inclusion or allyship in the workplace each quarter.
- Visualize and normalize what diversity looks like in the workplace. Use at least one photo that includes or suggests a person of color in at least 75% of blog posts.
Over the next year, we have an overall goal of producing 48 blog posts + 4 quarterly newsletters. If we can meet this overall goal, then we will devote a minimum of 12 blog posts (at least 25%) to these allyship goals. In addition, 36 blog posts will include photos depicting people of color.
Moreover, to hold ourselves accountable, we aim to revisit and reevaluate these goals before the end of 2020. We plan to describe our efforts to meet these targets and whether we were successful. In addition, we may consider how these allyship goals could evolve as we learn about the needs of our readers.
Help from our community
For some of these allyship goals, we will heavily rely on the generosity of our friends, colleagues, and acquaintances to contribute or partner on content. Undoubtedly, we will make requests of women of color who are already pulled in multiple directions. They likely have commitments related to being underrepresented in various professional and personal spheres. Understandably, that can be emotionally exhausting. We thank them in advance, not for the burden of representing their entire race (just as one woman cannot speak for all women), but for being willing to inspire and build community.
Meanwhile, we welcome posts on what your companies or organizations are doing to embrace diversity and inclusion. We want to see examples of efforts and examples of successes and shortcomings or learnings. Plus, we welcome posts from allies on supporting women in their pursuit of fulfilling careers in the pharma/biotech industry.
Please contact us if you have suggestions or would like to recommend topics or contributors. We would also be happy to amplify the voices of women of color in the industry. Therefore, let us know about their blogs and podcasts too.
Our personal allyship goals in the workplace
Wenny’s goals:
I will get comfortable with being uncomfortable by doing the following:
- Admit what I don’t know when it comes to race and inequities in the workplace.
- Instead of making assumptions, ask people how they would like to be called (e.g., Black vs. African-American, capitalizing "Black," etc.).
I will reject the Asian-American model minority stereotype by doing the following:
- Support affirmative action initiatives.
- Strive to explore resources to learn more about Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) disparities.
- Check my own biases and assumptions about AAPI and other people of color.
I will seek involvement in diversity and inclusion activities in my workplace:
- Be someone who speaks up for diversity in recruitment and hiring.
- Understand and communicate how diversity is good for innovation.
- Mentor and sponsor peers who are not like me.
- Find opportunities to mentor underrepresented students in STEM.
Michelle’s goals:
Listen:
I am not qualified to speak on issues of race and systemic failures. However, I have always tried to listen and educate myself as much as I can. I follow From Privilege to Progress on social media which was started by Michelle Saahene and Melissa DePino after two Black men were arrested at a Philadelphia Starbucks in 2018. The goal is to desegregate the public conversation about race. I will continue to listen and seek out stories about the Black experience and experiences other than my own. These resources include podcasts like Stoop and the work of journalists such as Nikole Hannah Jones, creator of the 1619 project, which covers issues of segregation and racial injustice.
In addition, I will go back to some basics and read works of Martin Luther King, Jr. and seek additional books/resources. I will continue to listen to the experiences of my Black friends and people of color.
Amplify voices:
Many people in my social networks are not linked into networks of Black people. There tends to be separate dialogues. I vow to amplify the voices of the Black experience. Therefore, people who normally do not hear their experiences will be exposed and can learn. I will amplify the voice of organizations that are poised with actionable steps and reforms.
Educate my son:
My son is 5 years old. We have been fortunate to send him to a relatively diverse daycare thus far where he has friends of every color. I will make an effort to have books that feature characters of different backgrounds. I will begin to start a dialogue about race and privilege with him. It will be a balance as he grows older to understand to acknowledge the privilege that he has and can learn to be anti-racist.
Provide mentoring:
Recently I have started editing and writing resumes for colleagues. Everyone, especially people of color, needs career development resources. I will reach out to local organizations that aid in career development for high school and college students and specifically for people of color so that I can volunteer to provide career development support.
#Showup:
Committing to being anti-racist is an active decision. It involves everyday choices such as the media you listen to, the shops that we patronize, the social circles we are involved with. I commit to being anti-racist. Therefore, I will evaluate and continue to evaluate my everyday choices. In addition, I commit to speak up and step in when there is an ongoing incident occurring before me. Moreover, I will vote and campaign for candidates that strive for racial equality. I will continue to donate to the ACLU.
Nothing that I do will be enough. I am limited in my actions because I usually have my son with me. Therefore, I cannot actively attend protests because of the threat of tear gas (even for peaceful protests) and the threat of people that oppose BLM (such as dudes with baseball bats). Unfortunately, I miss the opportunity to show my son the peaceful protesting through the streets of my former neighborhood as a teachable moment.
Last thoughts
In the last week many executives and companies, including those in the pharma/biotech industry, have issued statements. Many have spoken up against racism and violence against Black people. However, actions to support those statements are even more important. Therefore, we hope to hear about the actions taken by individuals and corporations to fight against racism. Moreover, we will see if they support the employees and communities that are most vulnerable.
Today, we shared the actions that we will take for our blog. Even if they are small actions, we hope they can play a part in supporting a more fair world for women currently in or those that aspire to have careers in the pharma/biotech industry.
Special thanks to social welfare professional Yvonne Yang for helping us articulate our thoughts here.
Feedback welcome. Please share in comments.