I am a woman in STEM. But, it hasn’t always been easy.

Rossella Mimmi knows PipelinesI always loved science and technology, since I was a little girl. My grades in math, chemistry and physics have always been good, because I just loved to study these subjects; what’s not to love? These subjects disclose the anatomy of everything that surrounds us, and explain why the world is like we see it; what can be more interesting? Therefore, my decision was easy; I went to Engineering University and got a degree in Nuclear Engineering in my hometown – Bologna, Italy. At that time, the percentage of women in the field was maybe under 1%. Now things have changed and 50% of young engineers, globally, are women; but 25 years ago, we were quite rare.

I found out that when it comes to gender roles, university doesn’t really prepare you as to what can happen afterward. In Italy, some 20 years ago, engineers were traditionally male and they were not used to dealing with women. As a result, it has never been very easy for me to get a job in my country. During my first interviews, I had to deal with very weird questions: if I was comfortable working with men, if it was OK for me to travel, and the most difficult question, if I had a boyfriend and wanted to have kids! In those days, the interviewers made it very clear that they simply wouldn’t hire me – that they had better options and that was to work with male colleagues. One of my interviewers actually said, “I am sorry, I cannot hire you, I don’t want to work with woman.” Apparently, women made him uncomfortable. I felt very frustrated, but felt there was really nothing I could do about it.

I finally got a job, but even after some years in the role, a customer once asked me, “Where’s your boss? We can’t start without him.” They were shocked to learn that nobody else would attend, just me. I remember once a guy didn’t want me to go inside a plant because, ‘Women are bad luck’. As you might imagine, these were not fun situations. This happened a long time ago, when I was a young engineer. I hope that none of these things would happen today, however, in my country, there’s still a disparity between men and women – especially when it comes to defining and performing what is still considered ‘a male job’. We  still earn less money, it’s difficult to have a good job if you have kids, and, in general, we women have to work much harder than men to reach our goals. 

Some years ago, Emerson asked me to move to the US for a 2-year assignment, followed by a 3-year one, both of them in Texas. I was very curious to see if women in the United States were experiencing the same difficulties as I was. I was extremely happy to see that the US is very different; there’s really no disparity in the treatment, actually everybody is very careful about this.
Opportunities are equal, I am sure nobody would ever dare to say a woman that she’s bad luck and can’t enter a plant. Sometimes though it can go a little bit too far. I am an engineer, but I am also a woman who thinks that it’s nice to get a compliment now and then. In the US, they are extremely careful with this as it can lead to very bad consequences. I remember once a colleague told me that he liked my dress, and then he came to apologize because he was scared to have crossed a line. This can make the work environment a little uncomfortable, where everybody has to pay attention to what they say to ensure that no harm, intended or unintended, is done. I often ask myself what the best situation is: Is it better to be treated exactly like a man or to be able to embrace the uniqueness of being a woman n the workplace? I welcome the opinions of others in the comments section.

Rossella in ItalyI experienced two very different scenarios in the US vs. old Italy. And, at the end of my recent assignments, I had to choose between staying in the US and moving back to Italy. This was a very tough decision to make, but last year I returned home to Italy. As society evolves, I am sure we will find the perfect balance and create work environments in all fields where everyone can be himself or herself without practicing or experiencing discrimination. However, I think it’s important that new generations of women in STEM know about the difficulties that we faced, at least in my country; they likely won’t experience the same, but they need to know that someone had to fight for the kind of equality that they have now. Having said that, I would do exactly what I did 20 years ago.

  • What an awesome story !  I've been a woman in STEM for quite awhile also, and had to deal with some overt issues early on, but nothing quite like what you have described.  I applaud your tenacity and celebrate your success.  

  • Thanks for sharing your story!

  • Thank you for your comments, I am happy to share my experience with working in different countries!

  • I agree with Barb and Michalle.  This was a great story.  Thanks for sharing,  I remember it being tough  when I first started working at a plant, that was 95+% male with 1 or 2 female engineers at best.  Time has brought change and I hope for you as well since moving back to Italy.   Keep us posted and stay in touch, we need to be there to support  each other, so we don't always feel alone.

  • Laurie, you are absolutely right. Women should be there support each other instead of fighting and giving each other a hard time, like it happens too many times.....

  • Great story, Rosella!  We miss you here.  I have experienced a few similar things, but only once so openly.  A coworker told me (many years ago and at a different company), "I hate engineers, I hate young professionals, and I hate women, so you have three strikes against you."  It's hard to even know how to react to that.

  • Thanks, Tonya. I am sorry you had to face similar experiences, that's never fun. On the other hand, I think we can be happy with what we achieved, we had to work hard for it and we deserve it.....

  • Thanks for sharing your story Rossella.  While we may have made some progress in equality, we still have work to be done.  It is vital to the world that we encourage and support young women who are interested in STEM.  Innovation is driven by diversity of ideas and perspectives.  Congratulations on your hard-earned success and thank you for your positivity.