Danielle Arnone

Op-Ed: Leading Toward Disruption – A Call to Action for Women In STEM

Danielle Arnone

There has never been a time in my career when I have been more optimistic about the future for women in leadership and women in STEM.

I have been inspired through all of the chaos of the last year to work toward a new kind of change leadership where uncertainty is the norm and reinvention becomes the goal.

The intense turmoil of 2020 – the pandemic, social unrest, economic instability and devastating natural disasters – has exposed the fragility and insecurity of old paradigms of leadership.

Leadership that is rooted in preservation ignites fear. The fear of change that persists in organizations is the same fear that perpetuates gender bias because it means that we have to do things differently.

As women, STEM professionals and change leaders, we are uniquely positioned to shift the equilibrium from fear toward sustained progress.

 

We are a triple threat.

Now is the time for us to seize the momentum as champions for equity, catalysts for purpose driven innovation and architects of permanent changes for good.

We must expose the invisible barriers that have weakened companies and communities and leave the rules of the past behind.

While there are more women in STEM than ever before, recruiting more women into STEM careers is not enough. Developing and galvanizing a pipeline of women that can lead into disruption is our greatest opportunity.

In a 2019 research study developed and conducted by RTI International commissioned by L’Oréal USA and the Heising-Simons Foundation, 90% of respondents agree that in the past decade, women’s opportunities for career advancement in science have improved along with gender composition and 66% agree that women’s representation in leadership positions in scientific fields has improved.

While there is a sense of progress emerging, the gender gap in STEM continues to grow especially in leadership roles.

 

My journey upon reflection

Reflecting on my own leadership journey, I was not always optimistic about the future – especially my own. I experienced set backs, rejection and a lot of disappointment.

For many years, I emphasized competence and performance as a way to advance. I took on more stretch assignments to increase my visibility. I ignored the signs that my dissenting voice was unwelcome and my naïveté got the better of me. I was exhausted, frustrated and ready to throw in the towel. I falsely assumed that change in organizations is rational. And, I battled whether or not I needed to change myself or my expectations to be successful.

Overtime, I began to realize that competence is a trap, certainty is a fallacy and being a critic is really hard.

I started to educate myself and concluded that I wasn’t alone and that the discrimination I experienced was not personal but systemic and far reaching.

According to a study conducted by the American Association of University Women (AAUW) commissioned by the National Science Foundation, women believe they need to be exceptional to advance in STEM.

As STEM is considered “masculine”, women are seen as either competent or likable but not both. When a woman displays competence, she pays the price in pay equity, rewards and advancement. And this double bind has a significant impact on retention among the most talented and highest potential women in particular. An Oxford Academic Journal studying retention concluded that women with advanced degrees are 165% more likely to leave STEM.

I too was on my way to becoming another statistic but I reversed the trend and actually I’m proud to say that I am a statistic – but the good kind. In 2018, Harvard Business Review published a study from the Center for Talent Innovation which found that one in five women in STEM achieve success regardless of how supportive or hostile their working environment is.

One of the key differentiators highlighted in the research is speaking up. However, 82% of women in STEM say when they do speak up, their contributions are ignored.

It is no wonder, many of us eventually retreat. According to the Oxford study, after about 12 years, 50% of women who originally worked in STEM leave, compared to only 20% of professional women.

There have been many times that I have been afraid to speak up to avoid discomfort, retaliation and embarrassment.

I became aware that I could take a stand, get overlooked, keep going and be afraid all at the same time.

I convinced myself that I could breakthrough by taking the biggest risk of all – being myself.

This journey of leadership is how I got to today – ready to embrace the unknown, finding the way forward between old and new and reimagining what comes next.

Standing up for change is a courageous decision – especially when it requires change from within.

I envision a future where courage is rewarded and change resistance is no longer tolerable.

Women leaders in STEM are the trifecta of audacity, empathy and diversity needed to unleash a new reality that is grounded in equality.

We are the change.

 

Danielle Maurici-Arnone is the Chief Information Officer at Reckitt Benkiser (RB), a global Consumer Products company, where she leads the technology function for the North America Health and Nutrition businesses and sits on the Global Council for Diversity and Inclusion. 

Danielle has served in global technology leadership roles for more than 20 years. She has founded and led SaaS based start ups in digital marketing and retail. 

She has a rare combination of skills and experience delivering enterprise digital technology transformations as well as designing and scaling emerging technology solutions. 

Danielle graduated Magna Cum Laude with a BA from Rutgers University. She received her Masters in Public Policy and was a graduate fellow at the Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers. She holds a Masters in Information Systems from the Stevens Institute of Technology.

She serves on the Governing Body of Gartner’s CIOs Forum, is a board member of the Foundation Committee for the NJ Society of Information Management, is board member and Scholarship Committee chair for the Academy of Finance. 

Danielle passionate about the advancement of women in STEM careers, technology and business leadership