On the 2nd of March 2018 the Lincoln Corner Karachi and Women Engineers Pakistan held a one of a kind networking event that gathered female scientists, engineers, technologists and mathematicians at the Lincoln Corner Karachi.
The session consisted of two workshops. The first workshop was on “Navigating the STEM workplace.” For this workshop attendants were put together in groups and required to manage their manager, manage a conflict in the workplace, have a salary negotiation, and tackle work place sexual harassment, stereotypes and gender biases. The second workshop was on “Sisterhood in STEM – Building your professional support network for career resilience.” For this the attendees were paired together and given out sample ways to seek support, mentorship and guidance from peer groups of Pakistani women.
The event also consisted of a panel session on “Supporting Recruitment and Retention for Women in STEM Industries.” The following topics were discussed during the panel: Way to assess how female peer to peer mentors in the workplace can encourage women to apply for senior level positions and prevent dropouts; Discussing strategies and best-practices for the recruitment process to attract more women to apply for STEM positions, and then to ensure their retention and promotion; Encouraging employers to recruit women on retraining schemes, return to work schemes and technical apprenticeships programs after a career break.
