Ordinarily Extraordinary - Conversations with women in STEM
We’re Kathy Nelson and Linda LaTourelle — co-hosts of Ordinarily Extraordinary: Conversations with Women in STEM.
Kathy, an electrical engineer, launched the podcast in 2020 to share real, unfiltered stories of women working across STEM disciplines. Now with over 130 episodes, the mission remains the same: to amplify the voices of ordinary women doing extraordinary work in science, technology, engineering, and math.
We’re deeply committed to:
- Normalizing the presence of women in STEM by making their stories visible
- Building community for women who may be the only ones like them in their workplace
- Educating listeners about the wide variety of STEM careers — and what they actually look like
- Empowering growth and retention by addressing the challenges behind the leaky pipeline
From early-career professionals to experienced leaders, our guests share how they got started, how they’ve grown, and what they’ve learned along the way. This podcast is a space where women in STEM can be seen, heard, and supported — because representation isn’t just powerful, it’s essential.
Ordinarily Extraordinary - Conversations with women in STEM
116. Pamela Kellert Strategic Leadership Coach for Women in STEM
Pamela Kellert is a strategic leadership coach focusing on women in STEM. She works with individuals and organizations to elevate their leadership skills, confidence and organizational impact. She is the Founder of Women Leading in STEM. Prior to starting her own business, she spent 16 years in the corporate world leading strategy within technical companies in the transportation sector.
What do we talk about in this episode?
- Pamela's work as a career coach and strategist.
- The importance of mentors, networks, and community.
- We discuss how far women have come in leadership roles. Men have been leaders for thousands of years. It's been very recent that women have been in leadership. Sometimes we get discouraged thinking we're not making progress fast enough, but we are making progress! It's an important perspective.
- How can we make a better and more productive user experience for women in STEM at work.
- Do we need "job therapy"?
- We discuss the systems we work in and how they affect women's views of themselves.
Music used in the podcast: Higher Up, Silverman Sound Studio
You can support my podcast on Patreon here: https://patreon.com/user?u=72701887
Resources
www.womenleadinginstem.com
https://www.facebook.com/groups/womenleadinginstem
List of elected and appointed female heads of state and government: The first woman to be democratically elected as prime minister of a country was Sirimavo Bandaranaike of Ceylon (present-day Sri Lanka), when she led her party to victory in the July 1960 general election. (Wikipedia)
Fewer than a third of UN member states have ever had a woman leader. Women currently serve as the head of government in just 13 of the 193 member states of the United Nations. And fewer than a third of UN countries have ever had a woman leader, according to a Pew Research Center analysis. (https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2023/03/28/women-leaders-around-the-world/)
Research has shown that firms with more women in senior positions are more profitable, more socially responsible, and provide safer, higher-quality customer experiences — among many other benefits. (https://hbr.org/2021/04/research-adding-women-to-the-c-suite-changes-how-companies-think)
Countries led by women had “systematically and significantly better” Covid-19 outcomes, research appears to show, locking down earlier and suffering half as many deaths on average as those led by men. (https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/aug/18/female-led-countries-handled-coronavirus-better-study-jacinda-ardern-angela-merkel)
Between the ages of 8 and 14, girls' confidence levels fall by 30 percent. At 14, when girls are hitting their low, boys' confidence is still 27 percent higher. (https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/01/well/family/confidence-gap-teen-girls-tips-parents.html#:~:text=and%20their%20parents.-,Between%20the%20ages%20of%208%20and%2014%2C%20girls%27%20confidence%20levels,is%20still%2027%20percent%20higher.)
