Women in Pharma®: Empowering Women as Industry Leaders
Women in Pharma® is a place where women and men—especially those new to the industry—can access a network of mentors, role models, and educational resources to support their professional success. The widespread global interest and participation in this initiative and its events have shown that women in the pharmaceutical industry are hungry for the connection, mentoring, and education that Women in Pharma offers.
Women in Pharma®: In the Beginning
When Frances Zipp, President and CEO, Lachman Consultant Services, and Past Chair of the ISPE International Board of Directors, was elected to the ISPE Board in 2013, she was asked to get involved with a group that would focus on the personal and career interests of women.
“I was reluctant at first,” Zipp said. “I never associated with a group that was just for women and have never played the ‘women’s card.’”
She helped gather a small group of women and men to brainstorm what such a group could be and what purpose it would serve. They trademarked the name Women in Pharma, liking how it played off “work in progress,” a common industry term.
“We intended it to be a group that would be supportive of women in the industry, either as men supporting women or as women mentoring each other about things like career progression and work/life balance,” said Zipp, who has worked in the pharma industry for 35 years. “It is a group for women—and men—that has been supported by men in senior positions from its inception.”
It was important to Zipp that the focus of the group was not complaining about the way things were. “From my perspective as the first Chair of Women in Pharma®, as a single mother and raising three children as I developed my career, I don’t see this as a diversity initiative.” Instead, the focus for her has always been about equality and the value of discovering opportunities, learning how to promote oneself, and sharing these insights with colleagues. The impetus for Women in Pharma® was that, at the time, there weren’t a lot of women senior-level engineers and there was a focus to get more women into the industry.
First Steps
Women in Pharma® was launched in Atlanta at the 2016 ISPE Annual Meeting, with sessions and breakouts that included a large number of men, including some in senior leadership positions. The inaugural Women in Pharma® meetings included panel discussions and breakouts. Sessions were attended by women and men, and Women in Pharma® sold Women in Pharma buttons to raise funds for the initiative, some of which would later provide scholarships.
“We found sponsors and sold buttons at conferences and meetings for $5 for students and $10 for those with jobs,” said Zipp. “It really took off. You’d see most of the speakers at these conferences wearing a button.”
Zipp recalls a colleague, senior in the industry, speaking at a conference and admitting that she knew that she wasn’t the most qualified candidate when she was hired for her first job. “But she told us that she really wanted that job, and she got it,” Zipp said. “To me, that’s the type of message people who are early in their careers needed to hear.”
Jennifer Lauria Clark, Executive Director for Strategic Development, CAI, and current Chair of the Women in Pharma® Steering Committee, also remembers that inaugural meeting. “Even though we thought it was great, we came away from that experience wanting to do more. We didn’t want to just put women on the podium. We wanted to inspire women to put themselves on the podium. We wanted to help them feel empowered to submit an abstract because, traditionally, most women weren’t submitting abstracts. So we thought it was our role to be champions to help support women to step up in the industry.”
Zipp reflected on the sacrifices that women had to make during the time when she was early in her career. “In my day, I couldn’t make the choice to go to parent-teacher meetings or a child’s soccer or lacrosse game. I couldn’t do that if I wanted to succeed in my career.” Now, with the COVID-19 pandemic adding pressure on people who were already juggling career and personal responsibilities, Zipp sees that families are having to make tough choices that are best for them. Some may choose to take a less senior position to focus on family needs. Others will choose to prioritize their careers. “WIP recognizes that women and men make choices and we are completely nonjudgmental about those choices. Instead, if someone wants to change careers or area of focus, WIP can be a safe haven for networking and a place to find a mentor to help with the transition.”
Zipp believes Women in Pharma® has had a tremendous impact on the industry. Women are now working at all levels, side by side with men. She likes that the focus is on mentorship, not just social interactions. “When I first started, I had 20 different women ask for mentoring. It was a full-time job. We had company-sponsored discussion tables, sponsored by both male and female senior leaders.
“I’m thrilled with the direction WIP has taken. WIP is now positioned to provide mentorship, technical support, and social guidance. I’m so proud of the team and all we’ve accomplished.”
Scott Fotheringham
Pandemic Impact
The COVID-19 pandemic turned expectations upside down in 2020 and continues to disrupt businesses, careers, and personal lives. In fact, one in four women working for US corporations is considering downshifting her career due to the pressures that have been exacerbated by COVID-19.5
“It’s heartbreaking for me to hear that women want to downsize their careers because we have worked so hard to get where we are,” said Clark. “I haven’t heard any of my male colleagues say that they’re going to downsize their career to be able to maintain their households. But I have heard my female colleagues and friends say they’re going to have to take a sabbatical from work or quit their jobs because of circumstances created by the pandemic pertaining to childcare and educating their children remotely.”
Like many, Clark admits to finding it more challenging to balance working from home with parenting while her children need to be homeschooled. She is grateful that Women in Pharma® is providing a forum for women to support each other and share their thoughts about these struggles, as Arencibia did in her editorial, “Pandemic Coping Strategies,” in the September/October 2020 issue of this magazine. “By writing about it and talking about it, we’re saying to each other, ‘You are not alone in this situation, and we’re going to get through this together,’” Clark said.
Women in Pharma® has adapted to the pandemic by going virtual. Perhaps counterintuitively, COVID-19 has given the Women in Pharma® Steering Committee the opportunity to initiate programs sooner than anticipated. This includes virtual book clubs, a webinar hosted in May 2020—and attended by 150—that was meant as a pilot to test whether a full-blown women’s conference would be possible, the 24 Hours with Women in Pharma® event held before the 2020 ISPE Annual Meeting, and sunrise to sundown meetings.
“The sunrise to sundown events are a good example of how we’ve adapted to the pandemic,” said Clark. “I attended a really good one. There were people from all over the world on the call, with all of us socializing, discussing books, and even playing a trivia game. I wasn’t sure how the heck we were going to play trivia with 25 women on the phone, but it was awesome. You got to know people through the chat box. We figured out how to have a social time and feel connected, laughing and sharing stories in a virtual environment.”
Once all of their meetings and events needed to be virtual, Women in Pharma® groups were challenged to find a consistent way to host activities. When using free Zoom accounts, hosts found that meetings might end prematurely after 45 minutes and were limited to a certain number of participants.
Three corporate sponsors—Pharmatech Associates, IPS, and PQE Group—provided generous sponsorships to allow WIP initiatives around the world to have access to host their virtual events.
“In some ways, COVID-19 has actually helped Women in Pharma® grow the way it has,” said Tanya Sharma, Principal Consultant, Assurea LLC, and International Mentor Circle Leader for Women in Pharma®. “The focus on hosting virtual events allows us to have regional events that blend the experiences of members from different countries.”
For example, Women in Pharma® held virtual meetings in Latin America, APAC, and Europe last fall. All three had a theme of inspiring women in leadership positions and creating a support network to navigate difficult obstacles, like working from home during the pandemic.
More Growth Ahead
When Women in Pharma® leaders were asked what is next for Women in Pharma®, the overwhelming response was unsurprising. The steering committee wants to grow its base, have more webinars, increase the number of Mentor Circles, and continue to offer opportunities to educate, support, and provide resources to people worldwide.
“I want to see Women in Pharma® recognized as a significant value proposition for joining ISPE,” said Arencibia. “I’d like to see more access to leaders in the industry, and to see more leaders contribute their time and mentoring. I’m passionate about seeing mentoring evolve from the group settings of Mentor Circles to allow women to connect directly with one-on-one mentoring.”
Barrick believes there is an untapped opportunity to publicize Women in Pharma® outside of ISPE, where it is not yet broadly recognized. “The members of Women in Pharma find WIP very attractive and helpful,” Barrick said. “Women who are considering joining ISPE may not be aware that the group exists, and letting them know presents a great opportunity for us going forward. I’d like to see it evolve into a selling point to becoming an ISPE member.”
Some novel initiatives in the works include a merchandise store, a podcast series, a webinar series and more stand-alone webinars, Women in Pharma® conferences, and more fundraising for student travel grants in the US and other developed countries as well as emerging markets.
Clark hopes to encourage members to build stronger relationships within their own companies, and Santillan believes ISPE APAC WIP groups will continue to strengthen their network and relationships, sharing technical resources and best practices, especially for students and Emerging Leaders (formerly Young Professionals), in keeping with Workforce of the Future, a key area in ISPE’s Strategic Plan.
“I have worked with many talented, bright, and ambitious women throughout my career,” Hartman said. “From both a personal and professional perspective, I understand why ISPE Women in Pharma® is growing rapidly, and why such interest and engagement is occurring within it. I’m delighted to see this, and ISPE is behind the WIP initiative’s continued growth and success.”
“Women in Pharma, thanks to the ISPE Foundation, has created a strong movement to help make a difference in the industry,” said Clark. She has a colleague who was recently tapped to start a women’s initiative at her employer, a large pharma biotech company. “She asked me all about Women in Pharma®. How did we start? What is our charter?
“I told her it’s just like anything else: We’re a bunch of engineers who set goals for the year. Then we just started attacking those goals. I told her we’re a positive group of enthusiastic people trying to empower others. And that we have proven that enthusiasm is contagious.”
A Look into Mentor Circles
A Women in Pharma® Mentor Circle is a group of diverse professionals that engages on topics that are relevant in the industry, including maintaining a work/life balance and ways to develop a personal brand. Some Mentor Circles are situated within ISPE Chapters and Affiliates, while others have been started at pharmaceutical companies.
The Mentor Circles function as a connection to facilitate interactions for and between ISPE members to discuss personal and professional topics of interest. The program allows mentors and mentees, each with a different and diverse experience, to learn from each other, and includes a Mentor of the Month program that helps to introduce leaders to other countries and expands network opportunities.
“Early in the pandemic, I was in the Netherlands, and I was talking to a WIP leader in Singapore about the challenges of maintaining work/life balance during lockdown,” said Tanya Sharma, Principal Consultant, Assurea LLC, and International Mentor Circle Leader for WIP. The conversations inspired the growth of the Mentor Circles initiative. “It was a breath of fresh air to me and inspired me to consider how others might be dealing with these challenges.”
Sharma moved into the Mentor Circle leadership position after Jeannine Hillmer, Key Account Manager, USA, W.L. Gore Associates, Inc. Hillmer was instrumental in forming the program in 2019. The growth of Mentor Circles has been robust, rapidly exceeding the steering committee’s goals to increase the number of groups from six to 20 by the end of 2020. There are now 21 Mentor Circles (and counting) in 19 countries, including the US (over 10), the UK, Russia, Brazil, Ireland, Indonesia, Japan, India, and Singapore.
“The level of engagement has been phenomenal,” Sharma said. “We didn’t think it would be picked up like it has been all over the world.”
Scott Fotheringham- 5Coury, S., J. Huang, A. Kumar, et al. “Women in the Workplace 2020.” McKinsey & Company. 30 September 2020. https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/diversity-and-inclusion/women-in-the-workplace
