Aarathi Balijiepalli is a PhD level neurobiologist. In her discussion with Venture Café Presents host Christine Dunn, Ms. Balijiepalli discusses how she got interested in a STEM career and how to engage more young women in STEM fields.

Timothy Smith was a merchant of Roxbury in the late 1800s. When he died, he gifted the city $30,000, with the purpose of benefitting the people of the local community. In 1996, Mayor Menino, with the approval of the Smith Fund Trustees and other community leaders, dedicated the money to be used to bring the benefits of computer technology to as many people of the community as possible.

As a young girl, Ms. Balijiepalli always found herself drawn to biology and the life sciences. She said she always knew she wanted to work in biology but never realized there was a movement called STEM. When she started her PhD program, she started learning about the STEM movement and the noticeable lack of women pursuing advanced degrees and careers in STEM fields.

Ms. Balijiepalli hasn’t felt any limitations to her career as a woman, but knows that for many women “one reason [they don’t pursue advanced STEM careers] is the lack of infrastructure for women.” She has seen that while there are more women at in entry-level positions in STEM fields, women tend to drop out of the workforce before reaching the more advanced and managerial positions.

Most PhD students are finishing their degree programs at the time when many women are thinking of starting families, Ms. Balijiepalli commented. The lack of infrastructure for things like convenient, affordable, high quality daycare for young children means that those women will struggle with whether or not continuing to work in the field is worth the sacrifices.

To encourage more middle and high school girls to think about an education and careers in STEM fields, Ms. Balijiepalli believes a key is to give the girls the confidence that they are capable of learning the skills needed to succeed in a STEM career. She would also like to see girls given opportunities to volunteer at STEM related companies and work on small projects. This would show them the type of education and skills needed for the work and that they are as capable of doing the work as anyone else. “It isn’t until you go and try it for yourself that you know whether you can do it or not,” said Ms. Balijiepalli.

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