Career Spotlight on working in STEM

If you’re a woman, working in a STEM sector can often mean you’re outnumbered and face barriers that men often don’t. APM speaks to Melanie Boyle, who oversees projects at third sector life science organisation LifeArc, about her successful climb up the career ladder and the valuable lessons she has learnt along the way.

Q. Tell us about your role and responsibilities?

A. I joined LifeArc last year as the Head of the Project Management Office managing a team of 20 portfolio managers, programme managers and project managers having spent the last 25 years in the biotech and pharma industry. LifeArc is a not-for-profit organisation that develops and support life science to remove the barriers that prevent promising discoveries from reaching people with rare diseases and in global health.

Q. How did you get into project management?

A. I started off as a scientist working in the lab and then leading a team of scientists. During a reorganisation, I had the chance to choose to stay within the lab environment or moving into research project management, which I went for. It took me a while to adjust because I missed the lab environment, but I’m really glad that I made the change, particularly because I had found it frustrating previously when a team wasn’t clear what success looked like.

Q. Your career has been spent in the sciences. Has being a woman affected your career in any way?

A. When my children were young, I was paid for part-time hours (my request) but as I was working in global teams, I used to work long hours and never mentioned that I was part-time. I remember a colleague who was based in the US saying that they hadn’t realised that I was part-time until I was leaving because I was always online! I think the working environment has changed in the last 10-15 years, where it has become more accepted that just because you are part-time, it doesn’t make you are any less committed. I think this has been really helped by fathers taking parental leave and sharing childcare.

Q. What advice would you have for women looking to get ahead in project management within STEM?

A. Have confidence to speak up in meetings and ask questions. The more you do it, the more confidence you feel.

Q. What needs to change to achieve greater gender equality in STEM sectors, particularly within project management?

A. We are seeing a lot more women coming into STEM jobs as graduates and this is gradually increasing the number of women in more senior positions. When I first started going to science conferences as a PhD student, I was often the only woman there. Organisational leadership having visibility of gender pay gaps and gender statistics at each level is also valuable.

Q. What is effective in accelerating change towards gender equality?

A. I think that organisations that have clear equity, diversity and inclusion strategies and really follow through on them (rather than it being a piece of paper) makes a difference. From a personal perspective, it’s about putting time and energy into creating strong networks.

Q. What have been your proudest career moments so far?

A. I have been really lucky to have been part of teams that have successfully developed two drugs; one which is approved in multiple cancer indications and the other which is currently in Phase 3 clinical studies for immune-mediated diseases. 

Q. And your biggest challenges? And how you overcame them.

A. Like a lot of people, I have been through many organisational changes, for example when a small biotech is bought by a larger company. There’s always a certain level of anxiety about what’s next, but my approach has always been to find ways forward particularly when projects need to keep progressing and to find people who can help with that. I have had some fantastic ‘buddies’ who have helped me navigate a large company that has acquired us.

Q. What do you enjoy about your work? And what do you enjoy about project management?

A. I think everybody likes working in high-performing teams where its really clear what we are trying to achieve. To me, that’s what project management is for. 

Q. What career advice would you give to those looking to get ahead in project management?

A. I always thought that each line-manager would know how I wanted to develop my career and would be able to steer me through that. It wasn’t until later that I had the confidence to ask when it looked like opportunities were on the horizon. A pivotal moment for me was when I knew that there was a project coming along to work on developing a drug in China. I really wanted to understand how to develop a drug outside of the US, European and Japan, so I asked my line manager if I could be considered. It has given me the confidence to speak up rather than expect others to do it for me. 

 

You may also be interested in:

• Attend the APM Women in Project Management conference for more women-lead conversations
• Develop your career through APM Learning 
• What is project team management and leadership?