As a first-year graduate student in the late nineties, I attended an International Conference in Chemistry and among the couple of hundred speakers and presenters, I found only two Indian senior female chemists – Darshan Ranganathan and Charusita Chakravarty. A decade later, I had the opportunity to join a chemistry department as their first faculty member. In the interim, I had spent a few years at a biology institute where we had a more diverse group of colleagues.
Joining the global leadership team of Analytical Technology at Shell felt like an oasis with more than 50% women in not only in my peer group but also in the leadership of the Catalysis and Analytical VPship. Far from being a marooned female scientist, here is a truly a flourishing garden of tall poppies. Even more exciting is the opportunity to work with female technology leaders like Jamie Yang, Mary Bastian, and Marwa Al Ansari. The sense of freedom to be myself and deep connection with these leaders was truly liberating. We also have Pratibha Priyadarshini, our Shell India- HR VP- who is constantly backing this community by being willing to address changes systemically. She truly demonstrates her commitment to DE&I through her initiatives at Shell. I have been extraordinarily fortunate in my career to have had inspiring men and women as my role models and I owe a lot to them for opening the path for me.
Not only does Shell provide me with a diverse community to thrive in, but I have experienced first-hand, the culture of care and support that is the default in the men and women. While I have been gifted with this beautiful environment to thrive, I pay it forward by being a champion of women in my team & outside who are pursuing their careers. I am passionate about coaching & mentoring women through their life stages including maternity and care for aging parents.
In Shell we have maternity toolkits & buddy networks to support employees and line managers transition through the maternity journey. Employees returning as a parent have undergone a significant life changing event, they could need some time to reconcile with the regular working schedule. As a line manager, I proactively discuss if there is any support required in terms of flexible working & try to dabble with different & unique options which work for individual employees.
Manager
Analytical Technology
Shell
In STEM roles like in my team, there is often a need to be physically present at the workplace and a supportive and enabling organization plays a vital role in retaining talent. The top-class in-house creche & care of ensuring their children are safe with seats in every Shell transport, help our talent balance their careers along with responsibilities of childcare. Shell also offers parental leave of 8 weeks (about 2 months) for non-birthing parents, which is quite a leading practice in the industry.
As part of my commitment, I contribute to mentoring younger researchers through career counselling and mentoring, as an advisor in external forums such as the Women Scientists program which focuses on providing fellowship & grants for women who are returning to work after a career break. Equally, supporting the men in our organizations, enables them to be supportive spouses, thus extending our support to the ecosystem.
