CLEARWATER, Fla. — Women make up less than half of the STEM workforce over all and that number is even lower in other specialized fields.
Monica Eaton is an entrepreneur and business leader in the technology, eCommerce, risk relativity and fintech fields. She has been advocating for the support for women in STEM.
Eaton explained the common misconceptions around women in STEM fields, saying “Often times its understood that women just aren't getting chosen for those jobs, and as an employer myself I can tell you that after 10 interviews we don’t even have a woman that’s applying. We definitely need to encourage women participating. The second part of that is that based on my own experience, I wouldn’t have gotten into technology myself unless I was forced to actually take a computer programming class.”
Monica explains how stem skills have become an essential skill and in today's rapidly-evolving world.
“It's learning how to play the piano. Learning how to read. Learning how to write. Math, technology in stem is becoming a core subject. This is no longer an elective.” said Eaton.
Her free mentoring program--LIFT--focuses on fighting for women in fields they're underrepresented in, like STEM, and helps connect them to role models they can look up to.
Eaton explained, “There's a lack of opportunities for mentors for women who have similar careers so it's just matching up people in this similar industry where to speak the same language and know the same people.”
As a leader in the fintech (financial technology) world, Monica wants to uplift other women to reach their full potential.
“I think for a long, long time we’ve had this mindset kind of engrained in us that says 'I can’t have it all. I can only have one thing. I'm gonna have to sacrifice all these things. I don’t wanna add this.' Well, I think we can all appreciate actually you can have it all.” said Eaton.
Her program started in Clearwater, Florida but has expanded its reach internationally.