The Pistoia Alliance, a global, not-for-profit alliance that advocates for greater collaboration in life sciences R&D, has expanded its popular Women in STEM Leadership Programme to include other underrepresented communities in a new 2023 initiative.
The three-month programme brings together leaders from life science and large pharmaceutical companies to offer an opportunity for participants to network and learn how they can better support D&I initiatives within their teams and companies.
Longer term, the alliance aims to build an alumni community of graduates from the programme who will advocate a fairer working culture with more equal opportunities at a global scale. Both Pistoia Alliance members and non-members are invited to sign up for the new Diversity & Inclusion in STEM Leadership program, which starts in January 2023.
Initially, the alliance chose to tackle the lack of women in STEM leadership positions, who make up only 16% of management and 3% of CEOs. Following the success of this programme and at the request of members, the alliance has expanded the focus to tackling other areas of inequality, including age, race, and neurodiversity.
The fourteen-week virtual programme takes an action-orientated approach, including role plays and scenarios that seek to uncover unconscious bias. Participants will work together to find solutions so that they are better prepared to overcome challenging situations for themselves and team members.
