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| Choi Kyung-sun, left, the APAC product engineering leader at 3M Innovation Center's personal safety division and Ewha Womans University student Lee Ye-reen, who met each other through 3M's mentoring program, speak during an interview with The Korea Times at 3M Korea's headquarters in Yeouido, Seoul, Feb. 23. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk |
By Lee Hae-rin
Choi Kyung-sun, 46, the APAC product engineering leader at 3M Innovation Center's personal safety division, said that she believed she was lucky for never experiencing serious gender discrimination during her life so far, from studying chemistry at Chung-Ang University to developing her career at the U.S.-based multinational company.
However, upon looking back on the male-dominated field, she is now questioning her assessment. In those days, her class had only one woman professor and one-third of the students were women. Most of the decision-makers and those in top positions she worked with were men, but she didn't find it strange at the time.
"Maybe I was well-accustomed to gender discrimination, which may have made me blind to it," Choi said. "However, being unable to recognize a problem as a problem is a bigger problem."
On the other hand, Lee Ye-reen, a 24-year-old student majoring in environmental science and engineering at Ewha Womans University, comprises the new generation of women in the field of Science Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) who is used to seeing women among her peers, where men used to be a dominant force. She is also more conscious of gender discrimination.
"All my peers, seniors and professors are women, so I was able to become more aware of the male dominance in the field," Lee said. She said she chose the women's university in search of a stronger female career network and often discusses gender discrimination within and outside the field with her friends.
Choi and Lee first met each other last July at the second edition of the annual global mentoring program organized by 3M Korea and the Korea Foundation for Women in Science, Engineering and Technology (WISET), a public institution under the Ministry of Science and ICT. The program aims to support and celebrate women's presence and engagement in STEM and build a network of women scientists and university students.
Throughout the program, Choi and a couple of 3M's senior female engineers shared insights from their professional journey and education as female scientists and engineers with Lee and 14 other university student mentees. The mentor's 5-month guidance broadened Lee's perspective and helped her better understand her aptitude, encouraging her to dig into the fields of environment, health and safety management.
Choi said she thought it was her turn in the virtuous cycle of mutual support in STEM's female community and would give back what she had received from her seniors to the next generation of women scientists.
From over a decade of experience in the area of STEM, Choi said she has witnessed how women scientists ― especially Korean ones ― can contribute to academic and industrial advancement and help solve the world's problems with their expertise, resilience, communication and social skills.
However, statistics show that the entry barrier for women into the field of science and technology still remains high.
According to the latest WISET annual report on the representation of women and men in STEM published in October 2022, women accounted for only 21.17 percent of total students majoring in science and engineering in higher education. The figure has grown from 2011's 16.9 percent, but only about six out of 10 of them find jobs in STEM fields.
Also, Korea ranked lower in gender equality ― 102 among 156 countries worldwide and 36th among 38 OECD nations ― according to the World Economic Forum's global gender gap report in 2021.
The country's ratio of female STEM researchers was also not impressive compared to the top developed nations. Korea ranked 10th among 20 countries with the highest GDP in 2018, with only 20.4 percent of women researchers. France had 44 percent, Spain 40 percent and Norway 38 percent.
The mentor and mentee both expressed hopes and possibilities to see more women peers in their field.
The latest corporate trend to hire more women in the STEM field is not only a humanitarian initiative, but a reflection of the companies' recognition of the "economic values that women scientists offer," because their distinct qualities are no longer perceived as obstacles to expertise and contribute to the companies' profits, the senior researcher said.
"It's a shame that few women think that they can make it in the field of STEM. I wish more women in Korea and around the world will sees it (STEM) as their playground and realize their potential (as scientists and engineers)," Choi said.
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