STEM Latinas Making a Mark
By Melissa Barrera
Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics, collectively known as STEM, make up the fastest-growing fields
in the U.S. with endless opportunities in careers ranging from clinical drug developer to aerospace engineer, global
marketing strategist to operations director. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, women make up 27 percent of the
STEM workforce, yet less than three percent consists of Latinas. Fortunately, the Latinas featured here are turning the tide
and making a mark in some of the leading STEM companies across the globe, proving that Latinas are more than capable of
making a difference in their area of focus when given the opportunity.
Maureen Sanchez-Paredes
Vice President Supply Chain, Energy-Endomech
Johnson & Johnson
As Vice President for Supply Chain at Johnson & Johnson, Maureen
Sanchez-Paredes takes pride in knowing she works for an organization
whose products save lives.
Having the opportunity to influence how those products are supplied is an
honor and accomplishment for this small-town girl from Puerto Rico and working
in a business where she has the opportunity to make a difference every day is a
privilege.
It is from this lofty platform that she offers advice to Latinas wanting to enter
a STEM field. “Strive for the best and enjoy every step on that journey. Invest in
continuous learning and develop; do not be afraid of taking risks,” she shares. “Our
gender and ethnicity is an asset, not a barrier - have fun and be proud of who
you are!”
Growing up the second of three sisters, Sanchez-Paredes says there were no
gender boundaries for household chores. She and her sisters did everything - cut
the lawn, cleaned the house, or even mixed cement. Though Sanchez-Paredes
says there was no one specific thing that led to her STEM career path, perhaps it
was the exposure to diverse tasks and responsibilities that whet her appetite for
math and construction. She learned very early that she loved to build, install, and
break things up so that she could put them back together again, and relished the
opportunity to take advanced mathematics and physics during her senior year of
high school.
While her parents were progressive in their non-gender biassed approach to
chores, Sanchez-Paredes admits the same does not apply to STEM or corporate
environments. There are obstacles that exist for women and Latinas. However, she
believes that the only obstacles that can hold us back are the ones we create for
ourselves.
“There is no reason to be biased towards yourself,” she says. “That is a
mindset...that we must overcome by becoming advocates for diversity. Expanding
my network of advocates and mentors has helped in my journey of overcoming my
self-imposed obstacles and industry obstacles.”
As a Puerto Rican, Sanchez-Paredes grew up in an environment where her
gender and nationality were carried with a lot of pride and where people were
welcoming, warm, and hardworking. These deeply ingrained values have helped
her determine what companies to work for. She adds that she is guided by trust,
accountability, passion and fun in her professional and personal life, and “believes
and strives for being the benchmark rather than following the benchmark.”
Patricia Marinello
Clinical Drug Developer
Merck
Helping people and seeing their lives improve are the main factors that
drive Dr. Patricia Marinello in her work as a clinical drug developer for
Merck. With a master’s in Immunology/Pharmacology and a doctorate in
Pharmaceutical Science, she is in the perfect position to assist others to improve
their overall quality of life.
Her path wasn’t an easy one. Born in Cuba, she migrated to the U.S. through
the Texas border with nothing but $50 in her pocket and a small backpack
containing just a few personal belongings, but a supportive community of friends
helped her navigate the arduous and often confusing employment process in the
U.S. Her Latino values, specifically perseverance and resourcefulness,
provided her with the tools she needed to land her first job in cancer research here
in the states. Marinello acknowledges that she was blessed to find employers who
were willing to take a chance on her, as immigrants who are college-educated in
other countries often find it difficult to land employment in the area of their degree.
“I was blessed to be educated outside of the United States,” she shares. “But
there was no guarantee that I could continue my career in science when I got here.”
22 www.latinastyle.com LATINAStyle V ol. 27, No. 3, 2021
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