Diversity, including gender diversity, is essential to fostering innovation in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. Yet, according to the 2024 UNESCO GEM Gender Report, only 35% of STEM graduates are women. And according to the United States Department of Labor, women in STEM account for just over a quarter of the STEM workforce. Learn how five women in STEM have forged their paths into science and engineering careers at Corning Life Sciences.
Ann Ferrie, Applications Lab Manager for the Americas
Growing up, Ann Ferrie drew inspiration from her father's work as a physician. After her family immigrated to the United States from South Korea, she first studied physics and aerospace engineering but was inspired to switch to biology after college. "How do we go from single cells to become humans and all the various functions? That always fascinated me. How do our cells become eyes, become liver, whatever, along the way?," she said.
Ferrie's current role at Corning involves "highlighting our products and how they can be used in customer workflows." Earlier in her career, Ferrie worked at biotech companies, then took roles in the research and development group at Corning, where she has worked for 25 years. These varied roles have given Ferrie a wealth of experiences and achievements, including contributions to the sequencing of the human genome and being part of 32 granted patents at Corning for products used in fields like personalized medicine, 3D culture, and cell and gene therapy manufacturing. "I hope that some of my work has impacted people's lives directly," she said.
To inspire the next generation, Ferrie said, "Never limit yourself. Don't put boundaries around yourself because other people will force them onto you. You don't know what you're capable of until you do it." This advice resonates with Ferrie's daughter, who studied to be an electrical engineer. "She doesn't let anybody tell her what she can or can't do. She does it, and then she'll find out, well, if I can't do it, then I'll learn how to do it, or I'll find a way around doing it."
Gaya (Gayatri) Kasi, MBA, Product Sustainability Portfolio Manager
As a child, Gaya Kasi was always interested in how things work and seeing how it impacts the bigger picture. "I always wanted to connect dots, like why did my brownies get messed up? Why did adding too much baking soda mean my brownie turned into a cake instead of fudgy deliciousness?"
Kasi's curiosity grew with her and she eventually turned her curiosity into a career. As a women in a male-dominated field, she found that she had to work hard to prove herself. Mentioning a time when she was the only woman on a team of 20 engineers, Kasi said, "You prove yourself the best way you can [to] overcome that challenge. And don't let anyone try to make you change who you are."
To inspire women and girls interested in STEM, Kasi highlighted the breadth of career paths a STEM education can lead to, including nontraditional roles that combine STEM knowledge with other elements. "I think there's a lot of stress to figure out what you want to do for the rest of your life when you're a teenager. Don't be afraid that you're going to get stuck in a role. A STEM baseline can be used to set you up for any role you want in the future."
Laura Kender, MS, Senior Engineer in Polymer Processing
Laura Kender is a second generation woman in STEM, following in the footsteps of her mother, who is a biologist. She is proud that she "grew up with science all around" her. As a high school student, she always had a love for math and science, and her "love for problem-solving" sparked a particular interest in engineering.
Kender said her role at Corning is very hands-on and involves "working with new or current materials and developing processes, mainly through injection molding."
She has encountered some challenging moments, including finding the confidence to speak her mind even in a "room full of men," she said. "And now that I finally have that confidence, it's really shaped me into the engineer I am today," she added. "I'm grateful now to be on this team at Corning and part of this company where they value the individual. There are a lot of women on our team, which is great."
Kender offered advice for women in STEM: "Believe in your abilities as a scientist. When you start an experiment, it's usually not just a [one-] day experiment: You're taking a day, you're learning from that, then you're redeveloping your experiment, and it's a continuous process. So you might not get the confidence right away, but it's a work in progress."
Tara Shedlosky, PhD, MBA, Global Surfaces and Chemistry Engineering Manager
In eighth grade, Tara Shedlosky participated in an "amazing experimental-based learning program" that gave her a hands-on introduction to STEM fields. Later, as an undergraduate at Colgate University, Shedlosky wanted to do a summer internship. "So I walked down the halls and I met Professor [Patricia] Jue, who was a polymer chemist. And we started looking at silica sol-gels together," she said.
Professor Jue offered valuable mentorship, which Shedlosky said is especially important because of the "numbers challenge" women often face in STEM fields. "When I went to grad school, there were only four other women and there was one female professor. And then once I graduated with my Ph.D. in my first job, I was working in R&D in a pretty big group and there was only one other female scientist." Later, she became the first female plant manager of a DuPont plant in Rochester, N.Y.
Dr. Shedlosky is passionate about her work, "it's a very exciting field to be in. I love the creativity that I get to use—every day is different."
Dr. Shedlosky now leads a team at Corning that develops surface modifications for life science products. Her role involves "working with people in plants all over the world on these modifications and molding of plastics; also thinking about our sustainability worldwide."
Her advice for women in science and other STEM fields? "Be bold; don't be afraid to share your thoughts even if you're the only woman in the room. And advocate and support the other female scientists and engineers that you have in your circles."
Hilary Sherman, Senior Application Scientist in Cell Biology
Hilary Sherman describes her work at Corning as "the best of both worlds," combining research with commercial applications. Her role is as varied as gathering original data, presenting her findings at scientific conferences, and developing technical resources to help customers use Corning products in the field. Sherman is first author on several publications and on a patent for a method that combines several Corning products to "better recapitulate what's going on in the body when your immune cells are hunting down a tumor, and the tumor is using its own defense mechanisms to avoid attack," she said.
"I just have this curiosity to understand how things work and why things do what they do," Sherman said. Her dad, a science teacher, encouraged her scientific interests at a young age. After completing her undergraduate degree in marine biology, Sherman joined Corning as a cell biologist.
One piece of advice Sherman has for women and girls in STEM: "Enjoy what you do, because we spend a lot of time at work—half of our lives, maybe more. I'm excited to go to work when I know that I'm going to be the first person to see this some and to know what the results are before anybody else. And to me, that is just extremely satisfying."
Become a Woman in STEM
Women are making gains in STEM fields but are still underrepresented in the STEM workforce. According to the National Girls Collaborative Project, women account for about half of the United States college-educated workforce, but only 34% of the science and engineering workforce. Within STEM fields, women are particularly underrepresented in engineering—where they account for just 15% of the workforce, computer science (26%), and the physical sciences (25%).
The stories of these Corning women show that being a woman in STEM can take many different paths and lead to many different roles. Follow their advice to be true to your passion, seek out strong mentors, have confidence in your opinions, and advocate for yourself as you pursue your STEM dreams.
Learn more about building a career in STEM at Corning Life Sciences.