Being a woman in the male-dominated STEM industry might be challenging, but as Lee Geck Pheng, Assistant Vice President at AT&T Global Services, believes, any challenge can be turned into an opportunity.
Assistant Vice President of AT&T Global Services, Lee Geck Pheng, and her two daughters. Image courtesy of Lee Geck Pheng.
Every year, we celebrate International Women' Day on 8 March as a way to recognise the wonderful women in our lives that are paving the way for the next generation to come. While there are many inspirational women in our lives and in every industry, we'd like to dive deeper into the field of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM).
Traditionally known to be a male-dominated industry, STEM jobs vary widely, and can include professions like web developers, marine biologists, and even psychologists. To many of us outside the field, the gender disparity that’s present in the industry might not be too obvious. But despite the steady increase in the proportion of women in Singapore pursuing a degree in the STEM industry, a Nanyang Technological University study showed that only 58% of women with STEM qualifications go on to pursue a career in a related field, as opposed to 70% of qualified men.
A lot of effort has been made to encourage more young women to take up an education or career in the STEM industry, but being a woman in STEM can sometimes seem like an entire identity that girls interested in this field of work have to take on. These efforts commonly involve spotlighting outstanding women in STEM who have carved out successful careers for themselves. But when we focus so heavily on the work that these women have done in their STEM careers, it's easy to forget that they are more than just their jobs, and that they have inspirational lives outside of work too.
This time, we’d like to celebrate our women in STEM for who they are both at work, and at home. We sat down with Lee Geck Pheng, Assistant Vice President at AT&T Global Services, to chat about work, life, and all things in between—here are three lessons we took away from a woman in STEM, for females (and males) everywhere.
No bingo machine? No problem. Geck Pheng hosted her own version of bingo virtually for her team using a gumball machine. Image courtesy of Lee Geck Pheng.
1. With every challenge comes an opportunity
No matter where you are in your career, challenges are inevitable, but what matters most is how you overcome them, and how you learn and grow from them.
“Strangely enough, each challenge I faced seemed to prepare me for the next big step I had to take,” Geck Pheng shares. “For example, years of managing a diverse global team was great preparation for COVID-19, because I had to manage teams working from home with limited social interactions.”
So what are some of the ways in which Geck Pheng adapted to remote working? Like a true telecommunications executive, she used technology to her advantage. “I turned some of our monthly calls into team bonding sessions with games such as virtual bingo, scavenger hunts, quizzes, and virtual escape rooms for my team to stay connected.”
That said, Geck Pheng admits that she’s had to prove her worth and work hard to get to where she is today. She shares that despite the skepticism she encountered about her ability to perform technical work by her male counterparts in her early years with AT&T, she kept her focus and delivered good work consistently, which squashed all the doubts her colleagues had about her.
“I have been extremely lucky,” Geck Pheng says, “because this was my first full-time job since graduating from university, and 26 years later, I’m still at the same company building a business that I remain passionate about. The dynamic nature of this industry, and the ability to connect with people and businesses fascinates me and motivates me daily, especially in this pandemic.”
Being in the technology and telecommunications sector, it’s also important to stay up-to-date with any advancements in the industry, which can happen at a fast pace. But Geck Pheng says that learning about and reading up on such information is something that she very much enjoys.
“I love reading and having exchanges with colleagues and friends on the latest advancements in the industry. I mainly enjoy learning about the challenges businesses are facing, and how technology and smart solutions can turn those challenges into opportunities.”
2. Your work is not your life
Regardless of how high up the ranks you climb, or how busy work can get sometimes, it’s always a good practice to set clear boundaries between work and home. Apart from being the Assistant Vice President of AT&T Global Services, Geck Pheng is also a loving mother to both her daughters and her dog outside of work.
To Geck Pheng, family time not only consists of quality time spent with her daughters, but also time outdoors with her dog.
Images courtesy of Lee Geck Pheng.
“I spend most of my free time with my family,” Geck Pheng shares. “I have a pair of teenage daughters with whom I enjoy doing things with—from simple activities like assembling puzzles and working on crafts, to more indulgent activities like feasting on our favourite Korean food and catching up on dramas and movies."
Of course, Geck Pheng’s family time also includes her beloved one-year-old Old English Sheepdog, who she says loves playing fetch and munching on treats.
Though her work days can get very busy with lots of phone calls and emails to attend to, Geck Pheng tries to carve out time for herself throughout the day by starting each morning with a cup of coffee, and squeezing in a 30-minute run on the treadmill during lunch to clear her mind and release some endorphins to keep her going for the rest of the day.
3. Give back to and support future generations
Having graduated with a degree from National University of Singapore in Computer and Information Sciences, Geck Pheng has experienced firsthand the benefits of receiving an education in STEM. She shares that she is a firm believer in the power of the STEM education, collaboration, and continuous learning, which she embodies in both her work and personal life. Furthermore, as both a mother and a woman in STEM, she supports her young daughters in striving towards their goals for the future in any way she can.
“In addition to initiatives by the government to promote STEM among females, parental support and encouragement is important,” says Geck Pheng. “When my younger daughter, Shaina, was five years old, she designed a card in school that said that her dream was to be her “mummy’s assistant” and to “work in the same office as her”. My advice to her then, and my advice to all girls who wish to pursue a career in STEM now, is to go for it. You can be anything you want as long as you put your heart into it!”
When asked about her hopes for the future of women in STEM, Geck Pheng says that she’s hopeful that the gender disparity in the STEM field will continue narrowing steadily. While she acknowledges that not every woman who pursues an education in STEM will find her way into the STEM workforce, she says that the general landscape of the industry has changed over the years, and is a lot more inclusive now than it was during her early years.
Apart from being a mother, Geck Pheng is also a role model to her two daughters. As a
child, Shaina, Geck Pheng’s younger daughter, dreamt of working alongside her. Images courtesy of Lee Geck Pheng.
Likewise, we’re hopeful that more girls will develop an interest in the STEM industry, and, like Geck Pheng says, “go for it” and pursue their dream careers, no matter what that might be.
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