Shattering the Glass Ceiling: Empowering Women in STEM

It has been a long standing, and ongoing battle, for women’s representation in the workplace, especially in the STEM industry. At Rakuten, gender equality remains at the forefront of our priorities as we focus on empowering every woman in their professional journey.  

As we continue to celebrate the many accomplishments of women in STEM, this feature hears from three amazing women at Rakuten about their experience in the industry and how they have learnt to navigate the ups and downs of this predominantly male environment. 

Taking the Win 

In such a competitive and fast-changing environment, female professionals in STEM have fallen prey to thinking they are not qualified enough for their jobs. Often riddled with self-doubt about one's capabilities, this phenomenon has since been referred to as imposter syndrome. 

Christy, an Associate Software Engineer from our Data Sync team, is no stranger to this.  

Before converting into a full-time employee, Christy joined Rakuten in 2021 as a User Experience (UX) Design intern.  

Fun fact, she did not major in software development or UX design when she was in university, so almost everything she knew before joining Rakuten was self-taught.  

“I am all too familiar with feelings of imposter syndrome,” Christy laments. “Coming into this industry without formal education in this field was daunting at first. I felt like I would not be able to contribute much to projects due to my limited skill set.” 

“My advice to young women who share these feelings is to have a genuine curiosity to learn and improve. This desire to upskill will definitely help you excel in this industry,” says Christy. 

Her colleagues at Rakuten also played a pivotal role in helping her hone her craft – they always made it a point to hold frequent check-ins with her to answer any questions and gave her opportunities in front-end development to help her get a better understanding of how it works. 

Though it was tough, Christy soldiered through and now spearheads the designs of user interfaces for internal tools and assists in front-end development for these projects.

Finding Her Voice 

As we spoke to these women, another common theme surfaced: difficulty speaking up in such a male-dominated workplace. Women in STEM tend to feel that their input may not matter and inadvertently choose to keep quiet.   

Nidhi from the Global Ad Technology Supervisory Department weighs in on this challenge.  

Having recently joined Rakuten as a fresh graduate, Nidhi is a software engineer who works with a wide array of technology daily to deliver ads across all of Rakuten’s platforms. 

Her passion for technology took root in her early years. “The idea that something we create can impact someone on the other side of the world is something I find truly fascinating about technology,” Nidhi beamed. 

Although her journey in the STEM workplace had just begun, Nidhi highlighted that the challenges faced by women in this line of work are very real. 

“It was daunting to speak up initially – as a young female graduate, you’re not quite sure whether what you’re about to say necessarily adds value or if it is consuming the valuable time of others in the meeting,” says Nidhi.  

When asked how she found her voice, Nidhi said, “I have learnt that it is essential to trust yourself and take more chances with yourself! As hard as it can be to believe sometimes, your inputs are much more valuable than you think they are. You never know what change you can invoke until you try and speak up,”. 

Thankfully, her colleagues and managers at Rakuten also provided her support through daily stand-up meetings, ensuring that everyone had a chance to speak and showed appreciation for her input. 

Breaking the Bias 

Being in a culture that values a person’s ability and does not discriminate based on gender is something, Xin Pei, from the Delivery Group, appreciates.  

Xin Pei joined Rakuten last year as a backend engineer. Being a part of the Delivery Group means she helps maintain ad servers and ad-item databases. 

“Women in STEM have always been seen as less capable than their male counterparts,” says Xin Pei. 

This gender bias has posed yet another major challenge for women in STEM. Coined as the ‘prove-it-again’ bias, women have felt the constant need to re-establish their capabilities to safeguard their skill sets from being discounted.  

“I felt really uneasy when it happened to me,” Xin Pei recalls when she experienced gender bias.  

“But instead of conforming to these biases, I adopted a growth mindset and understood that everyone has their own strengths in the field. Being a woman does not discount my capabilities!” she chimes. “To all young women entering STEM, don’t let these gender biases define you. Treat them as opportunities to improve and break the bias.” 

In addition to her shift in mindset, Xin Pei also shared that Rakuten’s culture of treating everyone fairly and as independent contributors has empowered her to overcome this challenge. 

Working Together to Break Barriers 

These challenges highlighted merely scratch the surface of daily struggles faced by women in STEM. Despite these pushbacks, we are proud to see how women in STEM have flourished and found their own in the industry.    

As we continue to uplift and empower women in the workplace, it is worth remembering that creating an equal-opportunity environment for women in STEM takes a joint effort from us all. 

Interested in joining the Rakuten team? Find out more about career opportunities here: https://bit.ly/3Z86DCD