I enjoyed Math and Science as a young child. That was a key reason why I pursued Chemical Engineering in National University of Singapore, where female students comprised only 10 per cent of the cohort in the early 90s.
It was rare to hear of colleagues taking time off for maternity leave or taking unpaid leave to care for their sick children. Through the years, there have been significant effort and focus to raise awareness on diversity and inclusion in the industry, and where there are equal opportunities for female talents.
Through the Career Conversion Programme by Workforce Singapore and the Singapore Semiconductor Industry Association , the proportion of women entering the industry from 2019 to 2021 was about 24 per cent, up from about 17 per cent from 2016 to 2018.Ms Julie Koh presented the Electronics and Semiconductor industry landscape and trend to local undergraduates at the inaugural Summer Camp — IC Design Your Future in July 2022.
Having personally benefited from mentorship, this drove me to become a volunteer Career Advisor with WSG as I found it to be a meaningful cause to help fellow Singaporeans with their career journey. As she shared her story of how she returned to the workforce after taking a two-year career break to be a full-time homemaker, we realised that women tend to face similar challenges in terms of balancing work and family commitment.