SINGAPORE - Minister of State for Manpower and Education Gan Siow Huang's background as an air traffic controller and later a general in the military strongly underlined her call on Friday for more females to study and work in science and technology fields.
She added that studying the science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields opens up a huge range of job possibilities. A highlight of Friday's webinar was the release of an inaugural list honouring 100 outstanding women in Singapore's technology sector, women Ms Gan described as role models and trailblazers who show what is possible.
They include Razer chief of staff and board member Patricia Liu, Nanyang Technological University associate professor of bioengineering Sierin Lim and ComfortDelGro chief technology officer Siew Yim Cheng. "We don't know and that's why it's really important for us to understand the root cause of what is motivating them," she added.
"There are biases I impose on myself - what I call the 'sticky floor'," noted Ms Balasingam, who is vice-president of partner and commercial organisation at American software company VMware and one of those on the top 100 list.