Breaking Stereotypes with Dr Morley Muse, CoFounder of iSTEM and Women's Agenda STEM Winner
Credit: Image courtesy of University of South Wales
When you tell companies to employ women, it almost seems like charity.
While it sounds like a denegrading thing to say, with very little change when it comes to the statistics of women in leadership and parity in pay, it’s comments like this that help shake and wake us up.
A story on the lack of parity in pay hit the front cover of the AFR last week. Economics correspondence Michael Read wrote an insightful and somewhat alarming report on ‘The Gender Pay Gap”.
There are so many alarm-bells, but rather than give you our opinion, how about you read the article and listen to this week’s interview with gender equity expert Dr Morley Muse.
According to Dr Muse, “research shows that having gender diversity would increase your profits by 25 percent and if add an intersectional like race or ethnic diversity it would increase your profits by 33 percent”
In today’s episode of The Uncharted Leader, host Kylee Stone talks with Dr. Morley Muse, Chemical, Environmental and Renewable Energy Engineer and CoFounder of iSTEM about breaking stereotypes, the importance of strength and vulnerability in leadership, revolutionising recruitment with AI and a humanistic approach to gender parity.
“A leader is someone who is not afraid of being vulnerable and knows that they do not need to have all the answers but can bring together a team to create the answers together.”
An activist for equality in STEM, Dr Muse shares her story of breaking stereotypes, the need to nurture strength and vulnerability in leadership and our collective responsibility to create a diverse and inclusive society.
In 2022 she was the winner of Women’s Agenda awards for the Emerging Leader in STEM category, a finalist in the Victoria University Alumni Rising Star Awards and in 2023 she was a finalist in the Recalibrate Gender Equity Awards.
Credit: Image courtesy of ProBono Australia
A few of the many highlights of today’s conversation…
💡 The Retention Gap for Women in STEM
💡 The iSTEM Co. Movement Revolutionising Recruitment with AI
💡 Women’s Agenda Emerging Leaders Award
💡 Overcoming Obstacles and Breaking Stereotypes
💡 Inclusive Leadership and Humanism
Ignite Your Passion and Amplify the Impact You Have in the World!
Connect with Dr Morley Muse on LinkedIn and learn more iSTEM by visiting their website iSTEM.com and follow them on LinkedIN
Book a call with Kylee and ask about the Emerging Leaders Program to ignite your passion, grow your influence and amplify the impact you have to lead and succeed with purpose.
Podcast proudly presented by The Performance Code
Dr Morley’s mission is to solve the under-representation of women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) by tackling 5 fundamental areas: Education, Employment, Retention, Leadership and Entrepreneurship.
What is one of the biggest challenges you overcame?
As a woman navigating the challenging landscape of STEM from a minority background, my journey has been a rollercoaster of personal and professional trials. The hurdles became mountains, especially when life dealt me a heartbreaking blow – losing my eldest sister while I was seven months pregnant with my second son.
The weight of this loss was amplified by the fact that I had already experienced the profound absence of my mother 11 years prior, just before embarking on my journey to Australia. I began my Ph.D. a mere three weeks after welcoming my first son into the world. I thought that was the pinnacle of difficulty, but little did I know that three years into my academic pursuit, I would face an even greater challenge.
In the midst of wrapping up my experiments, tragedy struck again as I lost my eldest sister, a dedicated pediatric doctor in Nigeria. Summoning every ounce of courage, I pressed forward. However, as I neared the finish line, just two months before my thesis was due, during COVID, I lost my second sister. It felt as though the ground beneath me was being continuously pulled away.
Yet, amid this seemingly endless darkness, what fueled my perseverance was nothing but HOPE.
I painted a vivid mental image of a seed buried beneath the soil. The experience of being planted is one of heat and darkness, an almost suffocating and seemingly hopeless ordeal. Yet, with the right amount of sunlight and water, that seed doesn't actively do anything but wait. And one day, it finds itself breaking through the surface, reaching toward the light. This mental picture became my lifeline, a symbol of the hope that I, too, would sprout again.
Another visual anchor that kept me afloat was the image of a flowing stream. Water, when stagnant, becomes stale and lifeless in a container. But once it's set in motion, coursing through the twists and turns, it undergoes a process of purification. I held onto this image, reminding myself that, like the stream, I needed to keep moving forward, navigating the challenges to find clarity and renewal.
In the face of unimaginable loss and adversity, it was the power of hope and the resilience of nature's metaphors that carried me through, propelling me to emerge stronger and more determined than ever before.
What does success mean to you?
When the STEM ecosystem is reflective of the true diversity of our society, achieving gender parity and representation of ALL women in STEM including women from DIVERSE backgrounds.
More about Dr Morley.
Among her various work and accolades are: being a past ambassador for CSIRO's Innovation Catalyst Global, a board director with Women in STEMM Australia, an Advisory Group Member of the Elevate: Boosting Women in STEM Program with the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering and a RISE Expert panel member with Diversity Council Australia (DCA), Settlement Services International (SSI) and Chief Executive Women (CEW). She works closely with Science Technology Australia (STA) and sits on STA’s Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Committee. She is also a mentor for senior and executive women in STEM with STA on their Superstars of STEM Program. In addition, Dr Muse is a member of the Energy Reference Group with Jemena Energy, providing expert advice on the energy transition, tariffs, and electricity price reset for Jemena Energy and its customers.
She was the winner of the 2022 Women’s Agenda awards for the Emerging Leader in STEM category and was named a finalist for the 2022 Victoria University Alumni Awards under the ’Rising Star category’. Her most recent recognition is being a finalist for the 2023 Recalibrate Gender Equity Awards.
As the co-founder of iSTEM Co, a research, consulting, and talent-sourcing business that enables employment for women in STEM, Morley continues to encourage women, including women from diverse backgrounds to further their careers in STEM.
iSTEM Co. was nominated as a finalist for the 2022 Women in Digital awards and was a Merit award winner at the 2023 Tech Diversity awards for the business category. This year, the iSTEM Group launched DEIR, a recruit-tech platform that eliminates recruitment bias for women in STEM. DEIR has also received recognition in STEM and has won two prestigious awards including the Lift Women Social Impact Award in 2022 and the “Equity in Innovation Award” at the 2023 Burning Hereos Competition.
