Country of origin
South Africa
Which company do you work for?
Coronation Fund Managers
What is your specific area of specialisation?
Currently, in investment analysis of companies from credit perspective. Relevant to STEM, I was a Metallurgical Engineer for South32
How long have you been in the Science, Technology, Engineering and Math’s (STEM) fields?
7
As a woman in a male dominated industry, what has been the biggest challenge you have faced in your career, and how did you overcome it?
Building confidence within myself and being able to leverage the experience of others who were mostly male and white
What inspired you to join this industry?
The challenge that mining was a significant contributor to our country’s GDP, but women and black people were underrepresented in technical positions
What changes, if any, have you seen in your field with regards to women in your field?
An increase in numbers even in senior positions although it’s at a snail pace. For instance, take the new CEO of Anglo Platinum, Natascha Viljoen
How can we attract more women to consider a career in the STEM fields?
By attracting more girls to study science and maths in schools, improving the quality of education and science and getting more publicity of women in STEM. Also creating accessible/democratized platforms of role models that these young women can access
If you were to advise other young women starting their careers in the tech or within the STEM fields, what is the one thing you would say to them?
Try and speak to someone already in the industry to understand what it is they do, I think the industry is quite demanding, but has immense opportunities, so it’s worth investing in the due diligence to find out if a career in STEM is what you really want and if so, in what form – working in the field, doing research, consulting, etc?
When not working, what do you do for fun?
I love the outdoors, so I run, hike, etc. and reading mostly history books/articles
