Podcast: Opening the gates for women in biotech

There is no lack of talented women in the biotech space but the gates blocking their progression must be open for them to fully realize their potential, says consultant Nadine Ritter.

Companies’ Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion (DEI) policies are too often just an exercise in box-checking, said Nadine Ritter, president and analytical advisor at Global Biotech Experts and long-time member of BioProcess International’s editorial board.

“If it’s just virtual signaling on a website then I don’t care… show me the metrics,” she said during a DEI coffee chat at BPI Europe in Vienna last week.

Nadine Ritter, celebrating BioProcess International’s 20th anniversary at BPI Europe in Vienna, Austria

“It’s very difficult to change an industry culture but how de we get people to be noticed? Sadly, more often than not it’s through the voluntary sector [for women to] get the opportunities to learn and demonstrate their abilities.”

She told BioProcess Insider reporter Millie Nelson, who moderated the chat, that “career development is an integral part of DEI because it’s diversity inclusion at the starting gate,” rather than just a tick-box exercise among the C-suite. “It will never really change at the top unless we remediate the gates [below].”

She continued: “There is no lack of engaged and talented individuals [in biotech]. As long as they know they can make a difference, they will make a difference.

The full fireside chat has been turned into the latest episode of the BioProcess Insider Expression Platform podcast and can be found below or at Spotify, Apple iTunes, Google podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.