Press Releases

2021

Global Launch of Women in STEM at WuXi Biologics

News

Nov. 02, 2021

Global Launch of Women in STEM at WuXi Biologics

Recently in Dundalk, Ireland, Dr. Chris Chen, CEO of WuXi Biologics, announced the global launch of Women in STEM (WiSTEM), as the company’s dedicated endeavor to empower and encourage more female employees to increase their representation and realize their potential in the fields of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics).

WiSTEM Committee was originally founded at the company’s Dundalk site this February. Consisting of local female employees from different sectors with different job titles, ethnic backgrounds, etc., it aims to foster healthier business and culture development with greater diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). Since its inception, the committee has organized several lectures and sharing sessions at the local site and Campus Open Days to host high school students from the local girls’ school for site tours and corporate introductions.

Recognizing the importance of DEI is indeed the foundation for our work that followed. Therefore, in June, the company announced its plan to roll out the initiative from local to global, promoting WiSTEM from Ireland to other sites in other countries within its global network to further advance the career development of women professionals. The global launch of this initiative includes sharing and learning the best practice from Ireland, identifying and customizing educational programs in different countries and regions that are organized or participated by WuXi Biologics female leaders to contribute to local communities.

When attending the global launch in Ireland, Dr. Chris Chen said, “we highly recognize the spearheading efforts made by the local team to promote WiSTEM and to take it forward to foster DEI, a critical component of ESG and corporate culture. Moreover, we expect our global DEI Taskforce to bring this excellent initiative to other sites to encourage more female employees who are interested in STEM topics to get inspired and involved.”

“We recognize the importance of DEI in the workplace to ensure that everyone, regardless of who they are or what they do for the company, feels equally involved and supported,” said Brendan McGrath, Head of WuXi Biologics Dundalk site. “We are delighted to witness the global promotion of WiSTEM and will be joining this journey to share the practice and experience in Ireland. Along the way, we will also learn more great insights from other sites.”

WuXi Biologics is committed to providing equal opportunities to all employees. We have a rich pool of global talents. “Of our 10,000+ employees, more than 53% are women. And that percentage is true to female employees holding STEM positions at WuXi Bio. We honor the significant contributions by our female employees to the company’s success. Also, we have formulated the comprehensive Employee Diversity Policy to promote a corporate culture that values a diverse workforce.” Commented Ms. Sharon Tang, Vice President of Global Communications and Operations.

The global launch of WiSTEM is part of the ongoing efforts of our overall ESG progress. Through internal mapping and external stakeholders’ expectations towards a leading CRDMO player, we have established major issue taskforces this year and DEI is one of the key topics led by collaborative team of Global HR, CSR and ESG. Going forward, the DEI Taskforce will continue to roll out global/country specific programs, upgrade and optimize relevant policies, and further drive DEI awareness through company-wide campaigns.

List