The Importance of Mentorship in STEM Fields with Sidney Madison Prescott

08/06/21 • 25 min

Having a tech-centered career as a woman, and especially as a woman of color, completely caught Sidney Madison Prescott by surprise. Originally set on law school, Sidney got an internship in the tech industry her third year of undergrad and fell in love with the complexities of it all.

After choosing technology, she found another surprise; people would judge her competence not on her actual skills and passion, but based on the fact that she wasn’t the stereotypical cartoon version of what a “tech guy” should be or look like. These issues are faced by women in the tech and STEM fields every day. That’s why episode 24 of This Green Planet is about women in tech and the need for mentorship!

Sidney Madison Prescott is a senior technology leader, keynote speaker, author, and robotics evangelist specializing in the creation of Robotic Process Automation Centers of Excellence for Fortune 500 companies. Sidney currently heads up the Global Intelligent Automation initiative at music streaming powerhouse Spotify. In addition to her enterprise technology expertise, Sidney is an executive board member for three global non-profit organizations, where she contributes valuable automation insights to enhance overall program objectives. To round out her career accolades, Sidney was also named a global recipient of the 2020 Top 50 Technology Visionaries award.

In this episode of This Green Planet, Sidney Madison Prescott is sharing the importance of mentorship and actionable steps you can take right now to help young girls fall in love with STEM fields and stay interested as they age.

Sidney and I cover some of the following topics:

How Sidney utilizes her tech skills at Spotify
How to get young girls interested in STEM and stay interested in STEM careers
The common issues women in STEM careers face
The importance of having a mentor in a difficult career field

The importance of having a mentor and/or a community of like-minded persons with similar life experiences in the STEM world is so important and underrated. We have a community here at This Green Planet and I am always here to listen and to be that guide. Be sure to tune in to all the episodes to receive tons of practical tips on sustainable, STEM business practices and to hear even more about the points outlined above.

Thank you for listening!

If you enjoyed this episode, take a screenshot of the episode to post in your stories and tag me! And don’t forget to subscribe, rate and review the podcast and tell me your key takeaways!

Learn more about This Green Planet and Penny at https://thisgreenplanetpodcast.com/

CONNECT WITH PENNY BAUDER:

Learn more about This Green Planet at https://thisgreenplanetpodcast.com/

Connect with Penny Bauder at https://pennybauder.com/

CONNECT WITH SIDNEY MADISON PRESCOTT:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sidneymadisonprescott/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sidneyandthecity/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/sidneyinthecity

Get her book: https://www.amazon.com/Robotic-Process-Automation-UiPath-StudioX/dp/1484267931/

Sidney and I cover some of the following topics:

How Sidney utilizes her tech skills at Spotify
How to get young girls interested in STEM and stay interested in STEM careers
The common issues women in STEM careers face
The importance of having a mentor in a difficult career field

Thank you for listening!

If you enjoyed this episode, take a screenshot of the episode to post in your stories and tag me! And don’t forget to subscribe, rate and review the podcast and tell me your key takeaways!

Learn more about This Green Planet and Penny at https://thisgreenplanetpodcast.com/

CONNECT WITH PENNY BAUDER:

Learn more about This Green Planet at https://thisgreenplanetpodcast.com/

Connect with Penny Bauder at https://pennybauder.com/

CONNECT WITH SIDNEY MADISON PRESCOTT:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sidneymadisonprescott/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sidneyandthecity/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/sidneyinthecity

Get her book: https://www.amazon.com/Robotic-Process-Automation-UiPath-StudioX/dp/1484267931/

Previous Episode

The Secret to Achieving Work-Life Balance

We’ve all heard people brag about how great of a work/life balance they have, as if juggling all these things is bad. In much of the industry, having a strong work/life balance is something to strive for. But I don’t think it exists in the way society would like to lead you to believe. That’s why today’s episode 23 of The Green Planet is about work and life harmony instead of work and life balance.

I have spent two years trying to achieve this idea of “balance” between work and life, and that’s why I believe we are setting ourselves up to fail by trying to achieve this unrealistic dream, as if the two entities of our lives are meant to be juggled and not embraced together.

Today I encourage you to look at work-life harmony through many examples. I touch upon these key points:

The power of your words and redefining what work/life balance is and isn’t.
The importance of remaining flexible in your schedule and ability to complete tasks.
The benefit of being open to inspiration no matter our surroundings or current situation.
What we gain from prioritizing what’s essential.
The beauty in self care and how it can benefit your work.
How taking care of our mental and physical health can help us be in harmony with our work and life.

I hope you gained some insight and perhaps I changed your mind from thinking about juggling work and life and trying to remain “balanced” in these areas, and instead have found a way or two that you can find harmony between all these areas of your life and work.

Be sure to tune in to all the episodes to receive tons of practical tips on sustainable, STEM business practices and to hear even more about the points outlined above.

Thank you for listening!

If you enjoyed this episode, take a screenshot of the episode to post in your stories and tag me! And don’t forget to subscribe, rate and review the podcast and tell me your key takeaways!

Learn more about This Green Planet and Penny at https://thisgreenplanetpodcast.com/

CONNECT WITH PENNY BAUDER:

Learn more about This Green Planet at https://thisgreenplanetpodcast.com/

Connect with Penny Bauder at https://pennybauder.com/

Next Episode

How Women in STEM are Changing the Business World

In the last 5 years, there have been significant improvements to how we inspire young girls to get into STEM fields and find interest there, and in turn, this has completely changed the fields relating to STEM significantly.

You’ve heard me talk before about how women in STEM have different skillsets and have different perspectives than our male counterparts when it comes to how we think and feel, which ultimately adds a new dynamic to STEM fields. But there’s no secret that a large gender gap still remains in the STEM fields. That’s why episode 25 of This Green Planet is about how women in STEM are completely changing the business world as a whole!

In this episode of This Green Planet, I’m sharing the importance of women in STEM and ways you are probably seeing the STEM fields change around you because of the females in the field.

I cover some of the following topics:

In the last five years, there have been significant efforts made to increase awareness and interest in STEM fields for young girls but there is a significant gender gap in the industries.
Women enter higher education at much higher rates than men but only earn 30-35% of the nation’s bachelor’s degrees in STEM fields.
By increasing the number of women who are pursuing STEM fields, we’ll decrease the surplus of unfilled STEM jobs that exist right now and benefit every business in our economy.
This world has been created by and for men instead of men and women, and I give a few examples like how metabolic rates of men mean the office spaces are too cold for most women, and others, in this podcast episode.

With the growing demand for more STEM field jobs, and the increased importance of STEM fields to save our planet, create and innovate for our nation, and more, STEM fields are expanding without a proper female presence to sustain it. This episode will encourage you to be that female role model, increase awareness and understanding of the need for women in this field, and more. Be sure to tune in to all the episodes to receive tons of practical tips on sustainable, STEM business practices and to hear even more about the points outlined above.

Thank you for listening!

If you enjoyed this episode, take a screenshot of the episode to post in your stories and tag me! And don’t forget to subscribe, rate and review the podcast and tell me your key takeaways!

Learn more about This Green Planet and Penny at https://thisgreenplanetpodcast.com/

CONNECT WITH PENNY BAUDER:

Learn more about This Green Planet at https://thisgreenplanetpodcast.com/

Connect with Penny Bauder at https://pennybauder.com/