Girls in STEMM: Merck Visit in Shanghai
On November 28th, Merck hosted students from three schools participating in the Girls in STEMM program at its Merck Innovation Center in Shanghai.
The visit started with an engaging tour around Merck Innovation Center. Wayne Li, Associate Director, Operations, Project Management, China Innovation Hub, showed girls around, sharing the long history of Merck company and demonstrating some innovative products like a transparent OLED display. He also shared some core Merck principles and values, which include diversity, equity, and inclusion. They are depicted in the colorful logos and a picture on the wall, made of various colorful glass pieces.
After hearing about Merck’s history, and culture, and checking out some of their products, students met such inspirational Merck representatives as Bella Zhi, BU Lead, Display China, Fancy Wang, Vaccine Segment Expert, Marketing, Peter Li, GOglobal Trainee – Healthcare, Lisa Ren, GOglobal Trainee – Procurement and Julie Fu, China DE&I Business Partner. Each of them shared their educational background and their own story of achieving their goals and finding the profession that suits them the most. Also, they explained to girls that it’s ok not to know what they want to do in the future now, as the way to finding your vocation is not easy. There are so many different occupations they can pursue in STEMM, which are not limited to scientists and engineers. Therefore, they advised girls to be open-minded and explore their interests to find what they are passionate about.
To wrap up the visit, students had a chance to participate in group discussions with Merck representatives and do a deeper dive into the company structure, and its departments and learn more about the variety of roles and positions Merck offers. Then Julie Fu, China DE&I Business Partner, shared some videos and stories of strong women of Merck that were driving Merck to success and stood tall in a male-dominant industry. Hopefully, these role models will give girls an impetus to be bold in achieving their goals and don’t give up even if that means they are going to be the only females in the room.
Thanks again to all of Merck's representatives for sharing their personal stories and inspiring the girls from the Concordia International School Shanghai, Yew Chung International School (YCIS) Pudong, and Puxi. Next up, Shanghai students will visit Coca-Cola and Dell Technologies.
To learn more about the Girls in STEMM program and how you can get involved, please scan the QR code below:
The Women Empowerment Council (WEC) is an engaged network of leaders and decision-makers that aims to advance gender equality in businesses in China and beyond.