Welcome to another edition of STEM Demystified, a project to tackle women under-representation in STEM. This weekly Newsletter showcases how women are conquering science, technology, engineering, and mathematics worldwide.
Today, Liege Rhodes is our STEM role model. Born in Brazil, she had a great interest in mathematics and physics from an early age. Liege was first introduced to Geophysics by her dad, and the lack of women in the Geosciences inspired her to pursue and attain a BSc in Geophysics. Subsequently, she travelled around the world working for the Oil & Gas Industry as a Marine Seismic Data Processor.
Liege has worked mainly in male dominated environments, and her career has not followed a linear path. After changing her career aspirations and facing a few challenges she settled in the USA as Software Support Liaison for NASA/Shearwater.
Let’s look into Liege’s career so far and find out how she overcame challenges along the way.
What was your trajectory from school to where you currently are professionally or academically?
I’ve moved around quite a bit! I started my career working offshore for WesternGeco. That gave me the opportunity to travel all over the world, having been to 10+ different countries while working with them! I also had the chance to live in London when I was put in a short-term assignment with them in the UK as an onshore data processor.
Unfortunately, I quickly realized that I wasn’t happy with the way my career was progressing with them at the time. I made the decision to leave the company – at the time I was ready to quit the field entirely.
Another opportunity presented itself not too long after that which made me rediscover my passion for geophysics. I took on yet another challenge offshore, processing nodal data as a freelancer, a market which was becoming bigger and bigger at the time.
One year after that, I was offered a permanent position offshore with the company I currently work for, Shearwater. It was during COVID that I was offered a position in the Houston office as Software Support Geophysicist to support our external clients who use our software. During this time, I had the pleasure of not only interacting with our clients over our support portal, but also delivering trainings and attending regular meetings with them.
One and a half years later, I was promoted to Software Support Liaison – NASA, the role that I now hold. I’ve been in this position for almost one year now and that has allowed me to interact a lot closer to a lot more of our clients based in the Americas. This new role also allowed me to develop not only my technical skills but also my soft skills, required when dealing with people so closely.
What motivated you to get into STEM? Did you have a female role model or anyone who inspired you? If so, who?
I realized when I was in high school that I was drawn to anything related to math and physics. I wasn’t quite sure yet what exactly I wanted to study in university. Funnily enough, it wasn’t a female figure who introduced me to geophysics, but my own father.
Even though it wasn’t a female figure who inspired me to get in the field of geophysics, it was the lack of women that made me feel like I should pursue it. At the time I looked into it, there were no women who had graduated in geophysics for the Federal University of Bahia. I took it on as a challenge. Even though I wasn’t the first woman to graduate the course, my class was the first one to graduate with 3 females, which comprised half of the class.
What’s your most important professional or academic achievement?
There are a few milestones in my career I am proud of. From the very beginning, having started it offshore until my latest promotion, taking on a brand-new role in my company of client liaison for North and South Americas. I can say, however, that my proudest achievement so far was co-writing a book about my company’s software which have been the basis for basic training on this software both internally and externally.
Did you face any challenge throughout your professional/academic journey? How did you overcome it?
There were a few challenges in my professional career, and they were all related to being a woman in a male predominant industry. I was sexually harassed right in the beginning of my offshore career. I did not receive much support from my then superior. I had, however, been instructed on how to react in certain situations in trainings provided by the company.
I talked with the person and made it clear his advances were not welcome. I was fortunate enough that all I needed to do in that case was simply have a talk, not every woman who goes through this is as fortunate as I was.
I also realized a few years ago that I was prone to self-sabotaging. I had been offered leadership positions a few times, and I always declined them for thinking I wasn’t “good enough”. It took me years to realize that very few people, if any, are prepared to take on such roles. After realizing my potential as a professional, that is when I started making more and more progress in my career. Accepting the challenges as they come and realizing there is a learning curve to everything we do, including new roles, is what changed my mindset towards this.
In your opinion, what needs to be done to attract more women into STEM?
I believe that having role models who work in STEM early on in their lives and showing the impact that this can bring to society could make a difference.
Most women have a natural desire to bring a meaningful contribution to society and those are more easily associated with careers in healthcare or similar. I think it is important to show young women how STEM related careers can be as impactful to society as those related to healthcare and similar.
What advice would you give to anyone looking into a career in STEM (or those who do not consider it)?
Don’t be solely focused on the technical side of it. Be malleable and adaptable. STEM-related careers can still allow you to branch-off into roles which would require social skills and they can be just as impactful and fulfilling.
Liege’s career is really inspiring. It shows us that men are also responsible for sparking women’s curiosity and interest in STEM. They should be our allies not enemies.
Gender diversity in the energy sector, including Oil and Gas, is vital for driving more innovative and inclusive solutions. Increasing the number of women working for the industry can create a virtuous cycle that attracts more female talent.
Women working in male-dominated industries like the Oil and Gas industry can present a myriad of challenges, but you should not feel intimidated by it. By being one of few or the first one, you will certainly inspire and attract other women and then you will not be alone anymore. You will be one of many women who conquered the industry. Representation matters.
I’m on YouTube now!
Check out Accessible BI for practical Power BI tutorials and tips on making data accessible to everyone. Subscribe here: Accessible BI YouTube Channel
