voiceover: A key component of the modern world economy, the chemical
industry delivers products and innovations to enhance everyday life.
It is also an industry in transformation where chemical executives and
workers are delivering growth and industry changing advancements while
responding to pressures from investors, regulators, and public opinion.
Discover how leading companies are approaching these challenges
here on The Chemical Show.
Join Victoria Meyer, president of Progressio Global and host of The
Chemical Show, As she speaks with executives across the industry and
learns how they are leading their companies to grow, transform, and push
industry boundaries on all frontiers.
Here's your host, Victoria Meyer.
Victoria: Hi, this is Victoria Meyer.
Welcome back to The Chemical Show where Chemicals Means Business Today.
I'm bringing you a unique episode that we're recording during Women's History
Month, and we're showcasing CEF, the Chemical Educational Foundation, and
three of their female board members, Jennifer Jewson from Lyondell Basell.
Joyce Marshall Johnson from Univar Solutions and Rene Whigham from Olin.
So we're going to be talking about careers in chemicals, the importance
of engaging students and especially girls early in their academic careers.
And then also wrapping in a discussion about CEF's You Be the Chemist
Challenge, which is reaching its 20th anniversary this year with a
big celebration in Houston in June.
So we'll be talking about that and more.
Ladies, welcome to The Chemical Show.
audioJoyceMarshallJoh41357743781: Thank you.
audioJenJewson21357743781: you.
Victoria: So, I'm going to start with, what sparked your interest in chemistry
and led to a career in chemicals because you've all reached and developed
some great careers in this industry.
And it's always interesting how we got here.
Jen, let's start with you.
audioJenJewson21357743781: I am actually a chemist.
I'm a chemist and I worked in catalyst design.
So I worked in organic chemistry.
And so I as a young girl, I always love math and science.
No 1 in my family is a math and science person.
So I'm very unique.
But I think the great thing about that is, I just had great support from my family.
And then the reason I really love CEF is, it's always the engagement
of a teacher that really helps to spark what you want to do.
And when I got to college, I had a fantastic advisor that really encouraged
me, not just to get a 4 year degree, but go even beyond that to get a PhD
and I love working in the research area.
And for me, that was my beginning part of my journey.
Victoria: Yeah.
That's great.
Rene, how about you?
Cause you're also, chemicals all the way through your career.
Rene Whigham: Yeah, that's right.
So mine actually, my interest in chemistry and math.
Started with a interaction with a fifth grade teacher that introduced me to
chemistry and from that point forward, I realized how much I love chemistry and
putting the math together with that and.
Having the opportunities to, progress in that career path meant
choosing a school that had a really good chemical engineering program.
And I, too Jen went on to get advanced degrees in chemical engineering.
But it all started with that initial interaction with the teacher, and I
also had the support of parents who.
During the time period I grew up, it wasn't conventional for women
to be in chemical engineering.
And so while I, you run into the naysayers that don't
believe that's a woman's role.
My parents were always so supportive and telling me you can do and be anything you
want to be, just do what you love to do.
And that's really how I ended up.
I'm going to get my degrees in chemical engineering, and I've been
in the chemical space ever since.
And so a lot of great support and interaction, but it
started with a teacher.
Victoria: Yeah.
That's really cool.
And Joyce.
You are not a chemist or a chemical engineer, right?
So you've got a degree in industrial engineering and yet somehow we still got
you roped into the chemical industry.
audioJoyceMarshallJoh41357743781: I stumbled into the world of chemicals.
For me, the journey began early on.
Very similar to Rene is a introduction from a great teacher.
However, I really gravitated to biology and organisms and how they
were formed and early on 4th 5th grade.
And then as I entered the middle school years.
I really began to advance in mathematics.
I just loved gravitating to think solving problems and and just being adventurous
with a lot of different things.
Actually through my earlier years, it wasn't really until the end of high
school where I realized, I, Yeah.
I have a little bit of a limitation of exposure to chemistry.
I dove in my senior year.
I landed with an engineering scholarship in college, which was a bit unexpected.
I was thinking, okay, I love biology.
I'm going to pursue something there.
But, once I got exposed to the world of Engineering.
And then I began to intern in the natural gas processing space.
I became a processing engineer where chemistry became key.
And it grew from there.
So I do very much appreciate a lot of teachers along the way
that were very influential.
My parents were very supportive.
But really, it just, it was always there.
Chemistry was always there that the love of learning.
Engineering.
And gravitating to math and sciences were there, but yeah, a little bit
different journey in that in the world of chemistry and chemicals, it really,
for me, took off once I committed to an engineering degree in college.
So a little bit different journey.
Victoria: Yeah, that's really cool.
And I think what's interesting about all of it is how exposure
was so critical, right?
So whether it be exposure to chemistry in the first place, exposure to the
opportunities in engineering and what you can do, because again, as you
pointed out, Joyce, you don't know.
None of us know.
I think we all went a little bit blindly in some cases into college and into
our careers just because we're hampered by not having examples around us.
And so that's where it's just so great to be able to expose students
at a young age and other folks at a young age, my chemistry story.
And I'm a chemical engineer.
I have 3 older brothers and 3 younger sisters.
So 1 of 7 and 1 of my brothers got a chemistry kit for Christmas one year,
you guys might remember like the probably came out of the Sears catalog or,
Kmart, wherever you bought this.
stuff from we loved making doing the rockets there was a mix,
the baking soda and vinegar and.
Blowing up rockets in the backyard that was exciting.
And I loved once I found the microscope, which is not really chemistry, but
just the whole scientific there's more to it than what's on the surface.
And then examples and great teachers as well.
So I think that's all.
It's so important that the exposure at a young age while you're still in
the decision process is so critical.
It's women history, women's history month.
And there's a lot of discussions in the workplace and items in the media about
empowering women helping women achieve more workplace success and recognition
and obviously the chemical industry.
Like other really technical and process heavy industries
has long been male dominated.
In fact, if we look at engineering school, engineering schools are male dominated.
And yet we see a lot of successful women, including yourselves across the industry.
What has been really significant and helping you navigate a career?
In chemicals and really career progression and feeling like you could
stick with it throughout your career.
Jen, can we start with you maybe?
audioJenJewson21357743781: Sure, so we actually had a discussion yesterday
within our company about, career paths and how do you follow that?
How do you stick with it?
For me?
I'm going to tell you, it's all about mentors.
And I had a mentor early in my career, and I have one today
and they change over time.
I think, depending on maybe where you are in your career, but without having a
mentor, I think I wouldn't there's no way I would be as successful as I am today.
And I think part of it is because.
If you look at women in the workforce, we are more apt to be a little
more reserved or more risk averse.
We don't put ourselves out there as much.
And, I've had mentors in my career that will say things to me.
Why not you?
Why can't you do it?
And I love that because I think it helps you.
It makes you a little more vulnerable, but it's forced me to
candidly get out of my comfort zone.
And, You get into a role, and you may be very nervous, but I will
tell you within 30 days, you're like, yeah, I think I can do this.
And you're not really sure about what you're capable of
unless somebody pushes you.
And so I will tell you that my mentors in my career have, I give them all the credit
for helping me get to where I am today.
Victoria: Yeah, that's really awesome.
Rene or Joyce, you have anything to add on that?
audioJoyceMarshallJoh41357743781: Yeah I think for me too, which was wonderful.
Was that I didn't know what I didn't know and that I didn't realize I was in
a space that was unique to be honest.
Yes, I was many times the only female in the room, many times, sometimes
the only minority in the room.
And, but, I think just that the grit and I used that brute force method initially
because I just didn't know I wasn't supposed to necessarily not be there.
So I, Like what was also discussed, mentors don't always look like
a mentor, like they don't call themselves a mentor, but I think
that was really critical for me.
There were people that believed in me and supported my progression and
sometimes making moves in different levels of the organization and or
different segments from sales to maybe procurement and supply chain.
I made some jumps and moves, and I had the support of others, and I thought
that was really critical, but they weren't necessarily per se my mentors.
But in retrospect, when I look back, I was like, in a way, they really were
mentors, but they were supporters of growth and development and showing
what I could do for the organization, which I, was really critical.
Victoria: Yeah.
And in some ways it sounds like maybe they were sponsors even more so than
mentors, like creating that opportunity that you may or may not have known about.
audioJoyceMarshallJoh41357743781: Exactly.
Victoria: Yeah.
Rene Whigham: I would add both.
Both of those comments are great.
And for me, when I talk about mentors to my mentees.
I let them know that a mentor is not someone that tells
you what you want to hear.
They tell you the things that you need to hear.
And sometimes those.
Strike us as different, or maybe we don't agree with them
. Those are the people that are seen.
Attributes in ourselves that maybe we don't see ourselves and that's that
is so important to have that person that you could that sounding board
really that can help you understand that self promotion is very important.
I read a study once and I don't have the details behind it,
but if you look at a, male and female engineer that starts at the same time,
over the course of 10 years, the male is much further in his progression than the
female and the data shows that's because females are more hesitant to talk about
how good we are, because we're always a little bit second, guessing ourselves
to joyce's point, I never noticed that I was the only woman in a room full of men.
It never registered with me because I was just doing the job that I was meant to do.
So I didn't look around the room and take an account of, the gender than
the room, it was just, it was my job and that's who we, what I needed to do.
And so that having that perspective and also being open to challenges, like Joyce
said, moving outside of your functional area to completely different roles that
you may not think you're ready for.
But there's others that believe in you that think you're ready
and it scares you to death.
But that challenge is the energy that makes us go to the next step.
And so many different things in my career that I'm thankful for and the
people that helped me see what I could do that I wasn't aware that I could do.
Victoria: Yeah.
I think that's
really great.
And I think your point about career progression and men and women and not
necessarily progressing at the same rate.
I I actually do, I speak to corporate women's groups and to other groups about
this topic called negotiate your success.
If you don't, who will?
And women have often have what I call the tiara syndrome.
If I just put my head down and do a great job, they're going to see
that tiara, my crown on top of my head and know that I'm awesome.
And the reality is people don't know because we're all egocentric
and we don't necessarily pay attention to everything else.
And then studies also show that women negotiate much better on behalf of other
people and not so well for themselves.
And so figuring out number one, how to go back, go to bat for yourself is critical.
And number two, who can you rely on?
Whether it be a mentor, a peer, a sponsor to help you when you're not
helping yourself is so important.
So turning a little bit, obviously, everybody here on this call has
developed a great career in chemicals.
So what do you wish more people knew about and more women maybe knew about
careers in the chemical industry?
Cause there's so many opportunities, but how do we create those opportunities and
what do you wish they knew about this?
Rene Whigham: So I think from my perspective, I, in looking at our
operations across the globe, I want women to know all of the different
career opportunities that are available.
It's not just engineering and it's not just chemistry.
It is welding.
It is instrumentation.
It's electrical work.
It's there's so many different career paths.
Associated with the chemical industry that we need to communicate broadly to
the students that we come in touch with.
To young females that all of the different opportunities that exist that are related
to the chemical industry are so important.
audioJoyceMarshallJoh41357743781: And I think it's also very
important to keep in mind.
I think the average person doesn't think a lot about how chemicals are in everything.
They're in everything we touch, everything we do,
what we construct.
And the chemical industry is in the interface with so many other
segments of business, with STEM and chemistry being the core foundation
of a lot of other industries.
Healthcare, construction, it goes on and on.
And just our global interface with other industry segments and just
how stem and chemistry as a core can support so many different career
paths that are possible to you.
I think that's something that's very important for people to know and
understand or for our young people to know and understand as well.
audioJenJewson21357743781: But I think Victoria made a really good point
earlier, and that is, I think women have a tendency to put their head down.
They sit at their desk.
They want to do a good job.
For me, I think I talk about this often in our office and
it's the power of the dialogue.
Reach out to other people and ask what they do.
I will tell you, people will always say yes, because they want to talk about
their careers and you will see that people have very different multifaceted
careers and they could have a job that you don't think you're interested in today.
But the more you hear about it.
The more you might, it might spark an interest, and it might be end up being
your passion at the end of the day.
But I think, for me, talking to a lot of people and understanding
what else is out there.
I think people will link you to other people and so having that broader network
where you can talk to people to me, I wish I would have done that earlier.
I love my career.
I will tell you, I've done things I never thought I would have done, but
I also hear about jobs every so often.
Wow, I wish I would have done that earlier in my career
because that sounds really cool.
And so so, to me, I just feel like I talk about that all the time to people.
Who do you talk to?
And it doesn't have to be somebody high up in an organization
to that's the other thing.
It could just be reaching out to people across peers, or even people
that are newer in their career.
They can share with you a lot of really great opportunities.
Victoria: I love that.
I really do.
Let's talk a little bit more about just education and chemistry, right?
So chemistry is at the foundation of what we do.
We've each talked about how we've gotten touched by chemistry and influenced by
chemistry and education early our careers.
Why is this so important from, from your perspective?
And if we think about what CEF is doing, what's, why is it
important to engage students early?
audioJenJewson21357743781: I think you have to engage them early or you'll
lose them because I think as you go up through school and I think kids don't
worry about, perception of other things.
They just enjoy learning at a young age.
So I don't think they think about.
Oh, I'm the smart kid or the sporty kid or that, they just
want to be very open and explore.
And observe, I think the thing I worry about, or if you don't catch them early
enough as they go into high school girls aren't supposed to be good at math.
Oh, it's not cool to be a math person.
I loved math.
And so I bucked it because I'm very stubborn, but I think you get into at
the higher grades, you get into the perception of where you shouldn't be.
And I do think people, they want to fit in.
And so I think folks will have a tendency to say, yeah I'm not good at math.
So I'm just not going to do it versus.
I actually really enjoy it.
And why wouldn't I want to do it?
So I think there's, to me, it feels like catching them early.
You catch a passion there.
That is not doesn't have a bias to it.
Rene Whigham: And you spark if the curiosity early that, kids today are
under so much social pressure that if you can catch them early enough and
spark that curiosity and let them know.
That there are no preconceived notions about what you can do and how far you
can go and what career path you take where I live is more of a rural area.
And when I do career days at the local schools.
There is a significant difference between the elementary schools and
the attention that I get there.
And in the high school, those decisions are already made by the
women and girls in high school.
Victoria: Wow.
Rene Whigham: There's not an audience there, but when you go
into an elementary school, there's an audience and they pay attention.
And so it's just getting to them at that early age to let them understand the vast.
Array of things that they can go do, and they're in their life.
Victoria: Yeah.
So this is a good segue to talk about CEF and the, you be the chemist challenge.
So Kim, one of you guys just give us an overview of CEF and you be the chemist.
Joyce, do you wanna jump in on this?
audioJoyceMarshallJoh41357743781: Sure.
, you know, CEF Is very much committed to engaging with students early and
chemistry and STEM activities and the UB the chemist challenge focuses on
students that are between the ages of the fifth grade and eighth grade and
in providing a challenge activity for them to become a part of and to engauge
and to build their relationship when it comes to chemistry and stem activity.
So it is a very good program that happens annually and we just really enjoy or
I personally enjoy that opportunity of even being hands on with the earlier
challenges that are set throughout the year for for CF, you be the chemist
Victoria: So Kim, one of you guys talk about how it's structured
'cause it is a national contest.
And there's local challenges along the way.
Is that right?
Rene Whigham: so I can touch on it just a bit.
So we start early, usually 4th, quarter of the year, setting
up the regional challenges.
Getting the teams in place, and then once they register, they get
the materials, they start their plans to and how they participate.
And there are teams of 4, 5th through 8th grade students, and they have real world.
Problems to solve and they're not easy problems.
This is like building a company, in what type of workforce that
you would have in your company.
So it's not a typical 5th grade questions, but it's designed
to challenge their thinking.
And so the regional competitions happen.
And then the top 5 teams from around the U.
S.
and Canada actually get to travel to Houston expense paid
to compete live for scholarships.
And they start on a Monday, June the 10th and with the.
Award ceremony on June 11th and the thing that I like so much about the
scholarships that are available.
It's not just about scholarships for college.
It is for other types of education, whether it's certifications for
any type of, career paths, because when we look at this, maintaining a
sustainable workforce in our chemical industry, it's not just about engineers.
We need the technicians.
We need the people that can work with their hands and perform.
A chemical operator doesn't have to have a college education, but we
can't run our plants without them.
And so these scholarships go to promote not only the College education, but other
types of stem related backgrounds as well.
Victoria: And so this year is the 20th anniversary of UB the chemist.
And as you ladies have articulated, the top five teams are coming from across
the country to Houston in the beginning of June to compete for the title.
And I think there's something like 50, 000 in scholarships.
So each one of you have attended these events.
What makes it special?
What stands out for you when you've attended one of
this UB the chemist finals?
. Rene Whigham: I can start.
You guys jump in, but it's the collaboration between these teams.
Not only the members on a single team, but between the teams,
these kids are just the energy and excitement in the room is contagious.
And to see that flow in the parents and supporters that are there with their
kids, it's just, it makes you want to, it just gives you the thought that you want
to go and spread this throughout all the schools so that everybody can participate.
audioJoyceMarshallJoh41357743781: I always enjoyed celebrating their
achievements, really, whether it was a regional challenge and seeing them
engaging and seeing their curiosity just soar on solving all these different
problems and answering these questions.
But especially even at the finals, it's that.
Celebrating their achievements and celebrating what they were able to
accomplish and learn through the, through this process and through the challenges.
I've always really enjoyed that, that part of it as well.
audioJenJewson21357743781: And I will say, we just had a regional challenge
here in Houston, and there is nothing better than watching these kids edify
each other and get super excited.
And so how you can not get wound up in that.
It's just impossible to me.
And and it's just the, to me, it's just the purest joy watching them excited
about learning and doing different things.
And, I will say the other comment that Rene made was a really good one.
At San Jacinto College, we did the challenge and then we took all the kids
to do a tour of the labs that are there.
And it's so it's great for the kids to see what's possible.
But the other thing that I think that's also very important, there are a lot
of parents and teachers there, and I think it also helps to educate them
a little bit about what's possible.
When you talk about career, we talk about chemistry being foundational
and it is, it's everything we touch.
But chemistry touches and because of that, it touches so many different avenues.
You can be an operator, you can be a truck driver, you can be an analytical chemist.
There's all these different things and I think just getting
first the kids exposure, but also the parents and the teachers.
I think it helps to raise the floor when it comes to level
of discussion with these kids.
Victoria: I think it's great.
And as you point out, and I was each one of these teams is working with a teacher.
So we've got a teacher in middle school that is helping to sponsor
the program for their schools.
And again, back to the whole importance of having a mentor, a coach, a
teacher engage and spark some of that interest really early is so critical.
It's obviously also really critical to your companies, right?
So your companies have each chosen to be sponsors, not just in money, but in time.
Providing the resources, the people to go judge the competitions and support that.
Why?
There's always this wide array of things that you could be dedicating
your time and your money to.
Why is this important to your companies?
audioJenJewson21357743781: I think we have to invest in tomorrow's workforce.
We won't be successful without it.
I think Rene said it very well earlier.
I think, we're in this time where everybody feels like you need to go
to college and get a college degree.
You don't, you can have a really great career with certifications
and accreditations from other things and find something you truly enjoy.
For us, I think, Tomorrow's workforce is incredibly important now, more than ever.
I think as we look at the chemical industry, continuing to change to be
more sustainable over time, we all have projects that we are facilitating that
will require people to execute them.
And and, it's going to happen at a pretty fast pace in my mind.
It has to happen at a fast pace because we have goals for 2030, 2040, 2050.
and so those will be here before we know it.
And so I think we need to start now to make sure that we have those
folks in the future so that we can accomplish all of these goals.
audioJoyceMarshallJoh41357743781: All right, and we also need we need the
people we need the diversification of the people as well, because
diversification drives innovation and different trains of thought.
So we need all different types of people with different backgrounds
and different trains of thought.
To come in, come into our industry.
And I think again, with all the different career paths and things that you can do
within the chemical industry, we need to attract everyone to have that interest,
whether it's girls having those interests early on diverse slate of different types
of people from different backgrounds that's just going to do nothing but bring
more innovation into our industry as well.
Victoria: Yeah.
Rene Whigham: And as an industry, if we don't step in and spark this
interest for developing the workforces that we need, we won't have them.
If we leave it to no one else to do this, then we will not have the workforce that
we need to be sustainable in the future.
So we have to step up and take the responsibility of making sure that we
develop the workforce for the future.
Victoria: Yeah.
Love it.
My only comment I would add on that is that we also need to influence
people to understand that chemicals are actually foundational for what we do.
Even if they never work in the chemical industry to recognize, gee,
the paint on the wall, the plastic of
my phone.
My computer, keyboard, everything around me is enhanced um, and supported by
the chemical industry and so we need to be good stewards of that as well.
This is a great time to encourage everybody who's listening to join
us for the You Be The Chemist 20th Anniversary Challenge and Celebration,
which is going to be held on June 10th and 11th here in Houston.
So it's a great chance for you.
If you're local, make the time to come visit the challenge and
participate and join the celebration.
And, um, If you're out of the Houston area, it's a great opportunity for a
business trip, see some customers, come see the future generations in the chemical
industry and experience the excitement of the You Be The Chemist Challenge.
So thank you all for joining and sharing your insights today.
audioJoyceMarshallJoh41357743781: Thank you.
Thank
you so much.
Victoria: Yeah, absolutely.
And thank you everyone for listening.
Keep listening, keep following, keep sharing, and we will talk again soon.
voiceover: We've come to the end of today's podcast.
We hope you enjoyed your time with us and want to learn more.
Simply visit thechemicalshow.
com for additional information and helpful resources.
Join us again next time here on The Chemical Show with Victoria Meyer.