INSIGHT ISSUE 02 | 2021

24 Enabling the Digital and Energy transition P rasha Sarwate Dutra, Product Development Manager at Prysmian Group’s plant in Lincoln, Rhode Island, got the idea for her podcast “Her STEMStory” in 2017 when she tried to inspire a 14-year-old cousin by pointing out that all of the bridesmaids at her wedding worked in STEM (Science, Tech, Engineering, and Math). IMPROVING THE DIVERSITY PIPELINE AND PROMOTING AN INCLUSIVE WORKPLACE Nearly 50% of undergraduate students in STEM (Science, Tech, Engineering and Math) are women, but many of them decide to leave these professions later on. Prasha Sarwate launched her podcast “Her STEM Story” in 2017 as a resource for women to advance their careers in STEM. D&I Steering Committee Deputy Leader Prasha Sarwate says being an engineer was always her goal. She shares that enthusiasm in her new role at Prysmian Group. “There are so many amazing stories,” she recalled. “I thought, ‘what if I started telling them, instead of focusing on the gender gap and trying to reach the women not in STEM?’ I think the problem could be solved much faster if we focus on the women who are already here.” Prasha has been named Deputy Leader on the Prysmian Group’s Diversity & Inclusion Steering Committee, and will work closely with Committee Leader Aysun Kalmik to promote the Group’s policies and actions internally, and supporting HR in designing specific training and development initiatives to support diversity and inclusion. Given the popularity of STEM careers in India for both genders, Prasha says she never felt like