Biopharma Parallel — Women Bring Balance

By Wayne Koberstein, Executive Editor, Life Science Leader
Follow Me On Twitter @WayneKoberstein

When asked about women in the biopharma industry, Rachel King, CEO and cofounder of GlycoMimetics, answered from a wider perspective. (Read more about King and her company in the May issue of Life Science Leader.)

KING: The only way I’ve ever been in the world is as a woman, so I can’t really compare and contrast, but I would just make a general comment that I believe is true not just for women, but for people: the whole balance between work life and personal life is challenging, and I think we need to be attentive to how people navigate their lives and deal with relationship issues, family issues, and personal life outside of work. As organizations, we do need to find ways to support people in their personal lives as well as in their professional lives, and that is challenging for all of us. I have two children and they’re grown now. At one point when they were young, I pulled back to four days a week for several years, although I never did stop work entirely. It is challenging, and yet at the same time I’ll also say it is good for kids to see that their mothers and fathers can both find ways to have meaningful engagement in the world. That is a great thing for parents to model meaningful engagement in the world, whether it is work for pay or volunteer work.