Penn State’s Center for Supply Chain Research, a research group in the Smeal College of Business, has aimed to help women be represented in the male-dominated field of supply chain management, according to Kinzi Dorr.
Penn State’s bulletin describes supply chain as the business process that includes sourcing raw materials, manufacturing and finding service operations, and planning and fulfilling customer demand.
The Women in Supply Chain website aims to feature the women in this career path and is composed of stories, podcasts and video interviews that highlight women who are at differing stages in their supply chain careers.
Those featured on the website range from Penn State supply chain students to executives of supply chain companies, according to Dorr, who facilitates and manages the website.
“The Women in Supply Chain website is really more of a full-scale initiative that focuses on elevating the voices of women in supply chain,” Dorr said.
Dorr said the website is updated with new features at least once a month and sometimes upward of two or three times a month.
She said she hopes for this website to “resonate” with women by highlighting the women who are “leading the way.”
“Supply chain is typically a male-dominated field,” Dorr said. “And that’s been changing in the past few years.”
Laura Zaks is a communications freelancer at the Center for Supply Chain Research and is also responsible for conducting the interviews of the women who are posted on the website.
“I just kind of talk to them about their experience, how they got into the field and what they like about it,” Zaks said.
She said supply chain management is “such a big part of our lives every day,” and she sees this website as a “resource” for women at Penn State because it “spreads awareness and helps educate young women to all the possible careers they can have.”
She said she has not seen any other colleges create a website similar to this, and Zaks is proud that Penn State has this initiative that gives its students female faces they can “look up to” in an especially “male-dominated field.”
“I think it’s a great way for fellow females to not feel alone but also for future students who maybe are looking up if they want to go to Penn State,” Zaks said. “They’ll feel like, ‘Oh, this is a school that actually really represents me.’”
Ana Sparages, one of the women on the website, said being featured made her feel like she was “really a part of it” and was “making a difference.”
Sparages (senior-supply chain management) said she was “honored” to be interviewed for the website and said it made her feel like she was “part of a community”at Penn State.
“The faculty members and others featured on the website are people I respect immensely and go to for advice,” Sparages said. “So, to be lumped into the same group as them, I was really honored.”
In her interview on the website, Sparages mentioned she plans to take an extended maternity leave to raise her children in the future.
She said she was nervous to mention her plans to “take a step out of the corporate world,” but she said she is “driven” in her career and also has strong morals to “be present” with her family.
Zaks said Sparages’ interview for the website “showcased real things that females deal with,” and it’s important to acknowledge being a mother at the same time as having an “intense career.”
While she doesn’t know exactly what job she wants in her future supply chain career, Sparages said she knows she wants to be in a position where she “can make a difference in an organization.”
“I have a lot of friends in supply chain,” Sparages said. “And I know we’re all very proud to be part of this industry.”
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