3 pieces of advice from Sanyogita Shamsunder, a 5G pioneer
Featured as a guest writer on Entrepreneur.
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It’s Women’s History Month and we want to shine the spotlight on 5G and one of our top engineers driving this technology, Sanyogita Shamsunder. She was just featured as a guest writer on Entrepreneur, where she shares how thankful she is for the opportunity to work on making 5G a reality at Verizon. She was on the team that launched Verizon’s first 5G commercial service, 5G Home broadband internet service. The experience taught everyone on this team the same lesson, “There is no such thing as an ‘ideal’ engineer, male or female.” Sanyogita has three takeaways for companies that want to be leaders and change-makers in the advancing technological world:
Breakdown stereotypes now. Stereotypes can have an impact on career paths. Although work in STEM is one of the fastest growing in the United States, there is a low number of women working in this field. With the help of STEM education in schools and organizations like Girls Who Code, we can increase the number of women working in STEM.
There is no such thing as an ‘ideal’ engineer, male or female.
Invite diverse perspectives. In addition to being the right thing to do, diversity promotes creativity and insights that are good for the bottom line. According to a McKinsey study, companies with greater racial and ethnic diversity were 35 percent more likely to have higher financial returns. Welcoming individuals with different experiences and views can help companies improve problem-solving and understand customer needs.
Don’t fear the unknown. Sanyogita’s job is focused on imagining how 5G will shape our world. She has to predict how the next generation of technology will impact the world around us, one that doesn’t exist yet. It can be difficult and frightening, but it is easier with a diverse and fearless team working in an environment that encourages ideas, collaboration and risks.
