The Women’s Affinity Group and the Inclusiveness & Diversity team in Singapore celebrated International Women’s Day 2023 with a thought-provoking event centred around this year’s theme of #EmbraceEquity. This event aimed to inspire colleagues to actively cultivate and embrace equity within their spheres of influence, creating a more inclusive and welcoming #OneInfineum community.

Guest speaker Geraldine Chin, Chairman and Managing Director of ExxonMobil Asia Pacific (pictured below with Infineum Singapore Country Head John Hong), shared insights on elevating and advancing gender parity in engineering and technology and celebrating women forging innovation. During the event, Ms Chin discussed the importance of identifying and addressing unconscious bias in our daily lives. She shared examples illustrating the effect of such bias on our decision-making abilities and offered insights on how to prevent it to foster inclusion and diversity in the workplace. Ms Chin also highlighted ExxonMobil’s efforts to promote sustainability through STEM outreach and carbon emissions reduction technology.

June Lim, contact engineer and member of the Singapore Women’s Affinity Group, shared her thoughts following the event: “The event made me contemplate the far-reaching impacts of unconscious bias and the importance of approaching it with an open mind. Additionally, I am now more motivated to contribute to the journey of reducing carbon emissions and creating a more sustainable environment for future generations through innovative solutions.”

After the event, colleagues in Singapore posed for a photo with Ms Chin, demonstrating their support to #EmbraceEquity – the theme for IWD 2023 – and forging an inclusive workplace within Infineum.

Wong Siew Wen, Product Manager and Lead of Singapore Women’s Affinity Group said: “It was an engaging and thought-provoking talk with the key takeaway of being aware of the difference between equality (treating everyone the same way) and equity (helping everyone to get to the same level). We can only do more, do better, and be truer to our individual selves by recognizing the weight of gender expectations and unconscious bias and how it impacts our actions and decisions.”