STEM Women on Writing Skills

Why bother writing when technology does much of the work for us? Templates plan for us, spell-check edits for us, and there’s enough information online to produce a ocean of plagiarized work. It’s no surprise that technical and business writing skills are becoming lost arts. Yet, successful communication with colleagues, teams, and clients relies heavily on written memos, emails, reports, proposals, and evaluations. Professional development should include the development of writing skills, but rarely does. Here’s what STEM women who have discovered how writing can be a path to leadership and success.

According to Alyssa Montague, SharePoint Administrator, “Technical writing skills are possibly one of the most important aspects of a successful career. To effectively communicate the solutions to complex problems, you must speak the same language as the other professionals in your field. If they cannot follow your logic, they will be unable to review your work, provide feedback, and collaborate. Without the respect and understanding of your peers, your ideas will never come to life before the general public.”

Nowhere is the lack of writing skills more visible than in the STEM professions (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math). Long before writing skills become essential to establishing professional credentials, they are key to completing a STEM college degree. As I…