Rodney D. Chipp Memorial Award

Johnson & Johnson

For leveraging global resources to engage, support, and advocate girls and women in STEM; and for consistently working to increase women’s representation in its facilities around the world.

Johnson & Johnson (J&J) has employed women in key roles since its founding in 1886. Today, women make up nearly half of the company’s more than 135,000 global associates. Women hold a third of positions on both the board of directors and the executive committee. In 2020, 35.3% of vice presidents, 46.8% of managers and directors, and 49.8% of professionals were women.

In 2015, J&J launched its Women in Science, Technology, Engineering, Math, Manufacturing, and Design (WiSTEM2D) initiative. This global program supports and empowers women and girls through four pillars: youth, university, professional, and partnerships. This innovative approach helps encourage, support, and advance women in STEM2D fields throughout all phases of education and professional careers, including supporting women onboarding after a break.

WiSTEM2D has partnered with numerous nonprofits and academic institutions across the globe, targeting age ranges from youth into university and college settings. One such set of partnerships led to the development of youth STEM2D resources and a website, stem2d.org, which promotes activities that can be completed at home, in a classroom, or in other small and large groups.

To support academic research, the J&J WiSTEM2D Scholars Award Program annually recognizes one woman per STEM2D discipline from around the globe to receive research funding and mentorship. To advance professional development, J&J has several initiatives to engage women at work, including a SWE group that meets regularly, and the Re-Ignite program, which helps individuals return to STEM2D careers after a break of two years or more.

Through J&J’s Race to Health Equity program, as well as WiSTEM2D’s existing and new partnerships with the National Society of Black Engineers, the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers, Girls Inc., FHI 360, Girl Scouts of the USA, and Smithsonian, WiSTEM2D aims to mobilize to engage more Black and Latina girls in STEM2D.

Through numerous programs and employee engagement and volunteering, J&J has established a Health for Humanity goal of engaging 2 million girls in STEM2D activities by 2025.

In India, J&J addressed women’s low representation in manufacturing by increasing women new hires, engaging them in production, implementing mentoring programs, and improving gender sensitivity and unconscious bias training. As a result, women’s representation in J&J’s manufacturing workforce in India increased from 1% to 7% in 2019, and is expected to increase.

In 2018, J&J began sponsoring SWE memberships for eligible employees with a goal to significantly increase membership in 2022. The impact has been the creation of a close-knit SWE member community that meets quarterly and has resulted in employees being awarded SWE’s Global Team Leadership, Emerging Leader, and numerous Patent Recognition awards.

Johnson & Johnson is one of the world’s largest health care companies, developing leading-edge medical devices, pharmaceuticals, and consumer goods.