IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - June 2022 - 32

Larissa De Maria in the Qorvo lab.
Larissa De Maria in the Qorvo lab.
I always make time to reconnect
with my roots, and my advice to others
in a similar situation is to stay true
to yourself. Get to know yourself, love
yourself, be kind to yourself and proud
of who you are, and if you do your
best and you " fail, " at least your
conscience will be clear and
you can look forward and
move on.
sity. In Women in Tech, for example, I
volunteered to be part of a team working
to create better onboarding assistance
for new engineers. Outside my job, I
also donate to organizations that serve
underrepresented communities.
In my view,
Opening Doors for
Others
When I was hired
at Qorvo, I was the
only woman engineer
on my team at
the time. I was nervous
and a little intimidated
but never afraid
because I knew the responsibility
I had in my hands and the
doors that I might help open for other
women. I like to think that I inspire
other engineers, especially women,
immigrants, people of color, and members
of the LGBTQ+ community by
breaking down barriers and opening
doors that weren't opened for us before.
I also support groups within Qorvo,
such as Women in Tech and the I:Q
forum to promote inclusion and diverhaving
people from
diverse backgrounds
working together is
a win-win situation
as that's where
innovation lies.
Making the Industry More
Inclusive
In recent times, and
especially in the past
year, we've heard
about a lot of people
in the industry
acknowledging the
lack of diversity
in many corporate
positions; science,
technology, engineering,
and ma t hema tics
programs; and virtually
everywhere else we look. But although
everyone is talking about it, very little
effort is being made to change things.
We've taken the first step of recognizing
that there are flaws in the system,
but now we need to make-and implement-concrete
plans to address them.
In my view, having people from
diverse backgrounds working together
is a win-win situation as that's where
innovation lies. Initiatives I'd like to see
introduced to drive greater inclusion
involve investing in creating more co-op/
internship programs at historically black
colleges and universities, and collaborating
with black, Latinx, and indigenous
people; people with disabilities, LGBTQ+,
and other underrepresented communities
to assist people with starting a profession.
In my mind, this begins by helping
them to obtain a certificate or four-year
degree through partnering with a college
or university.
Companies also need to do a better
job of tracking progress toward their
goal of having more diverse individuals
in positions of power. Being able to see
people who look like us in these positions
contributes to our journey in ways
that are immeasurable; it makes us feel
more confident, empowered, capable, and
seen and heard. I speak from experience.
The moment I knew my new manager
at Qorvo was also a woman, everything
changed in my head. I am no longer the
only woman on the team, but even more
importantly, that other woman is not just
another manager, she is an inspiration and
a model for the leadership role I can play
within this industry.
-Larissa De Maria
32
IEEE WOMEN IN ENGINEERING MAGAZINE JUNE 2022
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - June 2022

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