Erica Barbagalo, head of law, patent and compliance Brazil and LatAm BP for Crop Science, Bayer

Erica Barbagalo, head of law, patent and compliance Brazil and LatAm BP for Crop Science, Bayer

In Conversation

Barbagalo looks back on her motivation for sponsoring D&I initiatives throughout her career, and at the culture of inclusion within Bayer

When I was younger, I used to work in companies that were majority male or participate in groups where I was the only woman. At the time, I didn’t realize the difficulty I had in expressing my ideas or my thoughts. I didn’t feel I could talk, because I would be the different one, and I wanted to fit in, so I used to try to talk and act and think the same as the rest of the group.

Now, looking backwards and with experience, I can see how many opportunities I lost because of that. And how many opportunities the companies lost to have a different perspective, an approach that could be more effective, or a better discussion – if I had just mentioned ‘that idea’, if I had just opposed ‘that concept’, it would have been much, much richer, I would have been happier.

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