Eylem Demir Sentürk is a distinguished female leadership coach and personal branding expert who embodies the spirit of success in talent acquisition and entrepreneurship. With over two decades of experience in executive recruitment, coaching, and training, her journey reflects resilience, innovation, and a commitment to excellence.
Embarking on the Journey: The Key Inspiration
Throughout her 22-year career in Regulatory Affairs within the pharmaceutical industry, Eylem encountered numerous challenges as a woman. These included bullying from male managers, being overlooked for promotions during her pregnancy and maternity leave, and witnessing many other women facing similar obstacles. These experiences fueled her passion for advocating for women in leadership, driving diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), and fostering more inclusive workplaces. Eylem became deeply committed to ensuring that no woman is held back due to bias, outdated corporate structures, or lack of support.
With this mission in mind—and backed by an MSc in Applied Psychology—she aimed to transition into a talent development role within the pharmaceutical industry. However, despite her qualifications and experience, Eylem faced repeated rejections. After submitting numerous applications, she came to a difficult realization: no one was willing to give her the opportunity she was seeking.
Eylem believes in creating her opportunities with the motto, “If nobody gives you the opportunity, create the opportunity yourself.”
In 2021, she founded Women on Stage in Switzerland—an organization that advocates for gender diversity, equality, and inclusion in the life sciences industry.
Women on Stage: Empowering Women in Life Sciences
Women on Stage envisions a future where leadership excellence transcends gender boundaries; a world where women break through the glass ceiling; and an inclusive life science ecosystem where women thrive at every organizational level.
It aims to boost the number of female leaders in the life sciences industry, provide a career acceleration program, “Sponsoring Women,” to women & organizations, and prepare women for future roles. Further, the initiative connects organizations with highly educated and experienced female leaders and talents with an innovative female talent & leader recruitment approach and connects female talents with industry leaders.
“At Women on Stage, we don’t just talk about change—we create it.” – Eylem Demir Sentürk
Eylem’s Experience at Harvard University
Harvard University played a pivotal role in shaping Eylem’s strategic approach to leadership, particularly by deepening her understanding of the science of learning. Building on her psychology background, where she studied how the brain processes, analyzes, and retains information, the Science of Learning training at Harvard provided valuable insights into how the brain learns most effectively and the optimal learning methods for different individuals. This knowledge has not only strengthened her leadership capabilities but also enabled her to better understand her clients and business partners.
The Remarkable Milestones Over the Years
Since the founding of Women on Stage in 2021, Eylem’s role has evolved from being the sole founder to leading a growing organization that drives meaningful impact in the Swiss Life Sciences Industry. What began as a personal mission has transformed into a recognized organization advocating for gender equality, leadership development, and career advancement for women. Some of the key milestones include:
● Grown Women on Stage into a leading organization with a strong presence in the Swiss Life Sciences Industry.
● Built a community of 60,000 members, fostering a strong network of professionals and leaders.
● Achieved over 4 million LinkedIn engagements per year, amplifying our impact and reach.
● Established a talent pool of 800 professionals, connecting top talent with industry opportunities.
● Helped 260 women advance in their careers, securing salary increases of 45%–75%.
● Supported 50 students in transitioning from academia into industry, effectively bridging the gap between education and employment.
● Successfully organized Women in Life Sciences events, attracting over 1,000 participants and fostering industry-wide engagement.
● Established 30 chapter heads throughout Switzerland, driving regional impact and initiatives.
● Developed a team of 9 professional coaches, providing sponsorship and career support.
● Collaborated with the University of Bordeaux to support young professionals in their career development
● Designed and implemented a high-impact “Sponsoring Women” program that addresses gender disparities and equips women for leadership roles.
● Currently planning international expansion to the USA, EU countries, and the Middle East to scale the impact globally.
The Significant Challenges in Sourcing and Hiring
At Women on Stage, the Sponsoring Women Program is a transformative solution for companies aiming to identify, attract, and retain top female talent—all while significantly reducing recruitment and retention costs.
Many companies struggle to attract diverse talent due to outdated hiring practices and unconscious bias, retain high-potential women who face barriers in career progression, and build strong leadership pipelines due to a lack of structured sponsorship programs.
The Sponsoring Women Program offers a proactive, cost-efficient, and impact-driven approach to talent management. It connects companies directly with a highly qualified pool of female talent in life sciences, MedTech, and biotech, eliminating expensive recruitment fees, and provides a structured career sponsorship model to women who not only join companies but thrive and grow within them. Additionally, it shortens the hiring process by offering a ready-to-engage talent pool, cutting down on sourcing time.
The Latest Trends in Talent Acquisition
The talent acquisition landscape is rapidly evolving, driven by advancements in AI-powered recruitment, a focus on skills-based hiring, and an increasing emphasis on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). Companies are transitioning from traditional degree-based hiring to skills-first recruitment, leveraging AI-driven assessments, predictive analytics, and automation to streamline sourcing and hiring. Employer branding and employee experience have emerged as crucial differentiators, with candidates placing greater importance on workplace culture, flexibility, and career development opportunities. The growing emphasis on internal mobility and retention strategies allows companies to address leadership gaps by upskilling and reskilling current employees, thereby reducing dependency on external hires. Additionally, the ongoing shift towards remote and hybrid work models continues to influence talent acquisition. This expansion of the global talent pool requires organizations to invest in virtual hiring tools and strategies to manage a hybrid workforce.
The Priorities of Women on Stage
Eylem and her team’s immediate priorities for talent acquisition at Women on Stage are strengthening the core team by recruiting key roles in business development, operations, community management, talent development, and communication to drive organizational growth. They aim to establish strategic partnerships with leading Life Sciences companies, institutions, and universities to foster industry collaboration and talent development. Expanding the talent pool remains a key objective, ensuring they attract top professionals to support the initiatives.
The Significance of Technology: Shaping the Future of Hiring
Technology will play a pivotal role in shaping the future of hiring and recruitment. It will enable a more efficient, data-driven, and inclusive talent acquisition process while maintaining a human-centered approach. AI-powered recruitment tools will streamline candidate sourcing, screening, and matching. Digital platforms and automation will enhance outreach and engagement and provide personalized experiences for candidates, while advanced analytics will provide insights to refine our hiring strategies. However, Eylem believes that technology should complement, not replace, the human touch—empathy and personal connections remain at the heart of recruitment. At Women on Stage, virtual networking and fully digitally-driven sponsorship programs will create new opportunities for connecting top talent with industry leaders, reinforcing its mission to advance women and talents in the life sciences industry.
Looking Ahead: A Future Fueled by Purpose
Eylem has outlined the following personal and professional goals for the next 5 years:
● Scale her Sponsorship Program to become the leading talent development solution in the Life Sciences industry
● Establish Women on Stage representatives in the USA, EU, Middle East & Asia Pac
● Achieve #unicorn status as a startup.
● Grow the community to 500,000+ members, fostering greater impact.
● Host large-scale Women in Life Sciences conferences with 5,000+ attendees.
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