Her Story
About Kulsoom
Kulsoom Sabit serves as a technical project manager at Stanford's National Accelerator Laboratory. She has held this position for almost three years, having started right out of university as her first full-time role. In her work, she manages projects ranging from hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars, tracking progress, communicating between management and teams, and translating technical knowledge into terms understandable to business stakeholders. Sabit earned her degree in computer science and engineering from Santa Clara University after beginning her studies at community college. She also completed a NASA development program and received a certificate for her participation in an engineering project team. During her undergraduate years, she was a member of the Society of Women Engineers. Sabit received a leadership scholarship recognizing her efforts in organizing fundraisers. She attributes her success entirely to her education, motivated by firsthand observations of limited educational access for girls during her travels to Afghanistan. Outside of work, she volunteers by fundraising for her family's NGO in Afghanistan, sending money and creating care packages for impoverished families. She values humility and integrity highly in both her professional and personal life.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Kulsoom
01What do you attribute your success to?
100% my education. Where I come from, education is not very easily accessible. I'm born and raised here in the States, but I've traveled to Afghanistan basically my whole life. I've very much seen firsthand how it is over there, especially for girls, and not being able to have access to education. Because of it, it drove me to be more passionate in what I pursue, and try to make something of the education that I have, because it is a blessing for me.
02What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
It's very easy to have imposter syndrome, because I did for the whole first year of my work. But the more that you ask questions, and you're not afraid to look stupid, you're gonna grow, and the quicker you're gonna grow. But you have to have confidence in yourself with every step that you take. Without confidence, it's easy to get buried under people. Especially in STEM. It's okay to feel scared, but build your confidence along the way.
03What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
When I first joined my job, they brought me on as an associate project manager. Now that I'm in a position where I know what's happening, I sometimes do see the disparity between me and other male coworkers underestimating my knowledge or my contribution. Making my voice heard is something that I'm actively working on, but it is a challenge, because it's very easy to get overlooked. Especially because the people that I work with are all very seasoned engineers, scientists, physicists, they're geniuses, and I'm very young compared to them. I've only been here for 3 years.
04What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Humility is very important to me, 100%. No matter how hard you work in life, and no matter how high you go, it's very, very important to understand where you came from and what your roots are. Integrity is very, very important. It's very easy to take shortcuts. I don't believe in shortcuts, no matter how hard it is to get where you want. Integrity is very, very important to carry with you.
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