In this episode, we interviewed Romina de Costa. Romina has lived in 4 different continents (South America, North America, Asia and Europe) and followed a non-linear career path through anthropology, international education, leadership and entrepreneurship. Her recent passion for understanding the attrition of women in higher education, especially in the areas of science and engineering, have also allowed her to explore female leadership.

Romina grew up in Brazil and was raised in a family of doctors, as such there were expectations for her to follow a traditional and predictable career path. However, Romina’s curiosities about the world drove her to study in the US, first as an undergraduate at Yale University, so she might instead freely explore her interests. Arriving at Yale, even coming from a cosmopolitan city and international school, Romina still experienced “culture shock,” and felt lost in her first two years at Yale. A gap year allowed her to pause and recenter on her core values and purpose. It was a very different story and cultural dynamic when she moved from the US to China where “foreigners” were treated with a different attitude. Romina also had eye-opening experiences in terms of gender stereotypes in China. Let’s take a journey with Romina to understand how gender identities manifest in different cultural forms.