Women at MIT Sloan

Carolyn Lee, MBA ’05

Educational background: University of California at Berkeley, Economics
Prior work experience: Lehman Brothers, Analyst; Equity Derivatives Sales, UBS, Associate Director
Current or most recent position: Pfizer, Inc., International Business Development

Trying something new

When I came to MIT Sloan, I had worked in financial services for four years. I had always been interested in pharmaceuticals and biotech, but wasn't quite sure how or if I could make a successful transition to industry. It didn't take long to realize that I could. During my second winter break, I convinced a few classmates to travel to Chile and work for a biotech company with me. They were open to the idea just for the experience, not necessarily to sample what biotech had to offer. This illustrates one of the things I love about MIT Sloan; everyone is open to ideas and willing to try things they perhaps hadn't considered before.

My career transition was cemented during my summer internship. I worked for Pfizer in New York and really liked it. At the end of that experience, the company offered me a full-time position after graduation. I was ecstatic to make the change from financial services to health care, so this was a dream come true.

An inner sense of adventure

I chose MIT Sloan because many of the colleagues and mentors I had in financial services were MIT Sloan alums. I was impressed by their enthusiasm about the School and personal interest in my professional development. I also liked the small class size. Coming from an undergrad institution with 30,000 students, it was quite a switch! I felt I could make an impact here, and knowing administrators and professors personally was very appealing. Also, the greater Boston areas is so academically rich, it seemed the ideal place to be a student again.

The culture at MIT Sloan is very open. People have such impressive backgrounds, yet are so approachable and friendly. For an institution with a reputation like MIT's, one would expect it to be intimidating or imposing. I found that this was not the case at all. I also love the international nature of the School.

One of the highlights of my MIT Sloan experience was traveling to the Middle East and Japan during spring breaks. Experiencing new cultures with natives of these countries is an invaluable learning experience. That's another thing about MIT Sloan; everyone has a passion for travel. It must be infectious because my friends were always motivated to plan trips together. Perhaps the experience of being a student again unearthed our inner sense of adventure! Everyone was motivated to learn not only about international enterprise, but also about other countries' history, culture, and traditions.

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