Monika Chhetry takes her technical career forward with the help of flagship leadership development Programme.
Dr Monika Chhetry completed the Herschel Programme for Women in Technical Leadership in 2023, while working as a Research Assistant at John Innes Centre. As a result of her Herschel experience, Monika has since completed further professional development in project management and leadership and is currently enjoying the challenge of a new role as Science Collaboration Manager for Anglia Innovation Partnership.
Why choose the Herschel Programme?
Dr Monika Chhetry completed her PhD in India, before moving to Norwich in 2012.
She became a research assistant at John Innes Centre and held this role for 12 years working across a variety of research projects. Alongside her professional role, she became a mother to two children and balanced family life with her career.
Opportunities for training and development were limited in her role as research assistant, however, thanks to the encouragement and support of her line manager Monika was made aware of the Herschel Programme and applied for the 2023 cohort.
“I was very fortunate that my line manager really wanted to encourage me, so that’s how I got the information about Herschel. She was brilliant and could see that I had more to offer so she told me to go for the opportunity. I always say the role of the line manager is important,” she explained.
Being able to apply to the programme as an aspiring leader was very important for Monika.
“I had applied for some leadership courses within my institute but was rejected as I wasn’t currently operating at that level, however I could see that leadership skills and qualities could be valuable for my current role and in the future.”
Herschel Experience
Having been selected for the Herschel Programme, Monika was not entirely sure what it would involve.
“I had a very open mind as I didn’t know exactly what I was going into, it was daunting, but oh my goodness what an amazing journey!”
Hearing from other women leaders through the course modules and guest speakers at the launch and celebration events was a key element of the Herschel experience for Monika.
“Listening to current leaders who had their own story was motivational, their experiences linked to what we were learning through the course modules. It was so inspiring, and it was not always related to what I did in my job, but then somehow it was!”
Programme participants were all assigned to a small Action Learning Set (ALS) for the duration of the Programme and this was a particular highlight of Monika’s Herschel journey.
“At the beginning I thought the ALS is not going to work. Especially when you are working with people you have never met with different characters and approaches. But it was a surprise how similar many of our problems were.
It taught us how to facilitate, how to be a listener, how to be a diplomat in responding. It taught us a lot of things that are useful in our everyday roles.
Our ALS group are still in contact, we talk about our careers, how we have progressed, what we are doing.”
Impact of Herschel
When asked what impact the Herschel Programme has had, Monika talked about the benefits of networking, the impact of new negotiation skills, gaining confidence in her ideas and feeling pride in her achievements.
“The Herschel Programme taught me the importance of networking. It wasn’t something I’d thought about in my day-to-day role so having it pointed out and giving a basic idea of how to approach people was important.
The negotiation module was also amazing and when I applied for my next role, I negotiated my salary up based on the skills and experience I knew I had.
Herschel helped me build confidence in presenting my ideas, I learned to take ownership of my achievements and feel pride in them.”
After Herschel, Monika went on to complete her PRINCE 2 certification in project management and began to recognise how much she had to offer beyond her current role. She was empowered to apply for a new role outside her institution but still closely linked to her research background.
“I realised I was craving something more in my career, so I took a chance and applied for a maternity cover in the role as Science Collaboration Manager for Anglia Innovation Partnership. I have met more people in the first few months of this role than I did in my 12 years as research assistant and am able to better support all the institutions I work with at a wider level.
That wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t taken a risk, and I wouldn’t have taken that risk if I hadn’t done the Herschel Programme.”
What next?
“I have talked to many people about the Herschel Programme, shared my story and encouraged them to apply. The confidence I got from the Programme and the change my colleagues saw in me helped me to do this.
I am keen to continue progressing and I would like to go into a project management or operational leadership role in the future.”