Meet Diageo’s Senior Liquid Scientist, Aarti Calvin

Diageo consistently champions inclusion and diversity across its business.

Aarti Calvin is a Senior Liquid Scientist within Diageo’s European Innovation Rearch & Development (R&D) team. Based in the UK, Aarti has been at Diageo for almost 20 years, and is part of a team that is breaking the view of science being “boring” and male.

“Diageo’s effort to build an inclusive culture and greater diversity in STEM means I work in an environment where my perspective and contribution matter. There’s nothing that can stop women from achieving their full potential, pushing boundaries to drive change," says Diageo Senior Liquid Scientist, Aarti Calvin, supporting IWD.

"This is something particularly relevant in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), a stereotypically male-dominated industry. Factors including a lack of role models and persistent negative labels mean women only make up 28% of the industry’s global workforce, making it an area where greater action is needed to attract women at all levels and help them progress," explains Diageo.

Smashing stereotypes in science

Aarti actively promotes female representation across STEM.

Her perspectives are shaped by how her career has progressed alongside personal life stages.

Being a full-time single mother, Aarti acknowledges that many women in similar situations are forced to sacrifice either their careers or being a mother to support the alternative, and that many businesses do not offer the right resources to allow women to thrive regardless of their circumstances.

Praising Diageo for its support

With her daughter now 16 and an aspiring scientist, Aarti praised Diageo for allowing her to thrive at work without compromising on being a role model for her daughter, and has called for other businesses to follow suit.

"There needs to be greater understanding on how to bring out the best in women. We need fairness and access to resources that we can harness and use to advance ourselves. My own career has evolved and grown. I didn't have to sacrifice my career when I became a full-time working single mom," explains Aarti.

"Now that my daughter has turned 16, I feel like I've done the right thing because today I can be that role model. I was having this really great conversation with my daughter. I love the question of why, how, when, where, questioning and challenging yourself to come up with solutions. Different backgrounds matter in terms of bringing diversity into the culture, to finding solutions," adds Aarti.