Olay's push to close the STEM gap puts Dr. Raven Baxter in Harper's Bazaar, AFROTECH and PEOPLE

Dr. Raven Baxter's partnership with Olay's #FaceTheSTEMGap campaign went public on February 7, 2022, in Harper's Bazaar. The magazine profiled four women making their mark in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), and Baxter's story came first.

"I literally imagined myself in a lab coat as I was growing up," she told the magazine.

Olay produced the feature. The skin care brand launched the campaign in 2020 with a goal to double the number of women and triple the number of women of color working in STEM by 2030. Women made up nearly half of the U.S. workforce in 2019 but 27% of STEM workers, the Census Bureau reported. Black workers held 9% of STEM jobs, with no gain since 2016, according to Pew Research Center.

The same day, Olay unveiled a statue of Mary Golda Ross for the First Americans Museum in Oklahoma City. Ross was the first known Native American woman to become an aerospace engineer. The unveiling came ahead of the International Day of Women and Girls in Science. It was part of the brand's annual $1 million donation, collectSPACE reported.

Baxter's interviews made the case through her own experience. She told Harper's Bazaar that soon after she started a job, a fellow staff member threatened "to call the cops" on her because she "didn't look like a scientist." She also pointed to the stereotype that women are more emotional than men. "Of course, that's not true, but it's so ingrained into our culture, some women actually buy into that theory and don't aspire to their greatest potential as a result," she said.

She argued that STEM careers reach well past big tech, into products such as skin care. "With numerous people trusting the health of their skin with OLAY, it's so important that there are women involved in the science behind the products," she said.

A week later, AFROTECH covered the partnership. "Having support and guidance from someone who looks like you is the most encouraging form of mentorship for younger generations," Baxter told the outlet.

In March 2022 Baxter spoke on the main stage at the 12th annual Leading Women Defined summit in Dana Point, California, as part of her Olay partnership. On August 25, 2022, she joined Olay Chief Scientist Dr. Rolanda Wilkerson for an Instagram Live on the campaign.

Baxter holds the May 8, 2023 issue of PEOPLE, open to her Olay Body page. Photo: Dr. Raven Baxter

The partnership reached print in May 2023, when PEOPLE's May 8 issue opened with an Olay Body feature on Baxter inside the cover. "It's going to take a whole village to make sure that women have enough access to STEAM," she told the magazine. "I think we just have to keep tackling the roots of those issues and dismantling the barriers."

Baxter is a molecular biologist who earned her Ph.D. from the University at Buffalo on February 1, 2022, days before the Harper's Bazaar feature ran.

Her brand partnerships, including Olay, are listed on the partnerships page.