I know it’s hard as a woman but as someone who went to school for STEM, you cannot be afraid to speak. Your words may not come out the way they want but if you still talk, those around you will respect you and your knowledge and you’ll rise to leadership positions. You just have to demand people create that space for you. In my first year of university, I disclosed my stutter with a professor and he said “if you’re patient with us, we’ll be patient with you” and that COMPLETELY changed the way I view communicating with others. I see that a lot of people who stutter struggle with eye contact and the head of disability at my university was like that so I made it a point to keep eye contact when talking to people. Admittedly, I do have to now tell myself to look away, but by keeping my eyes locked with someone even as I’m in a block or repetition or anything else, they cannot look away and neither can I. All of this took years to fully commit to, but it really has changed my life for the better.