For the third and final installment in our series honoring Women’s History month, the Office of Fossil Energy (FE) is featuring Margaret Schaus, Acting Chief of Staff for FE’s Acting Assistant Secretary.
Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management
March 28, 2017
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Margaret Schaus, Acting Chief of Staff for the Office of Fossil Energy
For the third and final installment in our series honoring Women’s History month, the Office of Fossil Energy (FE) is featuring Margaret Schaus, Acting Chief of Staff for FE’s Acting Assistant Secretary.
Margaret earned her graduate degree in management science and engineering, and has worked at the Department of Energy for seven years; she previously worked at the Government Accountability Office, which assesses the effectiveness of government programs.
In her current role, Margaret facilitates high-priority activities, decision making, and communications across the organization and advises the Acting Assistant Secretary. She also works to amplify the impactful work being done across FE to internal and external stakeholders. Her work is vital to the continued organizational success of FE and all our programs.
Margaret believes that it is important for women to pursue careers in science and engineering fields because incorporating an array of different perspectives, ways of communicating, and ways of problem solving are critical to innovation. She notes that “figuring out any complex issue, whether it’s related to R&D or how an organization runs, is a richer and more successful process when more viewpoints are represented.” She has found in her experience that having a wide range of personalities and backgrounds makes problem solving more effective and rewarding, and women are an important component to that diversity.
As a woman in the workforce, one challenge that Margaret faced was recalibrating her work-life balance when she became a new mother a few years ago. However, her management was extremely supportive and her colleagues who had gone through similar transitions were a great resource and sounding board for finding that balance.
When advising young women interested in pursuing a career in Science, Technology, Energy and Math (STEM), Margaret encourages them to reach out to people in those fields to learn more about job opportunities. She knows the value of reaching out – her success has been influenced by the individuals she has interacted with throughout her career.