How Pursuing a Doctorate Elevated Winnie's Leadership and Life

A doctorate became more than a degree for Winnie Ng—it became a masterclass in resilience, leadership, and purposeful growth.

As more women strive to balance leadership responsibilities, personal growth, and family commitments, continuous learning is becoming a powerful enabler of success.

To understand how advanced education can transform leadership journeys, team GWL speaks with Winnie Ng, a distinguished business leader with lots of global experience in strategic marketing and technology. Winnie holds advanced qualifications in engineering, law, and business. Her career shows a steady commitment to continuous learning leadership excellence, and helping upcoming generations.

In this thoughtful conversation, Winnie talks about how pursuing a doctorate while raising young children, it strengthened her leadership capabilities, sharpened her analytical thinking and it really reinforced why discipline , resilience, and purposeful ambition matter. Drawing from her own personal path and her professional experience, she shares practical lessons for women who want to level up in their careers, while also nurturing family responsibilities.

Read the complete article below for deeper insights.

As a global leader and a working mom, what inspired you to pursue a doctorate, and how did you see it empowering your journey as a woman in leadership?

I have 2 academic degrees: one in Engineering and the other in Laws. With over 20 years of experience in marketing and business leadership, I had wanted to enrich my academic background with a business degree, especially a doctorate, which would enable me to share my work experience further, combining academic knowledge through a tertiary education platform, with the next generation. Also, my children were 5 and 9 when I enrolled and was admitted as a doctoral candidate. I believed this could demonstrate my dedication and diligence to my children as we pursued the study together. This could show the hard work and effort put into working toward goals and dreams.

How did you structure your learning journey to gain maximum value from your doctorate while integrating it meaningfully with your career and family life?

I think the keyword is – DISCIPLINE. I worked the schedule for work, to support my family, and time with my children. I shared my doctoral degree pursuit with my supervisor and assured him that I would manage it properly and deliver the work with my competence and commitment. Throughout the study journey, I shared my study insights with my supervisor and my organization, including any practical frameworks and applicable knowledge. I also sometimes showed my coursework to my children so they would know what topics I was studying. For some weekends with full-day classes, I discussed with the lecturer to get permission for my children to sit in on the lessons with me so we could have more bonding time. This also enlightened my children about university life and a doctorate-level lecturing environment.

In what ways has earning a doctorate shaped your perspective on mentoring and inspiring other women to step confidently into senior leadership roles?

Successfully earning a doctoral degree and graduating in three (3) years demonstrated to other women the CAN DO attitude, especially to those working moms with kids. I think my story can inspire and give the confidence of giving the full dedication and strength to pursuing your dream without too much overthinking or hesitating about the constraints. I am not saying that it is easy. Throughout the study, one quote from my cohort had kept me up, especially during the tough times: “When there is a WILL, there MUST BE a WAY!”

How do you integrate your academic insights with your leadership style to drive marketing as a strategic, business-transforming function while encouraging inclusivity?

I am glad that I chose the Doctor in Business Administration. This is a degree that combines academic frameworks with applications in the commercial working environment. It offered a wide range of business leadership topics to choose from, and you could gain insights from experienced peers in your cohort. While significantly, out of all, the fundamental of the doctorate degree is the full breadth and depth of data analysis, especially in the final thesis. This analytical mindset has helped enhance marketing to be strategic, thinking all-rounded while remaining focused and prioritized, knowing which critical impacting factor is.

Being a working mom pursuing a degree with children, this made me empathize during business transformation or initiative implementation, knowing and understanding the difficulties of the involved parties.

Winnie’s 5 Insights on Leadership, Learning & Purposeful Growth

• Discipline turns ambitious goals into achievable daily actions.

• ​Education expands leadership capacity beyond professional experience alone.

• Resilience grows through challenges, commitment, and consistent effort.

• Strong support networks accelerate both personal and career growth.

• Where There Is Determination, There Is a Way: Strong commitment helps overcome obstacles

How has completing your doctorate changed the way you approach leadership challenges, decision-making, and strategic thinking in your professional role?

Completing the doctorate further sharpened my analytical perspective and broadened my thinking about challenges. Gaining analytical skills and experience enables the identification of critical and key impacting factors, which leads to more effective measures for approaching challenges and decision-making. Also, the doctoral degree provided a great network of senior, experienced leaders and entrepreneurs from diverse backgrounds and industries. When facing leadership challenges, insights and advice can be gained from the cohort sharing and discussion from the whole program alumni network.

LAST WORD:  What advice would you give to aspiring women leaders who aim to combine personal growth, professional ambition, and meaningful family life without compromising either?

DISCIPLINE, DISCIPLINE, DISCIPLINE. In pursuing dreams and goals, there must be something to compromise and prioritize; e.g., for me, trimmed my social life (not saying completely gone, but diminished), revised and shortened the lunch arrangement, etc. To start with, the key is to work out the prioritization, what we want and must achieve in the daily routine, and work out a disciplined schedule without compromising the must-haves, not all desirables. Last but not least, to have a strong support system that allows you to pursue a profession, a meaningful family life, and is willing to support your personal growth. Don’t be shy about sharing your difficulties and asking for the support you need. It is also advised to get a mentor and peer support for sharing and guidance. You are not alone in your dream pursuing journey!

"Dreams become achievable when discipline guides priorities, support systems provide strength, and perseverance remains stronger than every obstacle."