Is Brown University a good company to work for?

Brown University has an overall rating of 4.4 out of 5, based on over 1,718 reviews left anonymously by employees. This rating has increased by 1% over the last 12 months. 83% of employees would recommend working at Brown University to a friend and 65% have a positive outlook for the business. The best reviews about Brown University have been left by employees working as Undergraduate Research Assistant , Teaching Assistant and Undergraduate Teaching Assistant .

Does Brown University pay their employees well?

According to anonymously submitted Glassdoor reviews, Brown University employees rate their compensation and benefits as 3.8 out of 5. Find out more about salaries and benefits at Brown University. This rating has been stable over the past 12 months.

How satisfied are employees working at Brown University?

83% of Brown University employees would recommend working there to a friend based on Glassdoor reviews . Employees also rated Brown University 4.3 out of 5 for work life balance, 4.1 for culture and values and 3.8 for career opportunities.

What are the top reviewed jobs at Brown University?

Research Assistant (147) , Teaching Assistant (61) , Undergraduate Teaching Assistant (54) , Graduate Student (52) , PhD Student (51) , Graduate Research Assistant (48) , Postdoctoral Research Associate (40) , PhD Graduate Student (27) , Undergraduate Research Assistant (26) , Student Worker (24) , Postdoctoral Fellow (16) , Assistant Professor (15) , Researcher (14) , Program Manager (13) , Research Associate (13)

What are the pros of working at Brown University according to real employee reviews?

"Great benefits and very easy going" ((in 135 reviews)); "Great people to work with: both the student and non" ((in 104 reviews)); "Flexible Hours; Fun Atmosphere; Great first hand/hands on work with skills relative to my degree; Awesome Experience with Brown Univ." ((in 51 reviews)); "Many like a good work life balance" ((in 33 reviews)); "Great environment and coworkers overall" ((in 28 reviews))

What are the cons of working at Brown University according to real employee reviews?

"Low pay and not well organized" ((in 105 reviews)); "A lot of the jobs at Brown require time commitment but they have to low of salaries" ((in 49 reviews)); "bad parking and poor public transportation" ((in 23 reviews)); "Poor management" ((in 20 reviews)); "Poor leadership." ((in 6 reviews))

What are employees saying about Brown University layoffs in 2026?

Explore Glassdoor’s employee reviews to understand what current and former employees are saying about Brown University layoffs and their outlook for job security at Brown University in 2026.

What are the top reviewed Brown University locations?

Providence , New York , Boston , San Francisco , Providence , Washington , Philadelphia , Detroit , Livingston , Butte , Providence , Winston-Salem , Dallas , McAllen , Dayton , San Diego , San Jose , Fort Collins , New Haven , Seattle , Bristol , Coventry , Cranston , Greene , Lincoln , North Providence , Warwick , Pittsburgh , Waldorf , Cambridge

Brown University reviews

4.4

83% would recommend to a friend

(1,558 total reviews)

Christina Paxson

69% approve of CEO

65% positive business outlook

Ratings by category

4.3

Work/Life balance

4.2

Diversity & inclusion

4.1

Culture & values

3.8

Compensation and benefits

3.8

Career opportunities

3.7

Senior management

Brown University has an employee rating of 4.4 out of 5 stars, based on 1,558 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have an excellent working experience there. The Brown University employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Education industry (3.7 stars).

Ratings by demographic groups

Race / Ethnicity

Gender

Sexual orientation

Disability

Parent or family caregiver

Veteran status

Reviews by job title

2K reviews

3.0

Mar 16, 2016

Individual experiences vary by department

Anonymous employee

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

There are a lot of good people at Brown. The campus environment is fun, dynamic, elegant, classy. If you have time to take advantage of them, there are loads of wellness and learning activities designed for staff - everything from workshops on healthy eating to taking care of elderly parents.

Cons

There are 3,000 employees at Brown, and there are a few jaded employees who have been there a long time. For some reason, they are allowed to stay despite their bad attitudes. Also, the University is so large, it tends to become siloed - both in information and in culture. Departments vary greatly and some have better morale overall than others.

2.0

Feb 25, 2016

Staff

Anonymous employee

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

A good work life balance.

Cons

Staff were berated by supervisors.

4.0

Mar 3, 2014

Great people & benefits, low salaries & opportunities for advancement

Varied over time but academic unit

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

People at Brown are genuinely smart and interesting and mostly very kind. Many lectures and events on campus are free, so if you want to immerse yourself in the intellectual community, it's easy to do so. The benefits are fantastic, particularly excellent health insurance, and at lower salary levels, you contribute very little towards the premium. Plus employees get lots of vacation/sick time, "summer hours," and the week off between Christmas and New Year's.

Cons

Salaries are quite low, even compared to other area universities and research . And there are few opportunities for career advancement. Academia has very few structures in place to actually promote good employees and weed out the deadwood or incompetent. Plus Brown itself still has a bit of an identity crisis as it wants to be a world-class university but until recently it was mostly a residential college so it has kind of a provincial attitude about certain things, particularly in admin units. Department Chairs are not HR managers, and sometimes can't recognize when someone really isn't pulling his or her weight - they aren't interested in investing their limited time to figure out systems and to advance careers for those who are actually competent. HR people are helpful but operate on a corporate model, and many academic jobs don't really fit into neat little boxes.

Viewing 7 - 9 of 1,558 Reviews

Top companies for "Compensation and Benefits" near you

University of Michigan

3.9★Compensation & Benefits

University of Washington

3.5★Compensation & Benefits

NYU (New York University)

3.9★Compensation & Benefits

Stanford University

3.6★Compensation & Benefits

Jobs at Brown University

Senior HRPP Administrator

Senior Research Associate

Director, Compensation