Pros
- Autonomy to do impactful research that directly impacts students. I spent ten years researching the impact of edtech on how young children learn math and science. Considering how important edtech is during the pandemic, I'm glad my WestEd career focused on such important work. - The people! This is one of the main reasons I stayed so long. All my colleagues in the STEM program are smart, passionate, and friendly. I learned so much from them everyday. - Culture where you feel comfortable bringing your authentic self to work everyday - Amazing WestEd benefits (15% of salary contributed by WestEd to 403b; note this is not an employee match, but is free money given by WestEd to your retirement. You are vested from day 1) - Flexibility to work from home - Management emphasizes the importance of work life balance. All my supervisors at WestEd encouraged self-care and work life balance. I have young children so having work life balance and the ability to work from home is very important to me. - Mission-driven workplace. Decisions are not driven by making the organization money but how the work can push the mission forward. Mission - WestEd works with education and other communities throughout the United States and abroad to promote excellence, achieve equity, and improve learning for children, youth, and adults.
Cons
None - I loved working at WestEd's STEM program for ten years!