Is The Broad Institute a good company to work for?

The Broad Institute has an overall rating of 4.0 out of 5, based on over 926 reviews left anonymously by employees. This rating has decreased by 1% over the last 12 months. 75% of employees would recommend working at The Broad Institute to a friend and 55% have a positive outlook for the business. The best reviews about The Broad Institute have been left by employees working as Computational Biologist , Postdoctoral Fellow and Postdoctoral Associate .

Does The Broad Institute pay their employees well?

According to anonymously submitted Glassdoor reviews, The Broad Institute employees rate their compensation and benefits as 3.6 out of 5. Find out more about salaries and benefits at The Broad Institute. This rating has decreased by 6% over the last 12 months.

How satisfied are employees working at The Broad Institute?

75% of The Broad Institute employees would recommend working there to a friend based on Glassdoor reviews . Employees also rated The Broad Institute 4.1 out of 5 for work life balance, 4.1 for culture and values and 3.5 for career opportunities.

What are the top reviewed jobs at The Broad Institute?

Research Associate (54) , Research Scientist (28) , Process Development Associate (25) , Postdoctoral Associate (21) , Postdoctoral Fellow (20) , Research Associate I (18) , Research Associate II (18) , Computational Biologist (16) , Process Development Associate I (15) , Software Engineer (15) , Accessioning Technician (14) , Research Scientist II (13) , Administrative Assistant (11) , Postdoctoral Research Associate (10) , Project Manager (10)

What are the pros of working at The Broad Institute according to real employee reviews?

"People there are great and willing to help you out." ((in 87 reviews)); "Great work life balance" ((in 37 reviews)); "My colleagues are smart, motivated, and collegial and together we tackle the biggest problems in genomics." ((in 22 reviews)); "great opportunities as a young scientist" ((in 16 reviews)); "Great coworkers and great benefits" ((in 11 reviews))

What are the cons of working at The Broad Institute according to real employee reviews?

"Low pay compared to competitor and workload" ((in 53 reviews)); "Salary is low for Cambridge/Boston" ((in 50 reviews)); "unclear career path as you become more senior" ((in 13 reviews)); "Poor leadership" ((in 10 reviews)); "Upper management is very far removed from the lab and the difference in care between different lab supervisors is extremely vast, some will fight tooth and nail against management to maintain their lab’s happiness and others will throw their lab members under the bus" ((in 9 reviews))

What are employees saying about The Broad Institute layoffs in 2026?

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

What are the top reviewed The Broad Institute locations?

Cambridge , Boston , Burlington , Berkeley , Nashua , Cambridge , Laurel , White Plains , Hyde Park , Malden

The Broad Institute reviews

4.0

75% would recommend to a friend

(805 total reviews)

Todd Golub

80% approve of CEO

55% positive business outlook

Ratings by category

4.2

Diversity & inclusion

4.1

Culture & values

4.1

Work/Life balance

3.6

Compensation and benefits

3.5

Career opportunities

3.4

Senior management

The Broad Institute has an employee rating of 4.0 out of 5 stars, based on 805 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The The Broad Institute employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Pharmaceutical & Biotechnology industry (3.5 stars).

Ratings by demographic groups

Race / Ethnicity

Gender

Sexual orientation

Disability

Parent or family caregiver

Veteran status

Reviews by job title

805 reviews

3.0

Mar 12, 2018

Academia gone corporate

Anonymous employee

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

It was a great place to work before it got too big and splintered across multiple buildings in Cambridge. Funding cuts laid off a lot of good people in the department I worked in.

Cons

I was there for nearly 11 years and watched this organization evolve from a small group of a few hundred collaborative scientists, located in one building, to over a thousand full time employees spread across five different buildings. The culture shifted from jeans and t-shirt to a more corporate, business attire atmosphere with the equivalent type of competitive, anti-collaborative attitudes. There was still collaboration in some departments, but it was shifting away from this model.

The Broad Institute Response

8y

Hi, this is Chelsea from Human Resources - thank you for your feedback! Our Broadie community has been rapidly expanding over the past several years, and this growth has empowered our scientific groups to tackle a wide range of large-scale projects to solve some of the toughest biological problems. This growth does come with the challenge of understanding how to grow while still maintaining the culture and community that our Broadies love. To address this, we have put together a team of people for a project called ‘Be Big/Feel Small’, with the mission to understand the needs of our community and how we can improve communication, resources, and collaboration across the institute. This will be an ongoing initiative and we are determined to provide support to our community as we all adapt to these changes. I wish you every success in your career and I would be happy to discuss further if your path ever leads you back to the Broad!

3.0

Jan 30, 2018

Admin needs a lot of work

Anonymous employee

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

Cutting-edge science, interesting environment, good location

Cons

Although it's touted as a very open and progressive workplace, it's actually political to a degree that I've never seen elsewhere (other universities and non-profits). The science may be cutting-edge, but the admin depts are held back by 1) a lack of vision/planning/leadership, 2) a lack of fundamental organizational policies (let alone enforcement of them), 3) abysmal, antiquated financial/software systems, and 4) promotions gifted to those who have ingrained themselves into the right cliques. It's frustrating that these things have continued for so long (years) when things on the science side are on the fringe and apparently quite successful. Key point: admin teams function well - quite well - in spite of executive leadership, and certainly not because of it. It's a testament to the level of dedication, pride, and professionalism among the "worker bees" that things haven't completely fallen apart. And since catastrophes are quite rare, higher-ups seem to have convinced themselves that everything is fine and no changes are needed. The internal satisfaction surveys, though - extremely negative in the areas above - tell the real story. Also, as many people have mentioned here, career paths on the admin side are virtually non-existent. HR will say that they're implementing workshops and initiatives, but for most people in admin it won't make a difference. If you want a career path, you have to get experience at the Broad and then go elsewhere.

The Broad Institute Response

8y

Hi, this is Chelsea from Human Resources. Thank you for your candid review. It’s nice to hear that you think highly of the science that’s happening across the Broad - it truly is amazing and cutting edge. While it is true that we’ve made numerous investments in the people and systems in our admin group over the past several years, it is also true that we’ve grown quite rapidly. Often, when there is rapid growth there can be a bit of a lag time from the time of investment to when we see a positive impact. I suspect you may have experienced this in work. We’re working on it and will continue to make the necessary investments. Finally, I want to acknowledge that you are totally right about the admin team. They are the lifeblood that keeps the Broad running! None of the amazing science happens at the pace it’s happening without the dedication and commitment of the entire admin community. I wish you the best in your new role.

1.0

Sep 12, 2017

Career killer for serious minded budding scientists

Research technician

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

May help those who need a big-lab name to help their resumes

Cons

Too much demand for fitting into culture of corruption and mediocrity

The Broad Institute Response

8y

Hi, this is Chelsea in Human Resources at the Broad Institute. I am sorry to hear that you had this experience. We have a lot of reporting tools for employees to ensure we can look into concerns like these in real time. I see you are no longer at the Broad, but I'd be happy to discuss this with you if you'd like to reach out to me at cbodenstab@broadinstitute.org.

Viewing 10 - 12 of 805 Reviews

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