Cisco

"The company has option of working from home which comes handy with kids and running errands. You can also take calls remotely. It differs from team to team and depends on manager's attitude as well. Some managers themselves work from 7am to 7pm straight and expect you to do the same. If you land up in a good team, you'll be lucky."

"While the company policy definitely wants to promote and encourage women in the workplace, policies will only be as good as the people who implement them. While I must say I had been very fortunate to work for managers who were not biased towards my work or performance based on the gender, I have come across managers who are partial in hiring women though they're not vocal about it in official discussions. During private discussions, they do accidentally spill that they're not in favor of having women 'cause they feel women give higher priority to family and would not prefer to stretch beyond the 8 hrs of work/day, they might need maternity leave, time off to attend to a sick kid at home, they'd be distracted at work 'cause of house-hold responsibilities like picking up the kid between work, etc. Some managers feel they can easily thrust work upon a man at any time of the day without hesitation which they can't with a woman. Most of the IT houses foster boys-club 'cause majority of the workforce constitutes of men. Women find it hard to penetrate this group 'cause our interests don't match such as hanging out with male colleagues for a smoke between work, or for a drink late into the evening, or watching a game together, etc. This puts women in tech at a disadvantage 'cause we loose out on the informal discussion about work, technology, etc. and the bonding that happens over these sessions. It is a very tough art to master getting into such groups without risking coming across as desperate to hang out with men."

"Women in Management are treated somewhat fairly. Women in technical roles are treated terribly: I was denied promotion after my boss told me I met all the requirements and he received a new req. He lost that req by letting it go unfilled before promoting me. I was docked on my bonus by the number of weeks I was on maternity leave, even though a co-worked was not when he took a month to go mountain climbing. When the issue was brought to HR, they said bonus was solely the manager's discretion."

"As with any fast paced corporate job it is difficult to balance being a mother and a career woman. Cisco has a lot of benefits and perks that help working mothers however the demand on one's time and attention make it hard for moms, especially nursing/breast pumping moms. Cisco is implementing a new leave policy that allows for 4 additional weeks of paid family leave/child bonding."

"I think it really depends on the immediate group and supervisor you have. Overall, women are treated fairly and equally although there is still a tad of the old boys club occasionally. For the most part it is a great environment."