University of Pennsylvania

"Overall work culture - big names are valued, administrative people mean so little as to be treated abusively in some departments such as the Center for Addiction Medicine and Policy. No boundaries around when you’re available by email or not. There are occasionally pockets of more positive, supportive environments which is completely dependent on the people overseeing those microcosms, but they’re still working too many hours. WASPy-est place I’ve ever spent time in. "

"Make sure that the environment you will work in is supportive of women."

"Express your needs clearly to your supervisor, and make sure your department is a good fit for your needs. "

"Women seem to be respected. The big separations seems to be between faculty and staff (or PhDs and non-PhDs). Not sure staff are respected as much as faculty."

"You will need to leave and come back to get a promotion. You may also be sidelined after having kids."

"The environment changes weekly/monthly. Many times it is a "hurry up and wait" situation. They value your opinion and are open to changes I suggested."

"I've seen other women who have gone on maternity leave and the transition seems easy. My office is good about flex time and work-life balance, but we keep getting the message that this is not the case university-wide. I haven't gone on my maternity leave yet, but I had to write this review in order to read other's experiences."

"I just started. No major complaints yet."

"Women grad students and postdocs aren't necessarily treated any differently than men in my experience, but they are unequally represented among scientific faculty. My department is particularly abysmal, and can't seem to attract any early-career female scientists. Those at the top don't seem to realize it's because the whole department looks like one big nerdy boys club."