It’s no secret that STEM industries are majority male. In a 2010 research report [link], the American Association of University Women postulated that stereotypes, gender bias (implicit and explicit), and environmental and social barriers block many women’s progress in STEM fields. Recognizing this, our hiring staff is very actively thinking about diversity and bringing new and differing voices into the mix.
We sat down with four amazing women in our office, Shaina Semiatin (Talent Acquisition Specialist), Monica Bi (People Operations Coordinator), Megan Pawlak (People Operations Coordinator), and Jenny Du (Co-Founder & VP of Operations), to talk more about gender inclusivity in our hiring practices and everyday work environment.
Hello, all! Thank you so much for taking the time to talk about this important topic. First off, can you speak to why equality in the workplace is an important initiative to you?
Jenny: It sounds cliché, but, firstly, diversity is important to me because garnering input from many different perspectives is invaluable. Using the founders and some of our earliest team members as an example, you could think of us as being ‘cut from the same cloth’ because of our common age group, schooling, and a similar sense of humor. But, looking beyond physical appearances (where we are coincidentally quite different), we each have our unique approaches to our work, communication style, and interactions with others.
We can extend that view to the entirety of our organization, where we acknowledge and value each others’ unique experience and points of view. Our effectiveness as a team and as a company (early on and to-date) is owed exactly this complementary diversity among shared core values, the combination of which is key to our strengths as an organization. It has helped us navigate critical challenges and do better work to support our people and our business, which has been extremely important to our progress to date. We all have something to learn from each person that we cross paths with.
It’s a blessing and rich opportunity to have such a variety of people in our workplace from whom we can learn. It is also a great privilege to work to create an environment in which our employees may thrive by allowing such diversity to shine through. This fuels my personal belief in equality as every person should be offered the same opportunities to uniquely shine, contribute, and grow.
Let’s focus on our hiring practices. Can you talk a little bit about how we strive for equality in our employee search and hiring process?
Shaina: As we look for management roles, getting qualified women in seats of power is important and valued here at Apeel. We have a very strong sense of people being heard and allowing everyone to give their two cents, regardless of their background, gender identity, race, etc. If you want to have a true and lasting impact on your work and feel truly seen and respected for your work, then come work at Apeel because that’s exactly what we do.
How do we make sure that we are thoughtfully widening the pool from which we hire?
Shaina: We have an internal referral policy, which most startups do, but our focus is that we explicitly ask our employees to refer people who aren’t like them. Additionally, we are building partnerships with organizations like Girls Who Code, Black Girls Code, Lesbians Who Tech, and HBCU (Historically Black Colleges & Universities) so that we can build pipelines around organizations that really thoughtfully build their communities.
Once hired, what are the additional processes that we have in-house to help ensure equality during our day to day at Apeel?
Shaina: A big thing at Apeel is the power of voice. We make sure that everyone has a seat at the table and that they are heard. If we ever hear that someone is feeling uncomfortable or pressured not to voice their opinion, we would work to find a solution because we want to build a very transparent, open, and accepting work environment.
Megan: As a young company, we’ve leveraged our connections in the community and spoken at length with other companies to learn what they’re doing with their parental leaves and equal opportunity efforts and offerings so we that can provide what is fair and competitive in the market. I personally feel like Apeel is a very inclusive and supportive environment.
Monica: Yes, among other activities, we have team bonding get-togethers on our patio every other Friday. These are family-friendly events where everyone can hang out in a relaxed environment. I think these events add to our laidback, accepting, and easy going culture.
What extra steps does Apeel take to make sure all voices are heard?
Monica: The Lunch & Learns!
Megan: Totally — our Lunch & Learn program is hosted by our People & Culture Team and Professional Development Committee and is designed to allow everyone to have a voice to present on something that they are working on or something that is important to them. For example, we had an Implicit Bias Lunch & Learn not too long ago that focused on making sure that we are aware of our own biases and how to make sure we are giving an unbiased opinion of someone after an interview.
Monica: Another cool event we had was an employee-led discussion that focused on Lesbians Who Tech.
Shaina: That one was great; we had a discussion about creating an accepting workplace in an authentic and genuine way. We have a strong LGBTQ support system at Apeel and we wanted to give our female scientists the opportunity to talk about the conference and what it’s like to be a lesbian in the technology field.
One thing I really appreciate about working here is how you’re allowed to define your own work-life balance. For parents with young children, this is even more important. Can you speak on the People & Culture initiatives for parents in the workplace?
Megan: Of course! Work at Apeel is mobile; we have a very flexible work style and everyone can work the best hours that are suited to their lifestyles. We provide our team members with the freedom to make their own judgment calls around such matters while taking on the ownership and responsibility for their work. This gives moms a lot of freedom to work from home, leave early, come late, and so on. Additionally, we are an office that has no problem with kids coming into the office.
Monica: I’ve sat in a few meetings that have kids in them.
Megan: Me too! We have a mentality that there is no job too big or too small, so we all will pitch in to help someone who needs to be out of the office.
Shaina: We also have a monthly childcare stipend and, unlike many companies, we don’t dictate which service you should use with that stipend. We give families a lot of freedom in choosing the childcare program that is right for them.
Finally, is there anything else you would like other women to know about working at Apeel?
Megan: Apeel is really inclusive for everyone. We’re focused on increasing the diversity, inclusion, and belonging at our office and we’re a better team because of it. Additionally, everyone is valued as the expert in the field in every role, no matter who they are or where they came from. People will take you seriously, no matter what.
Jenny: The Apeel environment is an open space where you’re valued as your true self. We have the opportunity as a young company, from Day 1, to work towards building a fair meritocracy as best we can. People here will succeed if they share our passion for our mission and vision, uphold high-performance standards, and live and breathe our core values. We’re always very excited to hire people who are additive to the culture.
Thank you so much for your time and talking more about women’s equality at Apeel!
Apeel believes that the scale of our impact is determined by the teams that work with us. Learn more about joining our team here.