The Broad Institute reviews

What a disappointment. From the perspective of a Research Associate at the Broad for nearly four years. This is a modified version of my original review. I know I speak for at least three other employees who all left around the same time because of the same unforgivable issues. The Broad Institute is in many ways a factory that efficiently churns through young, naive scientists on a regular yearly cycle, benefitting the few and spitting out the majority. This leaves behind most with a bad taste in their mouth for academic science and no more prepared for a career than when they began. If you’re the rare exception and are titillated by the opportunity to rub elbows (now virtually over Zoom, of course) with the ‘Big Names’ in genomics, you might want to lower your expectations - the 30 Under 30 networking fiend may thrive at the Broad, but most in reality are not provided that sort of experience. There is something fundamentally damaged in the way middle management is rewarded without consequence for both poor performance and poor behavior. Management consistently, in my experience, shows no spine and allows inappropriate and impermissible behavior to flourish. Meanwhile, positions at the bottom, including research associates and PDAs, bear the full brunt of these transgressions in a nauseating, never-ending loop. Human resources has claimed, including on Glassdoor (see other reviews), that there are programs in place to resolve and remediate these sorts of issues, but these problems run much deeper than individuals. Take note: when these issues are not effectively addressed, employees leave. A mass exodus should be the biggest warning sign that something is not right, to HR, to a group lead, and to anyone considering a job with that group. I left my position expressly because of these issues, and I was not the first and certainly am not the last to do the same. Do not be fooled by the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT’s shiny facade and buckets of cash. Mistakes are regularly acknowledged and covered up, protocols are ignored or modified with poor tracking, and critical decisions are constantly made last minute by subordinates because management is both disorganized and can’t be bothered to be present even when necessary. Maybe it’s just part of being an institution of this ‘calibre’, and it certainly is a symptom with salaried positions, but hard work certainly is not rewarded and long, sometimes ridiculous hours are expected. To the Broad’s credit, free food and alcohol were frequently on-site during pre-pandemic times, though so was the constant pressure to drink in order to be part of the ‘team’. Like many others, I nervously searched through sites like Glassdoor four years ago when I applied for a job at the Broad. Here's the thing. I was told by the people I interviewed, the ones who would eventually become my coworkers, with what I was in for, and I still didn't listen. I was lied to because my coworkers felt like they could not tell me the truth until I was one of them, part of the atmosphere of bullying the Broad seems to foster. Over the years I’ve heard horror stories from those who’d already moved on from the Broad, and they all seem to center around these same themes. If I can say one thing, it is this: the Broad Institute taught me how to advocate for myself, at work and in my personal life. Over the years my work life and personal life became so insidiously entangled that the heartache and headache of the day-to-day literally manifested itself through physical symptoms. This is not ok. I wouldn’t want that for anyone else, so why does it persist? I wouldn’t be writing this review if I did not know with absolute certainty there are others suffering in the same way right now, especially in the very group I left! In the most positive way, I can only hope those applying for positions at the Broad take heed and carefully weigh all of the pros and cons before accepting a job. In a perfect universe, maybe this review will help start a genuine and swift conversation in Human Resources about taking decisive action and truly weeding out toxic and malignant employees.

I've been here for over 5 years now and perhaps my honeymoon phase is over but I am starting to see the ugly side of this company. -First and foremost, pay here is egregious. I get that it is academia and non-for-profit, but the company wastes money on so much food and free coffee (no joke, there is a coffee trike the company most likely pays $$$$$$$$$ for) and weird looking furniture that they cycle through (I have no idea if the ones they toss out will ever get used again)... If you are trying to be like Google, pay us like Google. It's frankly insulting to watch money getting wasted. -There is not a lot of room for career development. Promotions are stingy and you literally have to fight for them. Bosses say "it's an HR thing" as an excuse. HR say "it's your boss's decision." Hmmm.... -People without advanced degrees get treated like garbage. But I guess that is common in science. -I don't think HR cares about the happiness of their employees, I think they do anything they can to protect the people on top. There are so many complaints about some people in management (abusiveness, condescending tones, racism, sexism, etc), but they don't care. Instead I believe they "coach" you out of the company and keep the horrible people. -I think that there is fear in the work culture. Adding to the point above, it's to the point where people are so afraid that they don't speak out when they are getting abused because they are scared they will lose their jobs. -There is an awful balance of male vs female ratio. They try to be all progressive but who they decide to hire speaks volumes. Take a look at their upper management/director/PI/computational positions...many of them are male.