Jenn_Lim

sorry youre having to go through this u/HelenAngel. coming from a woman that started my career in the tech industry i hear where youre coming from. part of my mentality at that time was to accept the circumstances and make the best of challenging situations but as i grew, i learned that there are lines and boundaries that we draw for ourselves...ones that can't be crossed because they're in conflict with our personal values (and in the end, it's on us to live with our actions or inactions we take).

fast forward to where we are today, i think workplaces are more open than ever for equity and inclusion. knowing changing jobs is always going to be an option, id have conversations with those that are behaving in sexist ways and see how they react. if that's not an option, id have transparent convos with trusted/respected senior folks in your team/company (women or men or non-binary).

from what i've seen, opinions from "lower-level" people are respected by those that see all sides of the situation, with an objective eye and voice to act upon what's best for people and the greater good of the company.

and if that doesnt move the needle, changing your team or job all together would be the blessing in disguise for your own wellbeing and sustainable happiness.

kudos on working at a place that prioritizes the fundamentals!

in some ways what you're describing is a good problem to have (since so many workplaces aren't prioritizing the same things!) — but it's still a problem in any case. ive seen many instances where things get a little too comfortable and people at every level (sr execs, managers, colleagues) get taken advantage of.

this is where i believe true practice of diversity, equity and inclusion come in. specifically the sense of equity so that everyone feels heard and understood, but not treated unfairly from one person to another.

whats helpful to communicate that there is no one person that the company relies completely (not even the ceo) and if anyone's hindering growth of the team or the whole org, it's not fair to the others' loss of autonomy, progress, connectedness and of course, happiness.

by having regular checkins, say every quarter, it should be transparent/in the know whether an individual is growing or not. if after multiple attempts through things like coaching and testing new directions/areas of growth, i think it's fair (to the company and everyone in it) to work on a transition plan towards a place that would be more conducive to that person's growth.

definitely one of the most common things i get asked ;] short answer is yes. if i zoom out of my life, im living a happy one because i know it's not about making sure im happy every moment of the day (virtually impossible) but instead, im at peace/happy because days (and therefore life) is made up of our highs and lows. embracing that is a game-changer in what it means to be happy. and going back to the science, most sustainable happiness comes from living our sense of purpose (what am i a part of thats bigger than myself) and values+behaviors+habits that are most near and dear to us (the how).

theres such a huge cross-section of courses and majors that can lead up to this field nowadays. ones that didn’t exist just 5-10 years ago. it’s an exciting time! some of the more traditional ones would be psychology or behavioral sciences, but now there are entire programs around positive psychology (e.g. upenn) and historically “most popular classes” around happiness and the science of it (e.g. yale, harvard).

organizational design also helps because you get to understand how there are systems that run organizations and keep them together (some better than others), which helps us figure out how we can build these systems so that every individual/employee/person can be their authentic self...knowing that people at their best self do their best work (productive/engaged/creative), so that everyone (the employer, employee, customers and everyone in their ecosystem) wins too :]

btw everyone — taking a quick break from responding to say thanku for such thoughtful questions! impressed by the transparency and authenticity :]