General Motors

GM is a huge company, so there are many chances to meet and network with other engineers.

Work was very technical. As an engineer, I enjoyed my day-to-day work since there were lots of problem-solving, data analysis, and teamwork.

Sometimes things were very fast-paced and other times not very much, depending on where your vehicle was in the timeline.

The culture is old-fashioned. As a woman of color, I did not appreciate some of the comments and treatments I received.

I did not want to argue or cause a scene with those individuals after being told that I was too "young," "woman," "sensitive," and "liked to overreact." They also said those qualities were "too woman-like" or that I "looked and acted very similarly" to other women of color they knew.

I tried to think what I did wrong, but could not find anything other than just being myself. I also don't think I was the only one who received these treatments after talking to my peers at GM.

I understand that the CEO is a woman and that some parts of the company are very progressive. I also understand that those individuals are from an era where not many women of color were engineers. However, my empathy was not enough to keep me at the company.

Cultural transformation, perhaps through promoting positivity and diversity. I understand that GM is a for-profit company, but please try to provide more training and team-building activities for people to be more positive, flexible, and to accept differences. I don't think annual trainings and resource groups are enough.