Overall Great but Culture in O&T needs improvement - Principal Mastercard Employee Review

4.0
Oct 24, 2019
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Great compensation & benefits, solid career opportunities and outstanding work/life balance. For culture - read Cons.

Cons

The case for gender equality in technology and leadership roles is strong at Mastercard, but the progress on the ground seems to be slow. Our leaders talk about gender inclusion, folks in Diversity & Inclusion office talk about it, and I am pretty sure that my salary is equal to everyone else in my group. Still, the culture, especially in O&T can be discouraging. I have some outstanding male colleagues but other ones are little old fashioned. I was at a meeting where a male coworker told me to 'stop whining' after I asked for further clarifications. In another situation, it was suggested I was 'rude or aggressive' when a male coworker in a similar situation was labeled 'assertive'. I am often asked to complete a 'non-glamourous' type of work like formatting and comparing data in two excel sheets, although I'm a technology SME. And, ironically, women too can contribute to this culture. O&T is a heavily male-dominated organization, and although it's a highly innovative group, it can leave a woman feeling powerless. I don't know if things fair better in the East or West coast offices, but O'Fallon can do better.

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5.0
Jun 23, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

People are highly intelligent and things seem to operate efficiently

Cons

Large ship so changes are hard to make

4.0
May 27, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Mastercard does a great job fostering an inclusive and supportive environment. There are genuinely good people throughout the organization, and leadership often invests in employee engagement through events, recognition, and culture-building initiatives. I enjoyed many of the relationships I built while working there, and there are teams that truly care about collaboration and supporting one another.

Cons

Compensation at the director level did not feel competitive compared to the level of responsibility expected. Career advancement can also be extremely challenging due to how top-heavy the organization is with senior leadership roles. There are a large number of Senior Vice Presidents, sometimes without clear scope or experience aligned to the title, which creates limited room for high-performing employees to grow. At times, it felt like senior leaders were being hired primarily to manage or communicate with other senior leaders, rather than drive meaningful operational impact. In product and go-to-market roles especially, priorities are often heavily driven by funding decisions. It can be frustrating when projects suddenly shift in importance or remain underfunded for long periods of time while awaiting senior leadership review. This sometimes leaves highly talented employees in limbo, unable to move initiatives forward despite strong momentum or market opportunity. The organization can also be very comfortable with the status quo, which creates a slower pace that many employees seem accustomed to. For people who are highly motivated and eager to drive change, it can feel difficult to navigate the number of roadblocks and layers of approval required to move initiatives forward.

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