There are too many issues at Teaching Lab to document in this review and others have done a wonderful a job of summarizing the discrimination and poor treatment of women of color. I would include men of color as well! They are true, and I would not suggest any person of color join this company. Don’t let the diversity statement, the diverse leadership, or participation in restorative justice fool you. It’s toxic and deeply rooted in white supremacy culture. When I think about my short tenure at Teaching Lab, what makes me the most upset is how the senior leadership treated their team. I had unique access to all C-level employees and was consistently told how poor performing everyone was. Everyone was replaceable because it was easier to replace people than to train them. My decision to leave came after one particularly terrible conversation with a c-level leader who had been cruel, unreasonable, and unhelpful in the weeks leading up to my resignation. Mind you, I was about 90-days into my role and quickly feeling uneasy about one-on-one meetings with this leader. You never knew what mood they would be in and how they would judge your performance. Unpredictability in a manager is never good. When I tried to give this feedback in a compassionate and constructive manner, believing what I was told about an open culture of feedback and improvement, I was told it was me that was dismissive and underperforming. I filed my resignation the following morning. I told myself I would never be in another meeting with that leader, ever again. Upon sending the resignation I was told, “Well you have a lot of work to finish before your last day.” I, too, was replaceable! Did I do the work? Yes! Because I didn’t want to leave my team in a bind. The team I left at Teaching Lab was terrific and I still miss them. The mediocre money, the benefits, the working from home… none of it is worth that working environment. My advice: take another job.
