Prós
I worked at The Lawrence for a little over 8 years, starting as a front-line facilitator and working my way up to supervising the floor team as the Associate Director of Floor Programs and Volunteers.
- The science center is an incredible setting to have awesome learning interactions with the kiddos and their families. There truly is so much potential.
- I also got the chance to meet and work with some incredible, creative, caring, and resilient colleagues, that have taught me a lot and often felt electrifying and uplifting to collaborate with.
- The location is beautiful and it’s a treat to overlook the bay every day - especially at sunset time.
- UC offers a great benefits package.
- I personally really liked working with student employees, that often bring an awesome energy to the team. As a supervisor I really enjoyed the opportunity to support early career folks with their professional development.
Contras
I think the biggest red flag at The Lawrence as a whole - but especially this position - is how insidious is the presence of burnout across all levels of the organization. It was the case for me, and also for the 3 previous folks who held this responsibility in previous versions of this role. The scope of this work is really unrealistic (supervising ~50 part time student employees, 2-3 full time employees, and managing a group of 100+ youth and adult volunteers - with everything that entails AND making sure the large team is also keeping up with program needs of at least 8 different content spaces that are frequently changing seasonally), and expectations are constantly shifting and being left unclear. I left this position ill and still deal with long term effects of the stress I fell under this role.
Here are other things I think you should know if you are considering applying or accepting a position at this organization:
- Institutional financial instability: frequent layoffs and organizational restructuring, leading to folks having to take on additional responsibilities without proper capacity assessment and compensation review
- Limited mobility and job progression: as the job progresses and one takes on additional responsibilities, it is often not accompanied by appropriate promotion and compensation. In my experience, I was performing all of the essential functions of my final role for three whole years before officially receiving proper title and compensation
- Lack of proper training and documentation: there is limited procedural documentation and very little capacity for proper training and development. Folks are often left to figure things out under unclear expectations which often leads to miscommunication and resentment.
- Shallow and performative commitment to equity and inclusion: while there are initiatives with the goal of advancing inclusion within the organization, the work is slow moving and often times ineffective - especially when it comes to addressing internal power dynamics. The current framework used organization-wide to address equity lacks intersectionality, depth and follow-through. Management is simply unequipped to support neurodivergent employees.
- Scarcity of time and resources: the wheel never stops turning, there is never enough time for planning and following through with initiatives that would build supportive structures to make the work more sustainable. Program transitions often happen at the very last minute, leaving very little time for staff to become familiar with them impacting their confidence and the visitor experience.
- Reality of working with student employees: while they bring amazing energy to the team, working with students can be really challenging. Because everyone’s schedule is different, and the science center is open on weekends and holidays, it is virtually impossible to gather the entire team at the same place and at the same time. Turnover is constant due to graduations and other commitments, which means recruiting, hiring, and onboarding NEVER stops. Staff availability tends to get challenging during school breaks and times of high academic demand. It is also quite strenuous when front-line staff have great suggestions to improve staff and visitor experience with no avenue for implementation.
- History of union busting
- Blatant nepotism