(From left to right) Minji Lee, Mei Wan, Allison Liemhetcharat, Reema Paranjpe, Julie Goergen, Michelle Lee.
Thoughts From the Women of rideOS
Diversity and inclusion are a priority at rideOS and we’re working to build and maintain a culture that celebrates individual identities — read more about this initiative and the steps we are taking here.
This International Women’s Day, we’ve asked the amazing women who work at rideOS to share a bit about who they are and what they’ve experienced.
What do you do at rideOS?
Mei: I’m a backend Engineer working on the routing side of things.
Julie: I’m the Recruiting Lead and am also in charge of PR and some HR topics.
Minji: I’m a Data Scientist, but, as you’d expect at companies this size, I wear multiple hats including product management and engineering, too.
Reema: I’m a Recruiter and I help manage people-related functions across the company.
Allison: I’m a Senior Engineer and lead simulation development, in addition to working on routing and integration.
How did you get into this field?
Allison: My background is in robotics and artificial intelligence — I’ve been into robotics since high school and did my Ph.D. in robotics at Carnegie Mellon. I believe that self-driving vehicles are the future and that they’ll bring about many benefits to society, so I wanted to be a part of it.
Reema: Like most other recruiters, I stumbled into this field because of my passion for helping people. I started out as a Recruiting Coordinator at Tesla and eventually moved into sourcing in addition to recruiting. My experiences there instilled a passion for both technology and people operations, which is why rideOS is such a good fit.
Minji: I studied statistics and economics and, prior to rideOS, I was at Uber working on marketplace optimization data science, specifically in Maps and Eats. rideOS was a natural transition for me.
Mei: My first job after graduating was working on routing, which allowed me to use my algorithms knowledge from school in an industry setting. I really enjoyed the mix of industry and academia in that experience, so I continued to look for work in this field and was lucky enough to find rideOS.
Julie: I worked in Germany for about five years before coming to San Francisco in search of Silicon Valley innovation. When I heard about rideOS, I immediately felt a deep connection — I grew up in metropolitan Detroit and the automotive industry has always been a big part of my life. Working at rideOS is the perfect combination of tackling something innovative and going back to my roots.
What accomplishments are you proudest of?
Mei: Before coming to the US for college, I had no idea that the computer science field even existed. I learned about and built my career in computer science completely from scratch, and since I’m currently working as a backend engineer at rideOS, I think I’ve done pretty well.
Allison: I wouldn’t be where I am today without my mentors, which is why I am passionate about mentoring the next generation of scientists and engineers. Over the course of my career so far, I’m proud to have mentored over 30 students.
How do you feel your identity as a woman has contributed/contributes to your professional experiences?
Mei: I feel like I can provide a different perspective to previously all-male discussions.
Allison: On at least one occasion, while discussing technical work with a company, the fact that I am an engineer has been met with surprise.
Reema: In a previous role, while training a new hire who was white and male, I discovered that I was getting paid significantly less than him, despite being a senior colleague and the one tasked with onboarding him. Though I took steps to resolve the payment discrepancy, the experience left a bad taste in my mouth — I felt like a living example of the gender-pay gap.
How do you think the industry can improve in terms of representation, diversity, equality, and equity?
Julie: Start by making it a priority! There is no magic trick to having a diverse team overnight; it takes a company-wide commitment, a lot of hard work, and constant questioning of current processes. No company is perfect, but what we can do is commit to improving ourselves and learning from each other.
Minji: We need to design a system that is more inclusive. From interviews to onboarding to performance reviews, we shouldn’t only reward those who are the most vocal. For instance, companies should have systematic and concrete expectations around roles and corresponding compensation packages — this will help achieve equity.
Reema: As the makers of tomorrow’s world, tech companies have a responsibility to hire more diverse talent and improve representation. From a young age, girls are conditioned not to enter STEM fields and as a result, today’s tech industry is dominated by men. We must reverse the perception that men are innately better at STEM and encourage young people of all genders to pursue their interests.
Mei: We need a shift in the mindset of the overall industry to be more friendly to diversity. There’s still a lot of unconscious bias that needs to be addressed.
Allison: We must encourage more diverse people to pursue STEM, normalize transparency and pay equity, and create working environments where people with different styles can contribute to discussions in their own ways.
What advice do you have for women hoping to enter this field?
Julie: Women are known to underestimate themselves, especially when it comes to applying to jobs. Trust and be confident in yourself and your successes.
Allison: Imposter syndrome is real. Be confident in your abilities, your experiences, and your goals, and don’t change yourself to “fit in.” Our unique personalities and backgrounds make the teams we work on stronger. Also, choose your employer carefully — consider culture and values, and listen to the women that are currently working there.
Mei: Having a good mentor has really helped me form my identity as a software engineer and a woman, and reflect on career decisions and directions. Find a mentor who can do the same for you.
In honor of International Women’s Day and National Women’s History Month, who is a woman you admire and why do you admire her?
Reema: Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jhumpa Lahiri. She’s an Indian-American woman who writes about the experiences of people in her community with incredible grace and depth. She’s my favorite writer and a huge inspiration.
Allison: Manuela Veloso, who was my Ph.D. advisor, is the top of her field of research, has held top positions at many research organizations, and has fought her way up a system that is biased against women. She is a strong advocate for women in research and the industry.
Julie: The notorious R.B.G. and Angela Merkel are both at the top of my list, and of course my mother and mother-in-law, who both went back to school with three young kids to follow their professional dreams.
