Diversity in Tech: A conversation with software engineers Sue Chen and Ling-I Huang
Here at Teachable, we love spotlighting the diverse identities and backgrounds of our employees. This week, we spoke to Sue Chen and Ling-I Huang, two members of Teachable’s technology team. We hope you enjoy the conversation as much as we did.
What’s your role at Teachable?
S: Sr. Software Engineer, Student Commerce Pod.
L: Software Engineer on Extensibility Pod. I work mostly on the backend part of our authentication system.
Tell us a bit about your background.
S: I grew up in China and came to the US for grad school after finishing undergrad there. My family was a typical traditional Chinese family that followed Confucian values like respecting your elders, worshiping ancestors during holidays, and being reliable and responsible. This last one has especially helped me understand and uphold professionalism in the workplace.
L: I grew up in Taiwan and came to the US only a few years ago for my Master’s degree. I had never been to the US or lived in the West before. As a queer person in Taiwan, I only started to feel safe being myself in high school. But even after I graduated from college and started working, I still found it hard to comfortably be my true self around older generations, especially in male-dominated industries. My parents tried their best to be supportive but there were just not many LGBTQ+ friendly workplaces to choose from. That’s why I decided to continue my studies in the US and transition into the tech industry, which is much more inclusive.
What drew you to Teachable?
S: My past experiences were in the eCommerce and EdTech industries, and Teachable has both!
L: I’ve always been interested in education, especially as someone who spent so many years studying. On top of that, automation is one of my favorite focuses — it feels really good releasing people from tedious routines and just letting computers take care of them. Teachable works on the intersection of those two areas! I also sincerely believe in Teachable’s mission to enable creators to share their knowledge. Lastly, everyone I met during the interview process was really kind and made me feel like I would be comfortable working with them. Good news — I was right!
Now that you’ve been with the team for a while, what has been your experience?
S: I’ve really been enjoying my experience at Teachable and all the people I’ve been working with.
L: The team has been super inclusive and welcoming since day one, which was such a pleasant surprise. I understand that it takes a lot of effort from managers and everyone else on the team to create such an inclusive workplace, so I really appreciate it. I am also trying my best to learn from these lovely people and contribute to building and maintaining this great environment.
How have you found a community at Teachable?
S: I join API [an Employee Resource Group for employees from or descended from people from the Asian continent and/or Pacific Islanders] meetings from time to time, and I would love to participate even more.
L: ERGs and chatting channels here are so diverse! I’ve found great support chatting with people from similar backgrounds or who have similar identities and hobbies as me. We also have tech oriented learning groups that discuss new technologies and learn new skills together. It’s just really nice sharing knowledge with and learning from others.
