Q&A: Angie Avera
Angie Avera, alumna, is one of the women featured as part of The Signal’s #HawkHerStory coverage, celebrating Women’s History Month. This special coverage focuses on the stories and perspectives of the various women within the UHCL community.
Read The Signal’s Q&A with Avera below and see the other Q&As conducted with students, faculty, staff, administrators and alumni here.
Q: Can you tell us a bit about yourself, on both a personal and professional/educational level?
A: Sure thing! I’m Angie, a native Texan, current Bay Area California girl and soon to be New York City resident. I grew up in Houston and went to the University of Texas at Austin for my Bachelors degree in Human Development and Family Sciences, where I also played on a world-cup winning Quidditch team, worked at numerous non-profits, ate way too many breakfast tacos and met some of my best friends. After undergrad, I lived in Thailand for a short while teaching Kindergarten English and traveling in Southeast Asia. A bit later I came back to Houston, worked a few odd jobs and ended up doing a research project on laptop touch-pads with a connection who was working at HP, which ultimately led me to a local Human Factors conference where I met UHCL professor Dr. Nick Kelling. Long story short, I ended up enrolling in the Applied Cognitive Psychology (aka Human Factors Psychology) Masters program at UHCL shortly thereafter.
I spent 2 years at UHCL studying to be user experience researcher, publishing and presenting at international conferences, interning at HP, End to End User Research and Houston Methodist Hospital, acting as president of our Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Student Chapter and wearing what some may say was too much green and blue. After graduation I started my career as a Human Factors Engineer / UX Researcher at Apple in California. I was there for about 3.5 years, working primarily on health and wellness products and features as well as doing research with special populations such as older adults to ensure their representation in product design. Recently, I accepted a new role as a User Experience Researcher at Peloton where I work intimately with Design and Product to create meaningful experiences for our Members!
Q: What are some activities you enjoy doing?
A: Number one is my mom, Christy Harper. She’s actually a UHCL distinguished alumni! But I look up to her because she embodies absolute resilience, bravery, creativity and true, kind-hearted compassion. Her life has not always been easy, but she has always found a way to rise above it, enjoy the beauty of it and excel in spite of it all. (She actually reminds me of another fictional girl I look up to – Mary Frances Nolan from a Tree Grows in Brooklyn). My mom raised 4 kids on her own, put herself through school, started her own company, has taken brave leaps of faith when she needed to and literally always lends a helping hand to any and everyone along the way. She is the ultimate role model, mentor and friend anyone could ever ask for. Ask me anything about my mom – I could talk for hours about this woman. Many a hawk have had the pleasure of having her as a mentor, boss or speaker in class and can also attest to her incredible spirit! She is light herself.
Q: Who are some women (real or fictional) you look up to most? Why?
A: I work in tech and especially in the more corporate environments, I was sometimes the only woman in the room. In many settings, this truly didn’t seem to impact the ability to have my voice heard which is a testament to our growth as a society. However, specifically in engineering settings/meetings I have certainly felt overlooked, undervalued and overshadowed by male voices and discussions in the room which can be frustrating and demoralizing when you’re a young professional especially, still trying to earn respect, make connections and drive impact.
Additionally, I have been involved in organizations with only males in leadership positions from my direct manager all the way up the chain to the CEO. Not seeing myself represented in leadership did not give me confidence that those in my organization could see the value and potential in their female counterparts to take charge and move up within the company.
Q: What are some problems you anticipate/have encountered as a woman in your field?
A: I work in tech and especially in the more corporate environments, I was sometimes the only woman in the room. In many settings, this truly didn’t seem to impact the ability to have my voice heard which is a testament to our growth as a society. However, specifically in engineering settings/meetings I have certainly felt overlooked, undervalued and overshadowed by male voices and discussions in the room which can be frustrating and demoralizing when you’re a young professional especially, still trying to earn respect, make connections and drive impact.
Additionally, I have been involved in organizations with only males in leadership positions from my direct manager all the way up the chain to the CEO. Not seeing myself represented in leadership did not give me confidence that those in my organization could see the value and potential in their female counterparts to take charge and move up within the company.
Q: What advice would you give to other women and young girls?
A: In my current role, my manager (the director of UX Research) is a woman and amazing mentor and leader. When looking for a new role, I specifically sought out opportunities and teams that were more diverse and seemed to empower various types of people, including womxn to lead. I would recommend truly vetting the team and leaders when you are applying for jobs to be sure that you will be supported, represented, included and understood.
Additionally, it is important to amplify other womxn’s ideas and voices if they are being overlooked for any reason. The small gesture of acknowledging that another womxn in the room had a great idea or was trying to speak before someone else jumped in, are small day-to-day ways to continue to empower other womxn in male-dominant environments as we drive toward equity and inclusion.
Third: find inspiring, successful, value-driven female mentors. There is something special about seeing yourself in those you look up to and being able to relate to similar hardships that are generated by our gendered experience! I can’t recommend this enough. This can be in or out of your company and organization!
Q: Is there anything you would like our readers to know?
A: Another thing came to mind and I’m actually very passionate about this. Pay inequality! I have had experiences with finding out that male colleagues with less experience are making more than me and other female counterparts. And this is incredibly common – so many of my girlfriends in many different industries have experienced this as well. It’s gut wrenching. A few tips – be transparent and talk to coworkers and others in your field about pay and compensation. I know it can feel a little awkward but only the employer wins when we are unwilling to discuss these things. The more data you have on what others are being compensated, the more grounds you can stand on in your compensation negotiations. Also, negotiate – always ask for more a when negotiating and offer or a raise. There are tons of great resources to help you in these situations. Again, it can feel awkward and scary the first time but it’s worth it. I promise. And it pays off so much over time. Undercutting yourself even in your first role can always set you a little behind where you could be – and you deserve it! Getting counteroffers is another tactic. It’s a bummer that we need so many tactics but it’s a fact that women are still paid less for the same work than men in this country today and we need to fight to be sure that continues to change.
https://www.ladiesgetpaid.com/ – this is a great org and they have a tons of resources.
