Advocating for paid parental leave in the aerospace industry

by
Jenna Vassallo
Nov 15, 2023
Person works on a laptop in a laboratory

Companies in the aerospace industry are not historically known for their generous paid parental leave policies.

The industry also sees a lot of skilled employees leave after having children: 43% of women and 23% of men drop out of STEM careers within four to seven years of having their first child.

The lack of paid parental leave is likely a key factor pushing new parent employees into part-time roles or different career paths that offer more flexible and supportive work environments, which comes at a massive cost:

  • Without progressive parental leave policies, aerospace companies may lose out on highly educated, sought-after talent in highly competitive fields
  • They then have to rehire, retrain and replace these skilled employees, wasting money and time that could’ve been spent on innovation

After Emily Calandrelli – an MIT-engineer turned Emmy-nominated science TV host – came to us about how to change this, we worked together using our template to make the business case for extended parental leave in the aerospace industry.

In a recent interview with Emily, we discussed the impact minimal paid parental leave has on the aerospace industry and how she used her platform to make a difference.

A tweet and a template catalyzes change

Emily has an impressive following across social channels – including X, where she got curious and tweeted to ask others working in the aerospace industry about their company’s parental leave policy.

“The numbers started coming in, and it was like four weeks, two weeks… ZERO 100% paid weeks off. The 100% paid-off aspect of parental leave was something that I cared a lot about,” she said.

After crowdsourcing policies for several companies in the industry, Emily realized there were a few companies that had more competitive policies.

In an effort to help employees make the business case for more leave at their companies, we worked with Emily to create an aerospace-specific version of our proposal to increase paid parental leave template.

The template is designed so that employees can advocate for better policies using data on how their companies are behind their competitors.

The result?

A dozen aerospace companies improved their parental leave policies within six months of this initiative.

To celebrate all we’ve accomplished, our team shared what they’re most proud of since joining the team:

I'm most proud of how much we have done to improve the single hardest moment for women's careers (going on parental leave) ... one that is often shrouded in insecurity and fear. We've been able to help advocate for so many women (and men!) in a way that is empowering and truly life-changing.

Allison Whalen, CEO & Founder

What am I most proud of? Growth! Growing a category of support that didn't exist before Parentaly. Growing from a one-woman bootstrapped operation to a global team of 25+ employees and coaches. Growing our overall impact for working parents, with companies investing in our parental leave programming to support employees all over the world. And growing as humans: new babies, new friends, new life experiences... all while tackling new and exciting work challenges together.

Rich Burke, Head of Growth

When I reflect on what I am personally most proud of during my time here, it's working alongside a team where we constantly evolve and optimize everything that we do in order to deliver the best possible experience for the folks going through our programs. It sounds cheesy, but there are processes that my team and I used to do 100% manually that are now completely automated and systems in place that have become second nature to how we operate. Working with such thoughtful, smart, and creative people is incredible.

Sara Ophoff, Senior Program Manager

I’m most proud about doing work that makes parents feel confident and empowered about their careers during a time that can be overwhelming and challenging – not only for our clients and users who go through Parentaly’s programs, but also with our advocacy work on LinkedIn, through our podcast and other big campaigns that make a difference. It’s been pretty rewarding to build a brand people know and love because what we’re doing resonates with so many employees’ experiences in the workforce.

Jenna Vassallo, Head of Brand & Marketing

I am so proud of the way we've approached growth with such care and intentionality - with every adjustment we've made to our offerings, we've never lost sight of our goal to provide the most supportive and valuable experience for our users. I love looking back on the early stages of conversations and building that have led us to the experience we offer today. Personally, I am extremely proud of the work I've done to scale and automate our backend!

Rachel Andes, Program Associate

I am most proud of the work we do every single day to make a positive impact on working parents! Everyday I get to work with an amazing group of people…we work hard but we also have fun.

Sarah Gruber, Client Partner

I'm proud of scaling an employee experience that consistently delivers positive outcomes for new parents and their organizations. Our north star has always been the user, and we never sacrifice our high quality bar!

Mansi Kothari, VP of Product & Experience

I feel a sense of pride that I get to work behind the scenes supporting everyone. I’m proud to see all of the collaboration between the team and how Parentaly positively impacts employees.

Leo Manalo, Executive Assistant

I'm most proud of going through the Parentaly program myself! I'm so proud to work for and promote this company in a time where parental leave and supportive policies are at the forefront of a national conversation. But beyond this, I'm most proud to call myself a participant.

Emmy Carragher, Enterprise Partnerships

I’m really proud of the work I did to expand our coaching bench globally at Parentaly. It was so rewarding, not to mention insightful, to connect with talented coaches from around the globe. This expansion not only enriched our coaching offerings but also strengthened our commitment to making a meaningful impact on families all over the world.

Nicole Hagemann-Bex, Senior Coaching Operations Manager

I have tremendous pride in the knowledge that what I am doing will change the career landscape for new parents, particularly mothers. This will make it more likely that my daughter can have a career AND a family without worrying about the unintentional negative impact of taking parental leave. Nothing makes me prouder than that.

Mindy Himmel-Brown, Strategic Partnerships

In my short time at Parentaly, I'm proudest of the work we're doing with our clients' ERG groups to elevate the stories and advice of actual working parents. It's such an impactful way to spread the word about Parentaly as an essential resource for all people growing their families, and the managers who support them!

Alex Diskin, Enterprise Account Manager

I'm most proud about using LinkedIn to connect with others. I was recently able to share a helpful return to work doc with 50+ new people looking to make a difference at their company. Was pretty cool that people from Chewy, McDonald's, Honda, Cisco, AWS, Walmart and more want to integrate just a piece of what we have to offer. Also...I'm so proud of the way I feel as an employee at Parentaly. For the first time in my career my personal interests align with my professional interests and I've never felt more motivated.

Jenny Hurwitz, Strategic Partnerships

I'm really proud of being able to help the Experience team by handling the supportive functions so they can focus on the bigger picture. It feels great to know that I’m making things easier for them and contributing to the team’s success.

James Mango, Executive Assistant
Tagged
Gender equity
Podcast recap
Work discussion

Hear more about Emily’s experience advocating for better paid parental leave policies in the aerospace industry,

Listen to the full episode of The False Tradeoff!