Op-Ed: Invisible Women
In a recent interview, Harvard Business School professor and author Rakesh Khurana expressed the view that, despite the energy, time and conversation devoted to encouraging diversity in the leadership of corporate America, very little has changed and the majority of CEOs are white men. I would note, however, that a few CEOs have chosen brilliant general counsels who happen to be women of color.
In the main, our legal profession has its challenges, with women underrepresented in top positions at firms and corporate law departments. And the numbers, scant as they are, diminish to all but nil when the topic turns to women of color. Not only are women of color generally absent from law firm leadership; they are increasingly absent from law firms, period. A recent study by the National Association for Law Placement Foundation found that from 1998 to 2003, nearly two-thirds (64.4 percent) of minority women left their firms within five years of being hired.
Why is this? Why are there so few women of color in law firms, and why do so many leave private practice altogether? And how can the legal profession effect change in our upper ranks, to more accurately reflect the world and clients we serve?
More often than not, people in corporate or firm leadership positions promote those with whom they are most familiar. Harvard Law School professor and author David Wilkins, who has written about African Americans in large firms, notes in an American Lawyer article that, “We think being a good lawyer is something innate inside you. But what really matters is relationships.” Many times, people make decisions not on qualifications but on intangibles that amount to personal relationships, knowledge or a sense of familiarity with how they speak, stand, dress or gesture, with their experiences growing up, with their families and education. In such circumstances, physical differences such as gender or race can become much larger barriers than they should be to reaching the upper echelons of a business or law firm.
Women lawyers of color are often hampered in their climb to the top by the double-bind of gender and race—unlike their white female or minority male counterparts, who may struggle against only one barrier in law firms whose cultures can make it tough for women and minorities to ascend the leadership ranks. This workplace reality underscores the seriousness of the problem, which in turn demands serious thought and study before it can be addressed. But aside from the NALP Foundation study, there has been no comprehensive research specifically about women lawyers of color. Until now.
The American Bar Association Commission on Women in the Profession is launching its Women of Color in the Legal Profession Research Initiative, a first-of-its-kind research project to gather much-needed data on the experiences of women lawyers of color. The initiative is aimed at helping employers enrich the workplace with varied perspectives and a commitment to fair play by recruiting and retaining women of color. It will gather and analyze, both quantitatively and qualitatively, the experiences of women lawyers of color, focusing particularly on those who have worked in law firms, to better understand the bases for their employment decisions and to identify the “best practices” used by legal employers and by women of color to enhance their success. The research project will culminate in 2005, with publication of a report documenting the research findings in detail. The report will include recommendations, model initiatives, strategies and “best practices” for legal employers as well as women lawyers of color.
Statistics underscore the need for this research, as well as for serious action. The National Association for Law Placement reports that in January 2004, 11 percent of law firms nationwide who responded to a survey had no women partners, and 43 percent had no partners of color. Here in Philadelphia, the numbers are somewhat better, with only 4.3 percent of law firms responding reporting no women partners and 34.8 percent reporting no partners of color. Still, there are no data on the number of women lawyers of color who are partners, revealing a gap in knowledge, as well as a potential gulf in achievement, that must be filled. The ABA’s Women of Color research initiative is an important bridge to span that void.
