Blog Post #37

American bar Association points out that time will not fix the under-representation of women in the legal field and the discrimination they experience. Holly English agrees that we cannot act as though it is going away on its own; we have to keep working on clearing the gender gap. Attitudes and stereotypes that are entrenched in society and the workplace are reinforcing barriers to women. English touches on a few of these. A good example is the gender expectation that women are generally nurturing. When women act outside this, and act aggressively, people are flabbergasted, and sometimes reject her. If she does carry herself in a nurturing, passive manner than she is not tough enough for the field of law. It is all too often that women are viewed as too emotional, insufficiently aggressive, and not very serious about their jobs. Like English discussed a lot, there needs to be more room for balance between professional and personal priorities, for both men and women. The repercussions of having children are very detrimental to the career of an attorney. Working part-time makes them not as serious about their job. Working full-time makes them a suspect parent. If they cannot successfully manage the role of an employee and as a caregiver then they are considered a failure. All of these things that the American Bar Association and Holly English’s book, Gender on Trial, have recognized as problems in the corporate world add to the disparity in advancement for women. The ABA suggests a few solutions. They suggest that there be an incentive to promote women and lawyers of color, that we start having successful senior partners mentor new associates, we allow more networking, we offer a supportive atmosphere to go along with the offering of a flexible schedule, we make sure everyone gets a fair share of good assignments, and we offer a temporary suspension of the “clock” for those who want to become partner but want kids as well.In Gender on Trial, Holly English gives similar solutions. She recommends a structure mentoring system, REAL flexible work arrangements with constructed policies, rotating of work assignments, risk taking, and performance reviews so advancement is based on merit rather than politics.