Thanks to Women in eDiscovery for sharing this video http://www.womeninediscovery.org/why-we-have-too-few-women-leaders/. This insight by Facebook COO, Sheryl Sandberg, is a must see to help you with your self awareness and self promotion into a leadership position in your company.
Posted by Tamara Karel, Associate in Benesch’s Litigation Practice Group
Do female attorneys enter the legal profession with the expectation that they will be slighted because of their sex? One female attorney shares her story of being matched up to mentor female summer associates and new full-time associates and consistently being asked whether being a women has made it tougher for her at the law firm. This particular attorney always responded with a “No” and acknowledges that she doesn’t stop to question whether things are harder for her as a women. Instead she is too busy trying to do a good job to question whether she is being treated differently. I tend to agree with this attorney’s approach. While I’ve never really experienced any great gender discrimination, I’ve also never focused on any of the minor occurrences where I may have been treated differently. I’d rather spend my time trying to be a good attorney and not exert my time and energy questioning people’s motives in the way they treat me. Like the attorney in the article, I’d prefer to be known as being good at my job, period, not being good at my job even though I’m a woman. Check out the attorney’s commentary at http://abovethelaw.com/2011/05/it%e2%80%99s-a-man%e2%80%99s-man%e2%80%99s-man%e2%80%99s-world/.
Posted by Carrie Benedict, Associate in Benesch’s Corporate & Securities Practice Group
The Project for Attorney Retention (PAR) works to reduce unwanted attrition among lawyers by promoting the retention and advancement of women in the legal profession and by encouraging work/life balance for all attorneys. PAR recently conducted a study entitled “Reduced Hours, Full Success: Part-Time Partners in U.S. Law Firms.” According to the study, “Part-time arrangements have long been viewed as bullets to the heart of lawyers’ careers–and dubious propositions for law firms’ bottom lines. This report challenges that view. It shows that law firms can create successful reduced-hour programs–and that part-time lawyers and their law firms can flourish when they do.” For an in depth look at the study, visit http://www.attorneyretention.org/Publications/Part-TimePartner.pdf and check out the other interesting materials on PAR’s website http://www.attorneyretention.org/
Posted by Jennifer E. Smith, Associate in Benesch’s Business Reorganization Practice Group
Research conducted by Deloitte found that organizations with women in leadership roles often enjoy a double-digit difference in productivity than organizations with less leaders. The return on investing in women in the workplace has been termed the “Gender Dividend.” Undoubtedly, women bring a unique perspective to the work place and, according to this report, investing in the attraction and retention of women can enhance a company’s bottom line. However, as Candice Silverstone notes, many companies are not yet “gender-balanced” as they think they may be. You can see Ms. Silverstone’s full article here: http://deloittesa.wordpress.com/2011/04/20/women-as-the-next-smart-business-strategy-tapping-female-talent-increases-the-bottom-line/. What have you seen as opportunities for companies to attract and maintain women in order to benefit from the Gender Dividend?
Posted by Sara Bunke Evans, Associate in Benesch’s Health Care Practice Group
The recent census reveals that, for the first time, women now top men in both bachelor’s degrees and advanced degrees earned. This is great news for women in this country because more education often opens up more options when women are making choices about their futures. The article in the link below also discusses how these statistics in education are playing out in family structures, especially in a slow economy, as more men are staying home to raise families while women work.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42767867/ns/us_news-life/
Posted by Lori Welker, Associate in Benesch’s Litigation Practice Group
I stumbled across this article that, among other things, points to possible generational gaps in perspective among women lawyers and more likely all lawyers. I am not sure I agree with the article’s findings but what I do agree with is that the practice, and perspectives on the practice, is not static. My practice started in the late 1980s. At that point, the economy was booming and technology antique, so the a big issue for women was the long hours in the office. In the 1990s, the women’s issue was part time work. With the internet boom, the issue was how to use technology to increase flexibility. The internet bust and more recently the “great” recession has put a focus on business development for women attorneys. My take away is that there is still a meaningful reason for women attorneys to “bond” along the gender line, and to support and mentor one another, but that the issues for one generation of women lawyers may differ from those of the next.
http://www.abajournal.com/magazine/article/what_women_lawyers_really_think_of_each_other/
Posted by Betsy Dellinger, Partner in Benesch’s Corporate & Securities Practice Group
What is mentoring? Do we, as women, provide proper mentoring to our younger colleagues? Is it important for us, as professional women, to provide mentoring to our younger colleagues? If you have ever asked yourself these questions, I suggest you read up on the benefits of women mentoring women. I have attached an article from Women’s Weekly entitled “The Basics of Mentoring”. The author points out that the “heart of mentoring is relationship”. Not only do I agree with this statement, but I would go so far as to say that the heart of business development is relationship. I believe that if we start our business development efforts in house, we will see expansion of business development opportunities on the outside as well.
http://www.womensweekly-wdc.com/2011/01/the-basics-and-benefits-of-mentoring/
Posted by Beth Rosenbaum, Of Counsel in Benesch’s Health Care Practice Group
The following article was published during the confirmation hearings of Elena Kagan, the second unmarried and childless woman that President Obama appointed to the Supreme Court. The author details the struggles of attorneys who are mothers and suggests that women in the law must choose between motherhood and success.
While there may be evidence of a disproportionate number of childless women at the highest levels of government, there are also women like Sandra Day O’Connor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg who have achieved significant legal success while also raising families. Further, law firms have been responding in recent years to increasing requests for accommodation and providing flexible work arrangements that women just did not have 10-20 years ago. Therefore, the choice between motherhood and success should not be considered so absolute as the the current generation of working mothers aims for the highest levels of legal success.
http://www.theglasshammer.com/news/2010/07/06/lawyer-or-mom-choose-only-one/
Posted by Catherine Swartz, Associate in Benesch’s Public Finance Group
Judge Mary Walrath’s calm resolve and poise on the bench would make any poker player envious. However, when she talks about her passion for sailing, her face immediately lights up.
Judge Walrath first became interested in sailing when she was a young girl. While vacationing with family in Atlantic City, New Jersey, she was enthralled by the little boats skimming along the midnight blue water. Her father told her that he had sailed when he was a boy, so the young Judge Walrath resolved that she, too, would learn how to sail. Ever the planner, she saved up her babysitting money and ordered her very own sailboat through the Sears mail order catalogue.
When the sailboat arrived, Judge Walrath was surprised to learn that her father had overstated his knowledge of sailing: “I found out my Dad had never sailed!” Despite this minor setback, Judge Walrath and her father learned how to sail—mostly through trial and error—on the lakes near her home in the middle of Pennsylvania.
Judge Walrath continued to sail as an adult, while practicing bankruptcy law in Philadelphia. When Judge Walrath and her husband, a fellow bankruptcy practitioner, first began dating they soon started taking sailing trips on her husband’s 40-foot racing boat. Over the past ten years, they’ve taken sailing trips to Mallorca, the British Virgin Islands, islands north of the Netherlands, and the Baltic. Her dream trip is to sail to Tahiti. This summer, Judge Walrath hopes to take a trip through the waterways of upstate New York and into Canada.
One of the things Judge Walrath loves most about sailing is that it is both physically and mentally rigorous. Sailing requires total focus on what you are doing. This combination has proven to be the perfect antidote to an otherwise all-consuming legal career. Judge Walrath instructs, “You need a hobby. You need something to be passionate about—preferably something both physically and mentally stimulating.”
Another aspect of sailing in which she revels is the risk endemic to sailing. Judge Walrath recalls one trip that involved an overnight race, during which a thunderstorm caused one of the lines to become tangled. As the smallest crew member, Judge Walrath was selected to be hoisted some 65 feet above the ship to untangle the line. “You can be sure I wasn’t thinking about the office then,” she notes with a wry smile.
Judge Walrath has also found enjoyment in rehabbing her prior home in Philadelphia. “I really enjoy laying tile. It’s mathematical and requires precision,” Judge Walrath reflects. She finds it rewarding to plan the layout of the tile, measure and cut the tile, and, finally, lay the tile. She likes the functionality and the sense of accomplishment that comes with completing home improvement projects.
Whatever you choose that’s right for you, Judge Walrath advocates selecting a hobby to complement your legal practice.
Posted by Jennifer E. Smith, Associate in Benesch’s Business Reorganization Practice Group
A 2010 report showed that the salary gap between men and women has narrowed but that women’s salaries still averaged 79% of men’s. The narrowing of the gap may be due in part to women attaining higher levels of education as they now comprise half of the student body in most undergraduate and graduate schools. However, concerning pay disparities still remain even after controlling for all variables. In 2009, President Obama signed into law the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which extends the statute of limitations for filing pay discrimination lawsuits and acknowledged that “American families, communities, and our entire economy suffer as a result of this disparity”.
http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2010/04/salary_gap_between_men_and_wom.html
Posted by Catherine Swartz, Associate in Benesch’s Public Finance Practice Group
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