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Through the Looking Glass—Observations from Five Years Out: Guidance
By Kendra Beckwith • January 05, 2014 •Writers in Residence, Careers, Firms and the Private Sector, Issues, Mentoring and Networking
With freshly printed law degree in hand, I thought a mentor would be the source of all things good in my career—someone who would provide me both counsel and opportunity. I was mistaken. We women attorneys are routinely told that guidance is the key to our success in the legal profession. We’re told to seek out mentors, or better yet, sponsors, since mentors and sponsors are not one and the same. Sylvia Ann Hewlett, author of Forget a Mentor, Find a Sponsor, describes a mentor as a “sounding board or shoulder to cry on” who offers advice, support, and guidance…
Mentors Matter: Mentors in Disguise
By Kristin Holland • December 20, 2013 •Writers in Residence, Issues, Mentoring and Networking
In researching this column, I looked up the origin of the word mentor and found that the very first mentor was a woman, the Goddess Athena to be exact. Athena, disguised as a man named Mentor, appeared to Odysseus and advised Telemachus on how to deal with adversity and personal challenges in the Odyssey. A goddess invented mentoring, so it's only right that women should embrace it and be empowered by it. If you think you don’t have the time, or you don’t know who to ask, or you don’t even know if you want to engage in learning from…
Call For Papers: International Journal of Humanities and Social Science
By Ms. JD Editor • October 27, 2013 •Issues
International Journal of Humanities and Social Science (IJHSS) is an open access, peer-reviewed and refereed international journal published by Center for Promoting Ideas, USA. The main objective of IJHSS is to provide an intellectual platform for the international scholars. IJHSS aims to promote interdisciplinary studies in humanities and social science and become the leading journal in humanities and social science in the world. The journal publishes research papers in the fields of humanities and social science such as anthropology, business studies, communication studies, corporate governance, criminology, cross-cultural studies, demography, development studies, economics, education, ethics, geography, history, industrial relations, information science, international relations, law, linguistics, library science, media studies, methodology, philosophy, political science, population studies, psychology, public administration, sociology, social welfare, linguistics,…
IILP Review: The State of Diversity and Inclusion in the Legal Profession
By Ms. JD • September 17, 2013 •Issues
The Institute for Inclusion in the Legal Profession has issued a Call for Papers for next year's IILP Review on the State of Diversity and Inclusion in the Legal Profession! It is the most comprehensive compilation of data and information about diversity and inclusion as it pertains to lawyers and the legal profession. Click here for the Call for Papers. And, if you are interested in attending one of this year's IILP Symposia on the State of Diversity and Inclusion in the Legal Profession, where attendees will receive a hard copy of the latest IILP Review, you can register online at www.TheIILP.com…
Singleism in the Workplace
By Golda Calonge • July 17, 2013 •Issues, Balancing Private and Professional Life
Awareness of singleism- prejudice and/or discrimination directed at unmarried people- is increasingly rising. As the general public further develops their understanding of this form of injustice, literature on singleism sheds light on how unmarried women in the legal profession are affected by prejudices in favor of their married counterparts. Sheryl Sandberg’s book, Lean In, and Ayana Byrd’s article in this month’s Marie Claire, The Single Girl’s Second Shift, both address the pernicious effects of how single professional women suffer from work/life imbalance. The single and childless women who were interviewed maintain that, because they are not married nor parents, they…
Tips for Women to Protect Yourself from Former Employee Lawsuits
By Brianna Jones • June 04, 2013 •Issues, Sexism, Sexual Harassment, and Other Forms of Discrimination
These days, more and more employees who were fired are suing their former employers for wrongful termination. As women continue to start businesses at a high rate, educating oneself on how to navigate these difficult situations is vital to any budding entrepreneur. Unfortunately, a great deal of employers don't know that they can protect themselves from these costly lawsuits. One thing you can do, for instance, is to choose employment liability insurance, commonly referred to as EPLI. Besides opting for this type of insurance, a carefully planned and well-executed employee termination can help you avoid serious repercussions. Tips to Avoiding…
Embracing Identity in the Profession
By Nakeena Covington Taylor • May 31, 2013 •Issues, Other Issues
Identity theories have always been of interest to me. In college, critical identity theory served as a lens to how we interact with each other... how we come together... how we differ on issues... what causes people to connect and create community... what drives progress and change... During graduate studies and beyond, the personalization of the concept has impacted my contributions on my job, within the community and among friends and family. So why mention it in a posting related to the legal profession? Our personal identities are vital to our professional success. More directly, the embracing of and…
Do Work and Life Ever Balance? Juggling career and family in the Pinterest era
By Anonymous • May 28, 2013 •Issues, Balancing Private and Professional Life
Many of us lawyers are Type A, competitive perfectionists, and these traits don’t fade away when we become mothers. While our aggressive natures can serve our clients well, I question how well they sometimes serve us. Recently, a good friend of mine who is also an attorney asked me how I “do it all.” I was flabbergasted. Doing it all? Could I possibly give others the impression that I am succeeding at everything? To my mind, being a practicing attorney, mother of two under two, and wife has resulted in me being perpetually late with damp hair and yesterday’s eye…
Walk a Mile in My Heels, by Anonymous Woman Attorney
By Anonymous • April 09, 2013 •Careers, Issues, Sexism, Sexual Harassment, and Other Forms of Discrimination
Today is Equal Pay Day. That is the date the salaries of women catch up with the salaries their male counterparts earned in 2012. There is much public discussion about why it is that women do not succeed at the same levels as men and about the dissatisfaction many young women have with their careers. The reasons for these situations might just stem from the fundamentally different experience that women and men have on the job. With respect to the legal profession, it is difficult for many male attorneys to understand the work environment of most female attorneys. Imagine, though,…