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Cursing Around Women: Taboo, Offensive, or Get Over it - No Big Deal?
By Peg Johnston • October 26, 2007 •Other Career Issues
Law.com had a great article yesterday about one female firm partner's recipe for success. (Thanks to www.PTlawmom.com for the tip.) The article was refreshing to me because this particular woman, Mercedes Meyer, has revealed that her secret to success in BigLaw is not trying to get the firm to conform to her needs as a female professional but by trying to conform herself to some of the male-ness of the practice.I was intrigued right from the start because Ms. Meyer credits a book that I've just recently set out to read as a turning point in her professional life:Her eyes…
Last time I checked, it wasn’t any of your business. . .
By kirkebaby • October 23, 2007 •Other Career Issues
I am not sure how other peoples' employers have treated you when you were pregnant or getting ready to take pregnancy related leave, but it seems to me that there are too many people who are almost what I would say "jealous" of anyone getting "benefits" because of a pregnancy (I would say most of these people are male and not of childbearing age). Since my last submission, we have moved to our new city and it's approximately 90 miles from my job. I am fortunate enough that my mother lives in the same place as my job and has…
Making different life choices than my Mom
By K Hernan • October 10, 2007 •Other Career Issues
There is a post on The Juggle that made me stop to think about another dimension in this inner-struggle that we working mothers face everyday – you know, the struggle to be a good lawyer and a good mom at the same time. That dimension is my own mother’s opinion about my choice. I actually have the best sort of mother that any adult woman could ask for. She was a great role model for me growing up and gave me lots of guidance and advice when I needed it most. Now, she is a great listener and a great…
Are We Unwilling to Break the Glass Ceiling?
By lawblogger • October 09, 2007 •Other Career Issues
Last week the Financial News featured an article boldly called Women Unwilling to Break Glass Ceiling. The byline read, "Lack of aspiration and financial motivation, rather than overt discrimination, might be to blame." Of course, a lack of "overt discrimination" doesn't exactly leave you with "lack of aspiration," and the article itself, byline aside, seemed to illustrate that covert discrimination might be just as likely a candidate for the perpetuation of the glass ceiling as a lack of aspiration.The article was based on data from the financial industry and quotes UK sources (which could account for a lot). Some of…
Opt-Out Continued
By jessie kornberg • October 04, 2007 •Other Career Issues
Remember Lisa Belkin of "Opt-Out Revolution" fame? Well now Ms. Belkin has published another piece on "stalling" career women. This time the focus is on small business owners. According to the Center for Women's Business Research, of the 10.4 million business owned by women, only 3% have an annual revenue exceeding $1 million. Belkin's article profiles a number of microenterprise groups trying to increase that number. To be fair, Belkin does include the view of Marsha Firestone, founder of the Women Presidents' Organization, who finds the term and idea of "stalled" career women is "a little insulting." I think this…
Interview Advice: What not to talk about
By Peg Johnston • September 09, 2007 •Other Career Issues
There are plenty of things that you should talk about on a job interview: your qualifications, your experience, your good grades if you have them, law review, etc.How about the things you shouldn't talk about? There are a lot of things that will highlight your inexperience or put up a wall between you and the interviewer. The bad news: you might not even be aware of them. Without encouraging that you try to hide who you really are or try to be somebody that you aren't, here is a start to a list of things you should leave out of…
When In Doubt About Going Solo, Look for Life’s Little Affirmations You Made the Right Decision
By Susan Cartier Liebel • August 07, 2007 •Other Career Issues
This post is a little more intimate because I am going to share a personal story. But then, again, going solo, being an entrepreneur is a very personal and intimate decision.Every entrepreneur has days when they question why they went into business for themselves as well as their transition from employee to self-employed, self-employed in one business to another business. (And I've been in business for myself for 13 years.) They think, "I can't believe I've done this (or am doing it)? What was I thinking?" And they enter a period of self-questioning which if left unchecked can unravel the…
I will be a volcano.
By Lena Graber • August 02, 2007 •Other Career Issues
"We are volcanoes. When we women offer our experience as our truth, as human truth, all the maps change. There are new mountains." – Ursula LeGuinEntering the legal profession is quite a different matter from being a woman. Both make me proud, give me insights into complex social and political issues, and comprise particular lenses through which I interact with the world. They differ mainly in the level of objective optimism with which I see them. Being a lawyer is effectively joining the 21st century American aristocracy. Being a woman is living in a constant struggle to be taken seriously.Our…
Why I left a career in public health to go to law school
By Kim Y. Evans • June 24, 2007 •Other Career Issues
As an African American female, a former public health analyst with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) for more than ten years prior to law school, and a volunteer for a variety of social service organizations during much of my adult life, I believe many of my life, work, and volunteer experiences have involved issues related to the advancement of women and the law.Having been reared by my mother alone beginning near age five gave me an early personal introduction to the struggles many women, particularly women of color, face in our society. Like so many women,…