Making Your Womanhood Work for You: Allowing New Mothers Be Lawyers
By Tyeesha Dixon • October 09, 2011 •Writers in Residence
We all remember the LSAT—stressful, aggravating and terrifying.Well, now imagine adding uncontrollable physical pain to that experience. Recently, the Law School Admissions Council refused to make accommodations for a lactating mother to pump milk during the LSAT. LSAC made the decision not to allow the student an extended break to allow her to pump despite prior requests from the ACLU Womens Rights Project and other organizations (not to mention requests from the student herself). Apparently, LSAC has a policy not to make such accommodations for breastfeeding mothers. What message is LSAC sending to new mothers? To choose between the documented…
Making Your Womanhood Work for You: Navigating Callbacks
By Tyeesha Dixon • August 30, 2011 •Writers in Residence
Callbacks—an unnerving and confusing process that is all but exacerbated for female law students forced to consider how the firm they choose treats female associates. But it’s an inquiry future female associates are wise to consider. For several years in a row, Working Mothers and Flex-Time Lawyers have conducted surveys on the best law firms for women in the United States. While I can’t vouch for the surveys’ results, I think the statistics collected are helpful to at least consider talking points for women as they navigate law firms. Here are a few of the things I looked at when…
Making Your Womanhood Work for You: To makeup or not to makeup? That is the question.
By Tyeesha Dixon • May 21, 2011 •Writers in Residence
As summer rolls around and law students begin their summer gigs, we all begin to question whether or not the attire we think is work appropriate is actually work appropriate (see, e.g., the Chicago Bar Association’s What Not to Wear Fashion Show). While it’s a problem both men and women face (especially those guys who like to add a little flair to the plain black suit), one question that pops into my mind is whether or not legal employers expect female counsel to wear makeup and straight hair as part of the business dress code.It’s a question that female attorneys…
Making Your Womanhood Work for You: Empowering Women in Rwanda
By Tyeesha Dixon • March 21, 2011 •Writers in Residence
This spring break, I had the fortunate opportunity to visit Rwanda for nine days with a group of my classmates. As delegates from the Harvard Black Law Students Association’s Africa Summit Committee, our goals were threefold: to experience a part of the African Diaspora unfamiliar to us, to engage with political and legal leaders in Rwanda, and most importantly, to participate in a community service project with genocide survivors from the Hinga Kawa Women’s Association, a fair trade coffee cooperative located north of the capital city. This post will be a bit unlike the others I have written in the…
Making Your Womanhood Work for You: Being a Mama in Law School
By Tyeesha Dixon • February 20, 2011 •Writers in Residence