Unit D - Blog 29

Turnover is very high when it comes to minority women in law firms. There are many reasons for this. White women have to battle with being different as law is nontraditional for females. Minorities have to deal with the different treatment as a female, but also the difference of being a minority. The percentage for women is low, but for minority women is even lower at four percent. Minority women have to deal with the implications by men that they are not competent enough and the double standards. When they say something it means one thing or isn’t acceptable, but when a man, especially a white man says it, it is totally valid. This is similar to Sotomayor when she was labeled aggressive it was perceived as negative, but when a white man was described this way it was positive. It is a battle for women to have to deal with these institutionalized inequalities and they have to deal with it on a daily basis. For women and minority women, the question is if it is worth dealing with a discriminatory environment regularly, or moving on to somewhere in which they are valued and don’t have to deal with hostility. On NPR the stereotypes of male professionals assuming that an African American female is automatically assumed to be a secretary, and that they have to deal with the looks on the faces of successful men when a women of color carriers themselves in a way that shows they are in charge. During the interview the lawyer stated that dealing with the biases and stereotypes really wasn’t worth it, especially considering the amount of hours. So the answer really is that it’s not worth it for them to stick around. The interviewee also stated that companies that really value diversity make strong efforts to retain and recruit a diverse organization.