Unit D - Blog 33

The advancement of women has many challenges. They have obstacles with being in a nontraditional field for women, the challenges of overcoming stereotypes of being female, and then they have to worry about parenthood if they go that route. Women lawyers first have to work their butt off to gain credibility from their peers. They can’t slip up at all because they are under high scrutiny. Once they establish themselves as capable of performing to the same level as men, and by establishing themselves I mean outperforming men to be considered capable they then have to deal with the obstacles of gender stereotypes. If during any of this they decide to have children they are labeled and aren’t considered to be “real lawyers.” If they use any type of alternative scheduling or non-traditional work structure, then they are questioned for their commitment. During all of this they have to find ways to be included. They aren’t golfers and cigar smokers, and culturally don’t have sports knowledge and background that men do, so it is difficult to team build and find common ground with the people that are important for their career advancement and development. Basically the women that have advanced have had to outperform their peers and put in the long hours. They don’t have a work life balance, which both men and women in the field acknowledge is part of the job, or it is the reason they have been driven out of the job. There are very few exceptions for mothers that have advanced. The ones that have advanced have, in what society would label it as, compromised being a good parent. The women lawyers that have advanced without children are still questioned by their peers, and viewed differently by the older generations. Whelan talks about the pipeline of women getting their foot in and it will open the doors to higher positions, but this hasn’t helped. The women that have advanced have had to battle and fight odds to get there.