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Vote on Desiree Davidson's Story
Were they afraid we were planning a coup d'etat?
I spent my first summer during Columbia Law School at a firm in Philadelphia described as one of the best places in the city for black lawyers. I believed that if there was any place where I would have an equal chance at opportunities, be treated fairly and succeed, this would be it. There were three black female summer associates out of sixty that year but any time all three of us were in an office talking, one of the partners would knock on the door to see how we were doing. It happened too often to be a coincidence that sometimes we would purposely agree to meet in so-and-so's office to test our theory that we were being monitored. Like clock work, ten minutes after we would get together a partner would stop by.
Cameron Adams's Experiences
There are a lot of people that are gay at my office and they are wide open about it. Most of them are guys so I thought I would fit in but I realized that most of these guys end up self-segregating themselves because the corporate air in my industry puts a whole set of stereotypes if you are gay, which is unspoken, of course.
I would have stayed if I had been taken more seriously; I didn't feel as though most of my time was spent feeling brushed off; the company and management were more efficient; there were better communications, support, and mentorship; and if I could have felt like it was OK to be myself at work.