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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.
Darcy Larson's Experiences
I worked for a huge information technology firm where most people were very intelligent. So to get any kind of attention you had to be pushy, aggressive and loud.
My manager once rejected an intelligent Chinese candidate because she was too respectful. The candidate didn't contradict or challenge her interviewer most likely because in Asian culture you show respect to a supervisor by not doing so.
When I joined an IT start-up, I was the only woman at any of the management meetings. And I wasn't afraid to say no to something if I thought it was a bad idea for the company.