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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.
I'm talking about the things you didn't learn in college
- Workplace Unfairness
- Male
- African-American
- Engineering
- Banking - Investment
- Career Development
- Inflexible Environment
- Office Politics
- Personal Response
- Stifled Growth
I started out in the area of testing and measurement. But overtime I wanted to navigate toward the development side and away from the stress of the manufacturing side, but corporate politics got in the way. When I say corporate politics, I'm talking about the things I didn't learn in college. One of those things is that it's not easy to navigate from one job type or position to another or to another department. That's easier said than done because your manager views you as a resource. I learned how managers discuss things behind closed doors. I wanted to get into departments where research was emphasized but there is a caste system. Once you are in a certain group, your managers view you as a member of that group and you can't change. I did have some leadership development. I was good at building relationships and my manager recognized that so they tried to steer me toward project management. If you want to be at a certain place at a company, you have to start there right after college. That is why I've decided to go back to school and get a more research-oriented degree.