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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.
Create alliances
- Workplace Unfairness
- Male
- African-American
- Engineering
- Banking - Investment
- Cross-cultural communication
- Personal Response
- Representation
- Social Networks
Everybody-white, black, Asian, Indian, male, female-we all have obstacles to overcome. I think everybody has some obstacles to get beyond. I think as an African-American, I've experienced positive support and barriers as well. At my company I was one of only two African-Americans out of 200 or 300 engineers - that's less than 1%. There were some dynamics I noticed. There were some times when we were both in a meeting and I think we affected things differently than when I was the only African-American present. So I understand that race was an issue there. But I also think it's important to create alliances. If your ethnicity is not well represented, you've got to form alliances. I formed alliances with whites and Asians. So if I was presenting an idea in a meeting, there were people to back me up. The alliances didn't come to me; I had to go make them. If I had the right support, I could stand on a firm foundation. I realize that in this time in America I will always be part of the 1% of black engineers. So I understand as soon as I go into a company, I've got to form relationships with others.