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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.
They don't offer me much, but when I say I am leaving...
- Workplace Unfairness
- Female
- Arab/Arab-American
- Information Technology/Internet
- Considering Leaving
- Assignments
- Career Development
- Discrimination
- Double Standards
- Underutilized
- Unwelcoming Environment
I got my job as a temp. I asked, "Is there a possibility I could apply for a fulltime job?" He said, "Yes, there are a lot of projects and opportunities." So when the one-year contract came up, I took it. But then after working a year, I was still only given the admin work. There was no path for me. I told the director that I was working on too many projects and I would like to concentrate on an area so I could advance. I was spread out in too many directions. They sent me to networking training, but I saw people who had no technical degrees being trained and given assignments to do networking work while I just finished the course. It made me think that something was going on. I keep bringing it up. There was another person who got the training at the same time and they gave him a job. I have an electrical engineering degree. My director said that all he had for me was admin work. So I left.