Browse Stories
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.
What they don't tell you about mentors
- Workplace Unfairness
- Male
- African-American
- Banking - Investment
- Left & is now a Small Business Entrepreneur
- Mentors
- Unspoken Rule
The company did have a mentorship program. I met up with someone and had lunch a couple of times and it was somewhat helpful. It wasn't really a genuine mentorship; it was just something the company put together and people were just going through the motions. When I first got to the company, I said I was looking for a mentor and somebody told me, "That's a good idea, but you don't choose your mentor, your mentor chooses you."