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.
Flextime
I worked at a tech publishing company when I was diagnosed with breast cancer. I was sick a lot and I got freaked out.
I can't say anything negative really about my managers and the work I did in my corporate job. When my manager found out that I wanted to teach, he allowed me to take off early on Fridays to teach, to give a lecture at the local community college.
I had flexible work hours. I loved it. I could come in at 10AM and no one would complain as long as I didn't miss any key meetings and I got the job done. It was great and I had no complaints.
I left because I wanted to go part time and that just wasn't in the cards. I was trying to have a baby. The funny thing is that when I asked if I could go part time they said, "No, no. If you want to work part time then other people will want to work part time." I said I understood and that I was leaving to go work in a non-profit.
