In recent decades, there has been an increased effort to understand why there are so few women in top leadership positions. For researchers interested in gender dynamics and organizations seeking the financial and creative benefits of a diverse leadership board, pinpointing and combatting the underlying causes of female underrepresentation in leadership positions has become a prominent project (Phillips, 2014). After interviewing RJ, a young and successful female estate-planning attorney in the heavily male-dominated field of law, several biases and discriminatory practices arose as the primary culprits of this phenomenon. Above all, one thing became clear: aspiring female leaders are preemptively labeled as unfit for leadership positions and
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This gendered system discourages women from pursuing leadership positions or from admitting they have done so. Consequently, even RJ who was named a 2015 California Rising Star in Law, a recognition given to the top 2.5% of lawyers who exhibit excellence in their practice, “[does not] necessarily feel like [she is] a leader.” However, she quickly identified one of her male colleagues as a leader, justifying her reluctance to adopt the title by saying that “[she] associates leadership with burden.” RJ’s negative association stems from the outdated tradition of leadership being exclusively for men. Since RJ is not expected to be a leader, it is easier to dismiss the title as something unwanted than to admit to having achieved such status, thus openly defying what is an acceptable role for her identity as a woman and becoming vulnerable to …show more content…
The “prove it again” bias, as Joan Williams, a distinguished law professor and the founding director of Work Life Law (WLL), calls it, shadows over women because they are judged on achievement while men are judged on potential (Video: Williams). Thus, women have to provide more evidence to be seen as equally competent as men. As RJ noted, female lawyers “[have] to convince [the clients] that [they are] capable and competent enough to represent them in their legal matters.” This need to work harder in order to establish competence slows women down and often acts as an impermeable wall between them and
This gendered system discourages women from pursuing leadership positions or from admitting they have done so. Consequently, even RJ who was named a 2015 California Rising Star in Law, a recognition given to the top 2.5% of lawyers who exhibit excellence in their practice, “[does not] necessarily feel like [she is] a leader.” However, she quickly identified one of her male colleagues as a leader, justifying her reluctance to adopt the title by saying that “[she] associates leadership with burden.” RJ’s negative association stems from the outdated tradition of leadership being exclusively for men. Since RJ is not expected to be a leader, it is easier to dismiss the title as something unwanted than to admit to having achieved such status, thus openly defying what is an acceptable role for her identity as a woman and becoming vulnerable to …show more content…
The “prove it again” bias, as Joan Williams, a distinguished law professor and the founding director of Work Life Law (WLL), calls it, shadows over women because they are judged on achievement while men are judged on potential (Video: Williams). Thus, women have to provide more evidence to be seen as equally competent as men. As RJ noted, female lawyers “[have] to convince [the clients] that [they are] capable and competent enough to represent them in their legal matters.” This need to work harder in order to establish competence slows women down and often acts as an impermeable wall between them and