Introducing the Panelists: Calling for Institutional Change
We can only discuss the problem, share stories, kvetch or despair privately, and negotiate compromises in our jobs, personal relationships, and other interests for so long before we realize that something larger must be done to address the institutional and social hurdles that have the effect of discouraging women from advancing in the work force. We must call for institutional change. Luckily, we have four experienced, talented, and outspoken panelists to guide us in this challenge.
Wendy Schmidt is a former litigator and presently is a Principal in the New York office of Deloitte Financial Advisory Services LLP. In addition to her work in the Business Intelligence Services practices, Ms. Schmidt serves on Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu’s steering committee for the Global Retention of Women. She formerly served as the national leader of Deloitte’s US Women’s Initiative Network (WIN), where she developed programs aimed at the retention, promotion, and recruitment of women. Additionally, Ms. Schmidt is a member of the executive board of directors of the National Association of Women Lawyers, and is on the advisory board of the Women in Law Empowerment Forum in New York City.
Pat Gillette, a partner in the Employment Law practice group of Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP in the firm’s San Francisco office, is the founder of the Opt-In Project, a nationwide initiative focused on changing the structure of law firms to increase the retention and advancement of women in the workplace. She also serves on the Hidden Brain Drain Task Force, a cross-industry group engaged in developing practices to retain women and people of color in the workforce.
Mona Harrington is a writer on the subject of social and professional issues produced by the transformed roles of American women. Most recently she has engaged in research, analysis and advocacy of public policy on work-family issues. As Program Director of the MIT Workplace Center from 2001 to 2008, she directed surveys on career decisions and attrition rates of women and men in Massachusetts law firms and co-authored with Helen Hsi the resulting report, “Women Lawyers and Obstacles to Leadership” (Spring 2007). She also organized a national conference of Women’s Bar Associations and co-authored its report “Advancing Women in the Professions: Action Plans for Women’s Bar Associations” (June 2007). Ms. Harrington’s books include Care and Equality: Inventing a New Family Politics (Knopf, 1999) and Women Lawyers–Rewriting the Rules (Plume/Penguin, 1995).
Mary Ann Mason is Professor and Co-Director, Center, Economics & Family Security at the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law. Her recent works have focused on working families, in particular the issues faced by the surging numbers of professional women in law, medicine, science and the academic world. Her most recent book (co-authored with her daughter Eve Mason Ekman) is Mothers on the Fast Track: How a New Generation Can Balance Family and Careers (Oxford 2007). From 2000 to 2007, she served as the first woman Dean of the Graduate Division at UC Berkeley. During her tenure, she championed diversity in the graduate student population, promoted equity for student parents, and pioneered measures to enhance the career/life balance for all faculty. Her research findings and advocacy have been central to ground-breaking policy initiatives, including the ten-campus "UC Faculty Family Friendly Edge."
We know these panelists will spark a thoughtful and engaging discussion. If you are interested in this topic, let us suggest a few articles and links to get you started:
We would love to know your thoughts before the conference begins. Let’s get the conversation started:
- Does the rigidity of the billable hour affect women’s professional advancement differently than men’s? Or is this just one application/example of how employees with responsibilities outside their work life must have some flexibility in managing both?
- How can we learn from other professions that have tackled retaining women in the workforce? What unique challenges does the legal profession add to the mix?
- How can women work to shape the policies and structure of their workplaces? How can women work with men to change the discussion from one that is women-centered to one that is worker-centered?