Women
Many fellow bloggers have followed up on the story in the New York Times that women represent only 17% of the partners in the nation's major firms. I ended up posting a comment to Monica Bay's take on this story. I would love to see the statistics because I suspect that what they show is that the 17% share is skewed toward the bottom of the partnership pool. When it comes to statistics, firms have demonstrated phenomenal creativity to color the story. Wanna bet some count income, non-equity partners in this mix, but of course wouldn't dream of doing so when calculating profits per partner
Monica ends her post by saying "duh! We'll keep on hammering and hammering." I might ask why? I left a big firm rather than try to beat them at their game, and I am much happier for doing so. There are enough women controlling enough business that starting new firms should be the norm for those stars whose talent is ignored or taken for granted.
Thank you for seeing the light! There are women in power in our profession and I have highlighted them repeatedly at MyShingle. They are entrepreneurs, running their own companies, and they will be the ones getting the corporate diversity business. Good for them.
Leaving a big firm was a liberating experience for me. I confess we have lost out on a fair amount of business because of "big firm bias" but I think that tendency is diminishing. As it does, I hope lots of people who aren't treated fairly at big firms strike out on their own or join smaller firms. The ship is turning, but it turns ever so slowly!
Why? Because if we don't make noise the quiet will swallow us up.
Thanks for the kind words.
Monica--I'm not suggesting that women shouldn't fight. Not at all. I'm just suggesting a different tactic. Fighting head-on in your adversary's field of play (the big firm) gives them the upper hand. I think changing the dynamic of the fight shifts the tactical advantage!