VivirLatino

Where are the Latina Lawyers?

11:20 H | Topics: Careers - Women

According to a recent report by the American Bar Association, Latina and other women of color attorneys are leaving their posts at top firms across the country. The reason? Besides having to face the glass ceiling because of their gender, these mujeres deal with racism that ranges from the subtle to the not so subtle.

An American Indian attorney is asked where she keeps her tomahawk. White male partners look past a black lawyer, assuming she is clerical staff. An Asian attorney is called a "dragon lady" when she asserts herself.

The report, titled Visible Invisibility: Women of Color in Law Firms, was conducted by the bar association with the help of the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago. Questionnaires were sent to about 1,300 attorneys, both men and women, and responses came from 72 percent, or 920.

Some of the stats revealed by the study include:

• Forty-four percent of women of color said they were denied desirable assignments, versus 2 percent of white men.

• Forty-three percent of women of color said they had limited access to client development opportunities, compared with 3 percent of white men.

• Nearly two-thirds of women of color said they were excluded from informal and formal networking opportunities, compared with 4 percent of white men.

So the question shouldn't be just how do we get more of our own into higher professions (be improving education and education access) but we should also be looking at how to keep our own in the professions they were trained to practice.

Via / Yahoo!

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