There aren't many women like McArthur in the legal fraternity. In her national firm, only six of the 50 partners are women, even though there are more female staff than men. In other New Zealand law firms, just over one in 10 of all legal partners are women. "I sometimes look around the table and think, `Oh my God, there are so few of us'," she says.
With number like this, it's more than scary to step out into the legal world as a woman. In 2007, I would have argued that intellect, dedication, work ethic, and a handful of other quality trait would determine whether you are rewarded for your work, but that is a fantasy land. Now, more than ever, we are seeing that women are still making less than men, still getting passed over for positions they are more than capable of holding and not receiving the same recognition at a man would in their same position. Facts like this shock me, because I was starting to believe that my efforts would be what got me to where I needed to be.
The more unfortunate thing is that this is true not only of big law firms, but of the small ones too. So it is possible that I could meet discrimination and hardships anywhere. The silver lining here is that I'm up for the challenge!
4 comments:
I agree that there is still discrimination when it comes to colors and gender, especially in the more estute careers.
I do believe though that it would not be unusual or disturbing a female of any color practicing law. I think that it is becoming more common to see these things.
As far as talking about women not getting positions and pay that they deserve, something needs to be done.
We as women have to stand together and set a standard for ourselves. The key is to know what you're worth when you enter the market and don't settle for less. If you know how to sell your self, they will pay anything to have you on board!
I love your blog this week, topics like this need to be brought more into press. It is so sad to think that our world these days think that everyone is so open-minded and that racism, sexism, etc.....is all gone...but it isn't.
If you notice the only jobs where women are seen as the majority: newsanchors, hair stylists, teachers, etc....WHY NOT lawyers, doctors, surgeons, etc....? It's because people are still stuck on the ideal that "men are better" at jobs such as those. My opinion: your education, level of dedication are what you get you the job, not your race or sex.
It's interesting that the race card is still played. I've had it played in a way, and I'm white. I've applied for some jobs that mention that they're especially looking for people of color. That's not to mention all the scholarships available for every race but Caucasian. I think everyone encounters race issues to an extent, and definitely sexism still.
It's probably the most disturbing to hear how much less women make than men annually. It's not right. I hope you can help change the standards.
While there are countless successful women to refute the concept of sexism in our country, the fact still stands true that overall men statistically make more than women. While our gender has progressed so much in several parts of the world, there are a frightening number of countries in which women are still subjected to discrimination. Even worse than discrimination, women are still subjected to abuse simply due to their gender in some primitive parts of the world. I heard a story on the news the other day about a woman that was abducted and raped by several men, yet the government issued her a punishment for being in public with a man that was not her relative.
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