More Related Content Similar to Arkansas Bar Building A Diverse Workplace June 2010 Rev Similar to Arkansas Bar Building A Diverse Workplace June 2010 Rev (12) 1. BUILDING A DIVERSE WORKPLACE Arkansas Bar AssociationAnnual MeetingJune 10, 2010 Ellen Ostrow, Ph.D., CMCLawyers Life Coach LLC 2. WHY DIVERSITY? Values of justice and fairness Better problem solving Greater creativity, innovation Market competitiveness Greater access to talent pool Ellen Ostrow, Ph.D., CMC © 2010 Lawyers Life Coach LLC 2 3. Patterns of white male dominance inherent in structure of law firms reproduce themselves again and again. Ellen Ostrow, Ph.D., CMC © 2010 Lawyers Life Coach LLC 3 5. 10% of law offices have no women partners NALP 2004 Ellen Ostrow, Ph.D., CMC © 2010 Lawyers Life Coach LLC 4 6. Percent of Positions at Law Firms, by Gender Ellen Ostrow, Ph.D., CMC © 2010 Lawyers Life Coach LLC 5 7. Where are Women of Color? Ellen Ostrow, Ph.D., CMC © 2010 Lawyers Life Coach LLC 6 8. Barriers to Advancement Toxic organizational culture Ethnocentrism Emphasis on assimilation vs. multiculturalism Absence of diversity competence Unconscious/unintentional bias Lack of mentoring Exclusion from informal networks Lack of opportunities for advancement Work/family conflict Stigmatized reduced-hours policies Ellen Ostrow, Ph.D., CMC © 2010 Lawyers Life Coach LLC 7 11. Tall People in a Short World Imagine a world made by and for short people. In this world everyone is under 5’5,” and the most powerful are rarely taller than 5’3.” After years of discrimination, tall people finally call for change and short people agree that the current world is unfair and amends should be made. Short people first try to correct things by teaching tall people to act like short people – to minimize their differences by stooping to fit in the doorways or by hunching over to fit in the small chairs. Short people insist that once tall people learn these behaviors they will fit right in. Being John Malkovich, 1999 Ellen Ostrow, Ph.D., CMC © 2010 Lawyers Life Coach LLC 10 12. Some short people take another approach to routing discrimination: trying to make their world more accommodating to tall people by fixing some of the structural barriers that get in their way. They build six-foot high doors in the back of the building and purchase desks that don’t knock tall people’s knees. They even create some less demanding career paths – tall-people tracks – for those who are unwilling or unable to put up with the many realities of the short world that just can’t be changed. Being John Malkovich, 1999 Ellen Ostrow, Ph.D., CMC © 2010 Lawyers Life Coach LLC 11 13. Other short people take a third approach: they celebrate the differences of their tall associates. Tall people stand out in a crowd and they can reach things on high shelves. Let’s recognize the worth of those skills and put them to good use! And so the short people “create equity” by putting tall people in jobs where their height is an advantage, like designing brand extensions targeted to tall people. Debra E. Meyerson & Joyce K. Fletcher, (2000) “A Modest Manifesto for Shattering the Glass Ceiling,” Harvard Business Review. Ellen Ostrow, Ph.D., CMC © 2010 Lawyers Life Coach LLC 12 17. Once a person is hired, everyone has an equal opportunity to succeed, limited only be individual abilities. 18. If a person works hard enough, s/he will be recognized and rewarded.Ellen Ostrow, Ph.D., CMC © 2010 Lawyers Life Coach LLC 13 19. What's the First Thing You See? Race, gender and age are cues Perceptually salient Among first social categories that children learn Lead to automatic categorization Hard if not impossible to inhibit Ellen Ostrow, Ph.D., CMC © 2010 Lawyers Life Coach LLC 14 21. These stereotypes exert a significant influence on our perceptions, memories, explanations for things that happen and behaviors – often without our awareness. 22. Stereotype-driven cognitive and behavioral events create an uneven playing field for minority members in a majority culture.Ellen Ostrow, Ph.D., CMC © 2010 Lawyers Life Coach LLC 15 23. Stereotypes… allow efficient, if sometimes inaccurate, processing of information. often conflict with consciously held or “explicit” attitudes. Nosek, Banaji, & Greenwald, 2002 Ellen Ostrow, Ph.D., CMC © 2010 Lawyers Life Coach LLC 16 24. Stereotypes are Self-Confirming Expectations can effect which information attended to and remembered as well as how we engage in interactions – often in a manner that reinforces expectations Ellen Ostrow, Ph.D., CMC © 2010 Lawyers Life Coach LLC 17 25. Minorities and women are often held to higher standards regarding their credibility and intelligence by supervisors and clientele, and their missteps are often more damaging to their reputations than would be the same missteps by majority colleagues who are not saddled by stereotypes that they are less capable.” MCCA Creating Pathways to Diversity, White Men and Diversity – A Closer Look p. Ellen Ostrow, Ph.D., CMC © 2010 Lawyers Life Coach LLC 18 26. “I have been told on more than one occasion, when I asked others for work, that a case was not the “right” one for me, but that I would be kept in mind for future assignments. I also have been asked to become involved in a matter that was deemed to be right for me — either because the presiding judge was black, the jury pool included significant minority representation, or the client was black. This raises a much larger question that I cannot answer: namely, do these same people believe a case is not a good fit for me or other black partners when the judge is white, the jury pool non-diverse, or the client is thought to prefer a white attorney?” Phillip L. Harris, Confronting Race, Chicago Lawyer, July 2007 Ellen Ostrow, Ph.D., CMC © 2010 Lawyers Life Coach LLC 19 28. Women penalized for being too competent (prescriptivestereotype)Ellen Ostrow, Ph.D., CMC © 2010 Lawyers Life Coach LLC 20 29. What is assertive or ambitious in a manis aggressive in a woman. Ellen Ostrow, Ph.D., CMC © 2010 Lawyers Life Coach LLC 21 30. He’s smart and talented; she’s lucky. Ellen Ostrow, Ph.D., CMC © 2010 Lawyers Life Coach LLC 22 32. THE MATERNAL WALL Resumes of childless women received twice as many call backs as those of mothers. There were no differences in call backs for men with or without children. Correll, et. al. 2007 Ellen Ostrow, Ph.D., CMC © 2010 Lawyers Life Coach LLC 24 35. Equal Opportunity Employers and federal contractors discriminate as much as other employers.M.Bertrand & S. Mullainathan (2003) Poverty Action Lab, 3, 1-27. Ellen Ostrow, Ph.D., CMC © 2010 Lawyers Life Coach LLC 25 38. Unconscious bias - judgments and thoughts that, if unexamined, remain outside of conscious awareness or conscious control (e.g., stereotypes that one does not endorse, but may still influence one’s judgments or behaviors). 40. Fairness in the workplace can only be achieved when blatant, obvious obstacles (e.g., sexual harassment and race discrimination) ANDsubtle, hidden barriers (e.g., stereotyping and unconscious bias) are addressed.https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit Ellen Ostrow, Ph.D., CMC © 2010 Lawyers Life Coach LLC 26 51. Individual is unlikely to be aware of changes in behaviorEllen Ostrow, Ph.D., CMC © 2010 Lawyers Life Coach LLC 27 55. Lack of critical massEllen Ostrow, Ph.D., CMC © 2010 Lawyers Life Coach LLC 28 56. Barriers to Equality and Inclusion Words mean little in terms of the real messages that we send and receive. The meaning of our messages is frequently delivered through subtle micromessages. Subtle, often subconscious signals represent core of the messages we send, and can either demonstrate inclusion or exclusion. Micro-inequities – apparently small events which are often ephemeral, hard to prove, covert, often unintentional, frequently unrecognized by perpetrator Occur wherever people are seen to be different: African Americans in a white firm, women in traditionally male environment Micro-inequities – usually small in nature but not trivial in effect Ellen Ostrow, Ph.D., CMC © 2010 Lawyers Life Coach LLC 29 57. How Stereotypes and Dominance Are Maintained Ellen Ostrow, Ph.D., CMC © 2010 Lawyers Life Coach LLC 30 58. Diversity is Opportunity Diversity can be drawn on as a resource for building on employees’ strengths Allows individuals to be freed from concerns about inclusion – more able to innovate, reach potential Enables diverse employees to bring viewpoints of their distinctive social group memberships to generating solutions for clients and the firm Interactions across difference are opportunities for learning Fostering supportive, resilient relationships promotes individual and organizational thriving Because no one group valued more than another no one is marginalized – employees free to engage, challenge and support one another Creating an inclusive work environment is essentially about cultivating a climate of respect, compassion, openness Ellen Ostrow, Ph.D., CMC © 2010 Lawyers Life Coach LLC 31 61. Path to a Diverse Firm Ellen Ostrow, Ph.D., CMC © 2010 Lawyers Life Coach LLC 34 62. COMMUNICATION CONSTRUCTIVE ENGAGEMENT Ellen Ostrow, Ph.D., CMC © 2010 Lawyers Life Coach LLC 35 63. CONTACT INFORMATION Ellen Ostrow, Ph.D., CMC Lawyers Life Coach LLC 910 17th Street, N.W. Suite 306 Washington, DC 20006 Phone: 202-595-3108 Email: Ellen@lawyerslifecoach.com Web: http://LawyersLifeCoach.com To subscribe to our freeezine, “Beyond theBillable Hour,”go to http://LawyersLifeCoach.com Editor's Notes Stereotypes are representations of people that rely on preconceived ideas about the group that person is perceived as belonging to. It is assumed that an individual shares personal characteristics with other members of that group eg blondes are all stupid, accountants are all boring. A stereotype is a simplified and/or standardized conception or image with specific meaning, often held in common by members of a group. A stereotype can be a conventional and oversimplified conception, opinion, or image. Stereotypes can range from those that are wildly inaccurate and negative to those that are more than a little bit true and may even shed positive light upon the group of individuals. They are typically generalizations based on minimal or limited knowledge about a group to which the person doing the stereotyping does not belong. Persons may be grouped based on race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, or any number of other categories. “Those who generate and perpetuate stereotypes of others are usually in positions of greater power and status than those who are stereotyped. Stereotypes not only define and place others as inferior, but also implicitly affirm and legitimate those who stereotype in their own position and identity.” Ethnic stereotypes are fixed, oversimplified ideas about an entire group. A stereotype may contain a "kernel of truth," but this kernel becomes exaggerated and rigidly applied to the entire group. Hopkins v PriceWaterhouseCoopers – Ann B. Hopkins – high performing but “masculine acting” prospective partnerAlleged she was denied partnership due to gender.PW countered that Hopkins had interpersonal problems (was macho)Count ruled that gender-based stereotyping influenced perceptions of her behaviorBecause she was woman in nontraditional role, her behavior seen as more extreme than men who behaved similarly. Ellen Ellen Carl- Cleary Gottlieb
