It’s 30 DIVERSITY & THE BAR® JULY/AUGUST 2011
WIDELY KNOWN THAT IN LAW FIRMS, WOMEN OF COLOR ATTORNEYS HAVE A DISPROPORTIONATELY HIGH RATE OF ATTRITION. BUT UNTIL NOW, THE REASONS WEREN’T ABUNDANTLY CLEAR.
A recent report from the Corporate Counsel Women of Color (CCWC) sheds light on the experiences of women of color employed in corporate legal departments and off ers key insights into what corporations, law fi rms, and even law schools can do to boost their success and lower the rate of attrition. “T ere’s so much research about women of color in law
fi rms,” explains Laurie Robinson, founder and CEO of CCWC. “We saw that people wanted to know about both the law fi rm and the corporate experience and how women of color rank them.” So the organization set out to determine not only why women of color often leave law fi rms, but also how they rate their jobs in corporate legal departments. T e results indicate that women of color attorneys are
generally satisfi ed in the corporate environment and that the most important factor is not work/life fl exibility or even compensation, but rather a sense of being valued.
Research Details T e research report, titled “T e Perspectives of Women of Color Attorneys in Corporate Legal Departments,” was published in June and is the culmination of two years of
research conducted by the CCWC. T e study had three components: a web-based survey
completed by 857 women of color attorneys from across the nation, a live audience response survey held during CCWC’s annual conference of 500 participants, and three focus groups totalling 45 participants. T ree-quarters of respondents had law fi rm experience, 78 percent of which left a law fi rm within seven years. T is is in line with existing statistics that indicate a high attrition rate for women of color at law fi rms. Some questions were quantitative; others were qualita-
tive. T ey touched on the transition from the law fi rm set- ting to the corporate setting, drew comparisons between the two environments, and addressed issues related to the work environment, perceived barriers, advancement opportuni- ties, and career aspirations. T e research report is currently being distributed to
law fi rms, corporations, and law schools. It outlines key fi ndings and off ers specifi c recommendations for these three constituencies. “We discovered the reasons women left law fi rms and
what they were looking for,” Robinson says, noting that the fi ndings translate easily into steps organizations can take to
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