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A legacy of resilience: the experiences of African-American female attorneys: a case study
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Running head: EXPERIENCES OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN FEMALE ATTORNEYS 1
A LEGACY OF RESILIENCE: THE EXPERIENCES OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN FEMALE
ATTORNEYS: A CASE STUDY
by
Shindale Seale
A Dissertation Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE USC ROSSIER SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
DOCTOR OF EDUCATION
August 2018
Copyright 2018 Shindale Seale
EXPERIENCES OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN FEMALE ATTORNEYS 2
Table of Contents
List of Tables 3
Dedication 4
Acknowledgements 5
Abstract 6
Introduction to Problem of Practice 7
Importance of the Evaluation 7
Purpose of the Project and Questions 9
Stakeholder Group of Focus 9
Review of the Literature 10
Pre-Civil Rights Act Narratives of African-American Female Attorneys 12
African-American Female Attorneys in Modern Times 14
The Demographics of the Legal Community 16
The Legal Community: Public and Private Sector Culture 17
Knowledge, Motivation, and Organizational Influences 18
Knowledge Influences 19
Motivation Influences 20
Organizational Influences 22
Conceptual Framework 24
Data Collection 29
Data Analysis 31
Results and Findings 31
Knowledge Findings 32
Motivation Findings 37
Organization Findings 43
Summary 48
Solutions and Recommendations 49
Knowledge Recommendations 49
Motivation Recommendations 51
Organization Recommendations 52
Limitations 54
Recommendations for Future Research 55
Conclusion 55
References 57
Appendix A: Interview Protocol 69
Appendix B: Participating Stakeholders with Sampling Criteria and Rationale for Interview 70
Appendix C: Implementation and Evaluation Plan 72
Appendix D: Participant Biographies 86
Appendix E: Credibility and Trustworthiness 91
EXPERIENCES OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN FEMALE ATTORNEYS 3
List of Tables
Table 1: Knowledge, Motivation, and Organizational Influences 18
Table 2: Outcomes, Metrics, and Methods for External and Internal Outcomes 74
Table 3: Critical Behaviors, Metrics, Methods, and Timing for Evaluation 76
Table 4: Required Drivers to Support Critical Behaviors 77
Table 5: Evaluation of the Components of Learning for the Program. 81
Table 6: Components to Measure Reactions to the Program. 82
Table 7: Immediate Feedback Survey 83
Table 8: Delayed Feedback Survey 84
EXPERIENCES OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN FEMALE ATTORNEYS 4
Dedication
To my parents, for your endless support and love.
To my sisters, I am humbled by the blessing of having you in my life.
To my Love, your commitment and encouragement made this accomplishment much
sweeter.
To my son, all that I have done has been to make a better life for you. You are my
“Why”.
EXPERIENCES OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN FEMALE ATTORNEYS 5
Acknowledgements
Above all else, I would like to thank God who, throughout my life, continues to give me
all I need to accomplish the goals He inspires me to set.
Thank you to those brave and persistent African-American female attorneys, past and
present, who have strived to overcome the barriers that threatened to thwart their success. You
are not alone.
Thank you to my dissertation committee, Dr. Kimberly Hirabayashi, Dr. Shafiqa Ahmadi,
and Dr. Courtney Malloy for accepting nothing less than excellence from me. You three
amazing women have served as my mentors, each in your own way.
Thank you to my network of advisors, motivators, and visionaries. Dr. Issaic Gates, thank
you for teaching me how to push past ‘just good enough’. Dr. Anthony Maddox, thank you for
teaching me the value of collaboration. Dr. Julie Slayton, thank you for holding me to the highest
standard and helping me reach it.
Finally, thank you to all of my classmates, especially the Saturday morning regulars. It
was truly a pleasure learning with you. Now, let’s go change the world!
EXPERIENCES OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN FEMALE ATTORNEYS 6
Abstract
The percentage of African-American female attorneys today is at the same level it was during the
Postbellum period, two percent. This study evaluated the experiences of African-American
female attorneys as they relate to their recruitment, retention, and advancement and any
knowledge, motivation, and organizational barriers of these areas. The study utilized a
qualitative methods design for data collection and analysis to evaluate the assumed barriers or
influences. Data collection was conducted through an investigation of historical data, eight one-
on-one, in-person and telephonic interviews, and quantitative data analysis. The findings suggest
that while barriers such as micro-aggressions and the devaluing of diversity and inclusion in their
workplaces, lack of professional mentors, and minimal access to academic and professional
resources existed, they served as the impetus for the participants’ drive for success and
excellence. Participants indicated that of the barriers they encountered, the lack of professional
mentors was the most important to them because the presence of mentors would mitigate the
effects of the other barriers. Based on the findings, this study recommends further investigation
into the impact mentorship has on the recruitment, retention, and advancement of African-
American female attorneys.
EXPERIENCES OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN FEMALE ATTORNEYS 7
Introduction to Problem of Practice
African-American (AA) female attorneys in the United States face unique professional
challenges (Donald & Perry, 2014). From as early as the postbellum, AA female attorneys noted
barriers such as harassment by judges and other attorneys, clients’ lack of confidence in their
legal abilities, and isolation based on their exceptional professional status (Bell-Scott, 1984;
Higginbotham, 1978; Moyer & Haire, 2015; Roberts, 2006). For almost 150 years, AA female
attorneys have provided legal services in all areas of law to the underrepresented as well as
affluent peoples in their communities. While political and professional literature lauds the
advancement and achievements of Black people in America since the Civil Rights Act of 1964,
statistically, there has been little progress within the legal community (Byrd & Stanley, 2009).
Current data indicate that AA females make up 13% of all women in America, yet only 2% of
the total number of attorneys in the nation (Beede et al., 2011; Hart, 2016).
The small numbers of practicing AA female attorneys is in direct contrast to their
percentages in law school, for, although AA female law students outnumber their Black male
counterparts by 59.6%, they remain significantly underrepresented at the local, state, and federal
levels, as well as in private practices across the nation (“Black women now dominate AA law
school enrollments,” 2000). This dichotomy underscores a pervasive pattern of limited
recruitment, accelerated attrition from, and diminished advancement opportunities within the
legal community (Wilkins, 2008). In light of these patterns, this study explored the knowledge,
motivation, and organizational influences that have had an impact on the recruitment, retention,
and advancement of AA female attorneys.
Importance of the Evaluation
The realities of the AA female attorney experience cannot fully be comprehended without
an in-depth conversation or clarification (Maxwell, 2013), as the retention of AA female
EXPERIENCES OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN FEMALE ATTORNEYS 8
attorneys within the legal industry has been measured but not investigated (Kay, Alarie, & Adjei,
2016; Noonan, Corcoran, & Courant, 2008). The few AA female lawyers who have voiced their
experiences illuminated various inequities as causal factors in their decisions to transition into
other professional arenas (Boutcher & Silver, 2013; Yousaf, 2014). Some of the women have
shared the humiliation they suffered due to superiors and peers negating their legal skills. Others
have spoken of the insecurities they battle as the only AA female in their firm. There are some
who alluded to the depression and mental health issues they battle as a result of the stress and
marginalization they encounter (Jeffries, 2015). All, however, are proud to have joined the ranks
of the AA female lawyers who have gone before them and have endured. Despite the challenges,
these women’s stories reflect significant resilience and insight, and provided strategies for
addressing the barriers impacting them within the legal community.
Many of these strategies and extant research suggested that, to address the recruitment,
retention, and advancement of AA female attorneys, the legal community must view itself as an
active agent and beneficiary in this process. Firms should seek to adequately reflect, throughout
their workforce, the diversity of the clients and communities they represent (Gummer, 1994).
Recently, U.S. organizations have begun demanding a diverse make-up of lawyers to litigate
their cases, going so far as to request trial team profiles prior to retaining firms (Estlund, 2011).
This heterogeneity of collaborators allows for various perspectives, approaches, and problem-
solving techniques which ultimately lead to a more comprehensive defense (Chin, 2011; Louis &
Bartunek, 1992). Research has shown that workforce diversification efforts have benefited the
medical industry, STEM fields, as well as some government organizations, with each of them
recruiting increased numbers of minority groups, improving profits, and experiencing higher
client satisfaction (Cornwell & Kellough, 1994; Jackson, Starobin, & Laanan, 2013; Myers &
Fealing, 2012). For many years, the legal community has declared its commitment to diversity
EXPERIENCES OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN FEMALE ATTORNEYS 9
and equality for all of its members. While this declaration and subsequent actions have positively
impacted some minority groups, the percentage of AA female attorneys has remained at the same
level since the late 1800s.
Purpose of the Project and Questions
The purpose of this project was to evaluate the influences that have affected AA female
attorneys as it relates to the larger problems of recruitment, retention, and advancement. The
analysis focused on identifying the characteristics and lived experiences that have influenced
their knowledge and skill, motivation, and organizational resources. While a complete study
would have focused on all stakeholders, for practical purposes, the stakeholder of focus in this
analysis was the AA female attorney. As such, the questions that guided the case study are the
following:
1. To what extent are law practices recruiting and retaining AA female attorneys?
2. What is the stakeholder knowledge and motivation related to the recruitment and
retention of AA female attorneys in law?
3. What is the interaction between organizational culture and context and stakeholder
knowledge and motivation?
4. What are the recommendations for organizational practice in the areas of knowledge,
motivation, and organizational resources?
Stakeholder Group of Focus
To thoroughly comprehend the challenges facing AA female attorneys, we must
investigate the influences of all stakeholders, and it is important to understand the cultural,
socioeconomic, and educational background as well as the knowledge, motivation, and other
sources of resilience unique to this group. Therefore, the stakeholders of focus for this case study
were AA female attorneys.
EXPERIENCES OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN FEMALE ATTORNEYS 10
Review of the Literature
This literature review explores the issues, culture, and experiences of AA female
attorneys in the legal community from the postbellum to modern times. The review begins with
general research on the effects of race and gender policies on society, academia, and the legal
industry as it relates to AA women. This is followed by a discussion on the personal narratives of
AA female attorneys from the pre- and post-Civil Rights Era, chronicling their journeys as dual-
minorities through the competitive and, often, affinity-oriented nature of their profession. This
section includes case study research paralleling the public and private interactions this population
has encountered in professional settings. Following the general research literature, the review
explores Clark and Estes (2008) gap analysis conceptual framework in terms of the knowledge,
motivation and organizational influences on AA female attorneys’ personal and professional
experiences.
Effects of Race and Gender Policies
Legal statutes have historically affected the academic and professional aspirations of AA
women. During the Antebellum era, societal mores rejected the educating of girls and women,
and states’ laws made illegal the teaching of all slaves (McCandless, 2011). After the Civil War,
although some states established common schools for all students, including girls and ex-slaves,
teachers and employers’ entrenched racial ideologies of, compounded with legally mandated
segregation, known as Jim Crow laws, barred access to scholastic and professional opportunities
(Davis, 2013; Shelden, 2014). These laws severely restricted the lives of all AAs, especially
women, from the end of the Reconstruction era in 1877 until the enactment of the Civil Rights
Bill in 1964 (Brown & Stentiford, 2008). Because of these obstacles, many Blacks established
their own businesses while others committed themselves to the intellectual mastery of the very
laws instituted to restrict them. Postbellum Black men and women alike enrolled in any college
EXPERIENCES OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN FEMALE ATTORNEYS 11
that would accept them, and some were even accepted into law schools, although most were
refused state bar admission based on their color and/or gender (Smith, 1993).
For the few AA female pioneers who were accepted to law schools, the intersectionality
of gender and race caused numerous academic, professional, and personal barriers. Newly
emancipated Black women had few professional opportunities due to educational restrictions
instituted by the state and local governments for women and Blacks (Milewski, 2012). For those
AA women who acquired the necessary legal instruction and training, admission to their state’s
bar was almost impossible. Judges and admissions committees regularly refused to allow Blacks
to take the exam, and women were legally prohibited. When Black women were granted the
opportunity to take the bar, most committees limited the method to an oral examination. These
committees prided themselves on conducting grueling and extraneously rigorous oral tests,
usually lasting 10 or more hours. Even with an exemplary performance, many AA women were
denied admission. Those who were accepted faced another set of personal and professional
challenges based on their race, gender, and professional attainment, almost identical to the ones
they face today.
At the turn of the century, Black women’s intellectual and professional ambitions
continued to be met with a broad range of social, political, and judicial subjugation efforts. State
legislatures, academic institutions, and even prominent theologians voiced adamant opposition to
their education, citizenship, and suffrage (Buckley, 2003). With the passing of the Civil Rights
Act of 1964, however, AA females were granted a legal pathway, both academically and
professionally to achieving parity with their White colleagues (Aiken, Salmon, & Hanges, 2013;
Laville, 2009). This watershed legislation secured access to professional opportunities in the
public/government and private legal sector (Wolfe, 2014). Within the public/government arena,
AA female attorneys have persevered, serving in various areas, from public defenders to, most
EXPERIENCES OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN FEMALE ATTORNEYS 12
recently, attorney general, the highest legal position in the United States (Belcher, 2014; Jean-
marie, 2013). In the private industry, AA female attorneys can be found as high up as equity
partner or executive committee member, the top-tier of law firm management. Recently, there
has been several AA female-owned law firms opened across the United States. However, even
with these achievements, their experiences mirror those of their predecessors, for, although these
statutes instituted long-awaited civil rights for minorities in America, today, Black women
lawyers consistently endure heightened scrutiny of their legal acumen, marginalization among
peers of other races and male colleagues, and exclusion from professional and client
development opportunities. These deep-rooted prejudices and negative perceptions have been
highlighted by both pioneering and present-day AA female attorneys as barriers to their success
(Simpson, 1996).
Pre-Civil Rights Act Narratives of African-American Female Attorneys
Pioneering AA female attorneys saw the law as a tool for suppression, and sexism as an
obstruction to the creation and sustaining of their communities, so they determined to master the
system to eradicate the unjust policies (Smith, 1993). In so doing, many of these women
discovered the opportunities and promise for young, Black women pursuing a career in law.
Charlotte E. Ray, the first Black woman lawyer in the history of the United States, was admitted
to the Washington, D.C. Bar in 1872, and, even in her indictments of the legal system and male
subjugation, encouraged Black women to join the fold to help others overcome these barriers.
Ollie May Cooper, admitted to the bar in 1921, noted that, at the time, because of
misperceptions of the inferiority of women, men were naturally opposed to women in the legal
profession (Dyson, 1941). She believed, however, that becoming an attorney yielded great
opportunities for young Black women such as the achievement of honor and respect in the
community and personal economic advancement.
EXPERIENCES OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN FEMALE ATTORNEYS 13
After her admittance to the Ohio bar in 1945, Jean Murrell Capers proclaimed that she
wanted to be of broader service to people because “all of their ills were founded in the law”
(Smith, 1998, p. 36). Ruth Whitehead Whaley, who was admitted to the New York Bar in 1949,
articulated the plight of the Negro woman lawyer as having to endure the “illogical inequalities’
of race and gender, suffering from the lack of professional development opportunities, and being
deprived of “home joys and feminine interests.” Even with these challenges, Whaley stated 20
years later that her “admiration is undimmed” for the legal profession (Smith, 1998, p. 49).
Some of these pioneers persisted practicing law despite the humiliation they experienced.
In 1948, Mahala Ashley Dickerson became the first Black woman admitted to the Alabama state
bar. In her narrative, she recounted being ordered to the back of the courtroom during her first
appearance in court because neither the judge nor sheriff believed she was an attorney. These
trailblazers were well aware of the social, political, and cultural environment in which they
practiced law. Although they lamented the ever-present difficulties, they still encouraged
prospective Black women attorneys to join them in their fight for justice.
Today, even with the Civil Rights Act, and a bevy of national gender equality policies,
AA women continue to highlight instances of gendered racism at all levels (Wallace, Curtis, &
Moore, 2014). Their professional trajectory is undermined by instances of gendered racism, none
of which their male and/or non-Black female counterparts experience. In professional contexts,
AA women experience isolation, hostility, questions of competence, and gender devaluation of
their power (Kogut, Colomer, & Belinky, 2014; Wallace et al., 2014). Yet, they have continued
to contribute to the profession and their communities despite the race, gender, class, and social
injustices they face.
EXPERIENCES OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN FEMALE ATTORNEYS 14
African-American Female Attorneys in Modern Times
There are blatant similarities between today’s AA female attorneys’ experiences and
those of their pre-Civil Rights Era sisters (Smith, 1998). Though small in number, Black women
lawyers continue to be actively involved in all facets of law practice, with many feeling a duty to
utilize their legal acumen in representing the underserved (Laville, 2009; Lovelace, 2006 ). Like
the ones who have come before them, they are determined to address issues of gendered and
sociopolitical injustices in underserved communities. Yet, as expressed by their predecessors,
AA female law students and attorneys continue to face a variety of academic and professional
barriers, such as lack of resources, few mentors, explicit and implicit race and gender bias, and
colleagues’ and clients’ lack of confidence in them due to their race and gender. These barriers
are pervasive and significantly impact their legal practices.
Like their predecessors, current AA female attorneys have documented some of the
personal and professional experiences which, although sometimes humiliating, have served to
cement their determination to provide exceptional legal service to their clients. During a
particularly difficult court appearance, an AA female attorney interviewed for this study
recounted being boisterously called a moron by a White, female opposing counsel in front of the
judge with no reprimand being handed down. Another AA female attorney shared a law school
incident in which during an in-class discussion, a classmate complained, “Why are we even
bothering to study [issues of slavery]? Everybody knows all the slaves were happy,” a comment
which the teacher ignored and quickly moved on from.
There are also issues of professional disrespect by colleagues. One AA female attorney
expressed utter frustration because she would continually go home from work crying because her
peers and superiors did not respect her nor her opinion as a legal professional. Other AA female
attorneys share a common complaint with their White female counterparts regarding work/life
EXPERIENCES OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN FEMALE ATTORNEYS 15
balance and the demands of being an attorney. One AA female attorney who was interviewed for
this study stated, “There’s a conflict between being an attorney, how demanding it is and the
persona of that role with the more traditional views of a woman.” There were even experiences
in which AA women were not supported by other AA females in higher roles. An AA female
attorney participating in the study recalled that “There was an AA female dean at my law school
who actively discouraged me from continuing pursuing my law degree because I was having
financial difficulties.” Yet, even with experiences like these, there still remains a pride in their
race, gender, and profession that is unmatched.
African-American female attorneys in modern times admit that there is a greater up side
to being an attorney despite the barriers. The benefits include being good examples to young
Black girls, helping their community, realizing their lifelong dream, and financial security. For
many of the women, the benefits rest squarely on the very characteristics that incite the barriers.
“You know what we do as Black women? We get it done! No matter what obstacles, setbacks
that come our way, we’re tenacious. We fight,” one woman said in response to an interview
question about the challenges she faces in her profession. Another proclaimed, “There is a
certain pride that comes with being Black,” when responding to an interview question about why
she persists in her gendered and racist work environment. Some of the women attribute their
tenacity to the values their parents instilled in them. “You grow up with parents stressing the
importance of education and doing well and you derive a lot of your self-worth from doing
well,” was the response an AA female attorney gave when answering an interview question
about her personal reason for pursuing and persisting in the legal community. While the benefits
of being an attorney are multifaceted, most AA female attorneys express that there is also a great
deal of fulfillment derived from making a good living. One attorney shared that being an
attorney, “allows me to take care of my family.” Another half-jokingly admitted, “I’m not really
EXPERIENCES OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN FEMALE ATTORNEYS 16
concerned with status, but really money.” While another stated, “People pay me a lot of money
to do incredibly boring work.” The documentation of these women’s experiences and
perspectives highlight, that even with the academic and professional barriers they face, there is
still the common thread of pride and satisfaction they feel as members of the legal community.
The Demographics of the Legal Community
The U. S. legal community is more diverse than at any time in its history yet lags
significantly behind all other professions in racial and ethnic inclusion (Brouse, 2006; King,
Johnson, & McGeever, 2010). Of the 1.25 million attorneys in the nation, 88.1% are Caucasian,
4.8% are AA, 3.7% are Hispanic, and 4% are Asian or Pacific American. As a point of reference,
population statistics indicate that, as of 2015, 75.5% of the U.S. population was White, 13% was
AA, 17.6% was Hispanic, and 5.5% was Asian (U.S. Census, 2018). These figures indicate that
only White and Asian lawyers have kept pace with or surpassed their respective population
estimates. Within private practice law firms, the AA attorney and partner representation are
commensurate with national population statistics at around 4% (King et al., 2010).
Regardless of racial or ethnic origin, men still comprise approximately 65% of the
nation’s licensed attorneys, despite the fact that women are the country’s gender majority,
comprising 50.8% of the national population in 2012 (Donald & Perry, 2014). In private practice,
White women have enjoyed the greatest gains numerically making up 80% of women in any
racial group. The subject group, AA female attorneys’ statistics range within.04% among women
of all races and.01% of all lawyers regardless of race or gender. Local, state and government
figures are vague but hover at about 2% for AA female attorneys. Although the guiding
principles of the legal profession proclaim the equality of all attorneys, data and hiring statistics
reflect a significant disparity between White males, White women, and racial minorities in the
profession.
EXPERIENCES OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN FEMALE ATTORNEYS 17
The Legal Community: Public and Private Sector Culture
There are three primary sources of barriers for AA female attorneys in the legal
community: recruitment, retention, and advancement. Private law firms usually engage in
selective recruiting, giving preference to highly-ranked law students from top law firms,
seasoned and reputable mid-level attorneys, and attorneys referred by law firm affiliates
(Fleming & Spicer, 2014; Oyer & Schaefer, 2016). This practice negatively affects the number
of AA female attorneys in private firms because the institutions from which they source usually
have few AA women enrollees (Pan, 2015; Williams, 2013). Within the local, state, and federal
sector, attorney recruiting procedures are less selective but have shown little positive impact on
increasing the number of AA female lawyers (U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary, 2008).
For those who are recruited, there are several barriers to their retention. Despite the growth of the
legal profession over the last 50 years and with women representing more than half of all law
school graduates, the number of women attorneys in legal practice is dismally low. Research
shows that lack of professional opportunities and barriers of discrimination are the leading
causes of female attorneys’ attrition (Apfelbaum, Stephens, & Reagans, 2016; Kay et al., 2016).
Most female attorneys cite the need for work-life balance, professional and social support, and
positive firm culture as factors affecting their retention. As these women ascend higher in their
firms, they experience bias at much more of a significant level than in the lower ranks. While
attorneys’ promotions to partnership are based on a multitude of clearly defined criteria, these
decisions are often influenced by soft factors such as affinity, perceptions of intelligence,
likeability (Ferrall, 1996). AA female attorneys lack the network to benefit from affinity groups
and struggle to overcome the misperceptions about their abilities, personal dispositions, and
knowledge (Baynes, 2003; Brunet & Moss, 2016).
EXPERIENCES OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN FEMALE ATTORNEYS 18
Knowledge, Motivation, and Organizational Influences
With the overarching goal of increasing the recruitment, retention, and advancement of
AA female attorneys in law practice, there are three influencers this study investigated:
knowledge, motivation, and organization. Researchers assert that organizational and stakeholder
performance goals can only be achieved when the gap between actual performance and ideal
performance is closed (Clark & Estes, 2008). To assess the stakeholders’ knowledge of the
barriers which have a negative impact on their recruitment, retention, and advancement, their
procedural and metacognitive processes were evaluated. The stakeholders’ motivation, in
particular, their self-efficacy and expectancy value, were considered to fully understand their
confidence in their abilities and the value they place on persisting in their profession. Finally,
assessment of the organizational influences provided an understanding of the culture, processes,
and resources invested in the attainment of the overall objective. This framework offered a
distinct perspective for identifying and addressing gaps in performance within the stakeholder
group and legal community in their goal to increase the recruitment, retention, and advancement
of AA female attorneys.
Table 1
Knowledge, Motivation, and Organizational Influences
Global Goal
Recruit, retain, and advance African-American female attorneys in law practices.
Knowledge Influences Knowledge Influence Assessment
African-American female attorneys need to
know how to address the barriers that affect
their employment and retention in various legal
contexts. (Procedural knowledge)
African-American female attorneys were
asked via in-person interviews and
observations to identify the barriers and
their impact employment and retention in
government and private legal settings
AA female attorneys need to understand how
to set and achieve their own personal and
professional goals. (Metacognitive)
AA female attorneys do not have the
knowledge of how to achieve the goals they
have set for themselves
EXPERIENCES OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN FEMALE ATTORNEYS 19
Table 1, continued
Assumed Motivation Influences Motivational Influence Assessment
Expectancy Value: AA female attorneys need
to feel that the value outweighs the cost of the
effort and challenges.
Self-Efficacy: African-American female
attorneys need to feel confident in their
abilities to address the barriers that affect them.
To assess African-American female
attorneys’ self-efficacy through in-person
interviews asking how confident they were
in being able to do a certain task.
Assumed Organizational Influences Organizational Influence Assessment
Organization should feel it is important to have
diverse lawyers in their organization.
The impact of organizations’ diversity and
inclusion policies and practices will be
assessed through in-person interviews
Organizations should have policies and
practices that support diversity and inclusion.
The value organizations place on diversity
and inclusion will be assessed through in-
person interviews
Organizations should provide mentors to their
AA female attorneys to support their success.
The value organizations place on mentor
opportunities will be assessed through in-
person interviews and observation
Knowledge Influences
The knowledge influences section of the chart indicates that the stakeholders’ knowledge
can be segmented into two categories of knowledge types, procedural and metacognitive.
Procedural knowledge is knowing how to do something or the specific skills involved in
completing a task. Metacognitive knowledge is considered the ability to look at the bigger
picture and understand how the basic elements relate within it (Krathwohl, 2002; Rueda, 2011).
The procedural knowledge AA female attorneys need is how to address the barriers that
negatively affect their recruitment, retention, and advancement in the legal community. By
utilizing a metacognitive approach, AA female attorneys would be able to articulate their
professional goals and implement a plan of action on how to achieve them.
Knowing how to address barriers. The knowledge AA female attorneys possess
regarding academic and professional inequities, and institutional racism must be articulated to
fully understand the barriers they face. One strategy is meaningful dialogue between attorney
EXPERIENCES OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN FEMALE ATTORNEYS 20
mentors and mentees to address these barriers. Another strategy is researching more diverse
industries such as Medicine or STEM which have shown some gains in the recruitment of AA
females (Cornwell & Kellough, 1994; Jackson, Starobin, & Laanan, 2013). From these peers,
AA female attorneys can ascertain methods to positively affect their recruitment, retention, and
advancement in the legal community will be discovered and implemented.
AA female attorneys ’ goal-setting/achieving —metacognitive. Throughout their lives,
AA female attorneys have been guided on how to set and achieve their goals by family members,
elderly family friends, church members, clergy, teachers, and administrators (Brown & Banks,
2014; Yates, 1982). None of these women’s goals were set in a vacuum nor were any achieved
as such. Due to the variances in background, family makeup, and available resources, there was
no template for these women’s trajectory into the legal field (Pratt, 2012; Simpson, 1996).
Through determination, deeply rooted support systems, and knowledge of the sacrifices it took to
face the task at hand, AA female attorneys accomplished and continued to accomplish the goals
they set out to meet (Jordan, 1991; Upton, Panter, Daye, Allen, & Wightman, 2012).
Motivation Influences
AA female attorneys need to feel confident in their skills as a lawyer and place value in
being a member of the profession. As a result of the various barriers they face, their self-efficacy
and the value they attach to being a lawyer can be negatively impacted. In light of this, it is
important to consider the motivational factors that impact their confidence and persistence (Clark
& Estes, 2008; Rueda, 2011). Therefore, as the chart indicates, this examination will focus on
two theories: self-efficacy and expectancy value. These motivational theories will be used to
examine confidence in legal abilities and skills and the value placed on being an attorney.
Expectancy value. One’s choice of and persistence in certain tasks indicate the value
they hold (Rueda, 2011). Although they recognized that affinity with power players within their
EXPERIENCES OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN FEMALE ATTORNEYS 21
respective professional environments was important, far more salient in their achieving their
goals was the investments they made in their improvement. For some, being an attorney brings a
sense of fulfillment. For others, practicing law is an avenue by which they can be of service to
others. There are some, still, who value the opportunity to benefit professionally and financially.
Even with such worth, being an attorney comes at a significant cost for many. It is a desire and
ability to persist in their profession regardless of the cost that will positively affect retention and
advancement (Dembo & Eaton, 2000; Pintrich, 2003).
Self-efficacy. The basic belief that one is able to perform a task and is fully responsible
for that task is at the core of self-efficacy (Pintrich, 2003). AA female attorneys’ have always
taken pride in the hard work and sacrifices they made to earn their law degrees and pass the bar
exam. Although significant barriers existed, AA female attorneys in the postbellum era were
masterful in legal knowledge and skill and were undeterred in their fight for justice. Today, even
with the continued discrimination and challenges, many of them continue their predecessors’
struggle, offering free legal services and workshops in underserved areas, and mentoring
prospective attorneys. These women, being acutely aware of the negative conceptions of their
abilities and skills, have historically over-prepared and over-compensated by studying longer,
taking extra classes, and seeking mentors. While these endeavors have added to the women’s
confidence and skill sets, pervading hostile interactions with and negative perceptions from peers
and supervisors act to erode, or at least inhibit these gains. As a testament to their motivation,
AA female attorneys have learned how to plan for and counter others’ perceptions and
expectations of them, persisting past humiliating and alienating experiences (Wallace et al.,
2014).
EXPERIENCES OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN FEMALE ATTORNEYS 22
Organizational Influences
The organizational culture in the legal community should endeavor to support diversity
initiatives that increase the number of AA female attorneys. As the knowledge, motivation, and
organization chart highlights, there are three distinct areas in which organizations can positively
impact the goal. First, organizations should feel as though it is important to have diverse lawyers
in their organizations. There is abundant data that indicates that diversity in the workplace
enhances innovation, improves profits, and is beneficial workers’ sense of belonging as well as
the organizational environment (McClelland & Holland, 2015; Nelson, 2014; Tong, Halloran,
Fors, & Nowell, 2017). Secondly, organizations should have policies and practices that support
diversity and inclusion. Many companies have drafted diversity language within their mission
and vision statements, but neglect to formally document that language as policy (Stein, 2011).
This undermines the company as a whole, and their minority workers particularly in that there is
no commitment to equity in the workplace. Finally, organizations should provide mentors to
support new attorneys’ success. For women in STEM, medicine, and law, mentors have been
shown to increase their recruitment, retention, and advancement (Carapinha, Ortiz-Walters,
McCracken, Hill, & Reede, 2016; Dennehy & Dasgupta, 2017).
Recruiting, hiring, and retention. The disparities of race and gender are notable in
recruitment and hiring practices. Although to a greater extent than the public sector, private law
firms usually engage in selective hiring giving preference to students from highly-ranked or
affiliated law schools (Oyer & Schaefer, 2016). The rationale behind the selective hiring of
students stems from the perception that high-performing graduates from top-tier law schools are
better equipped to interpret complex legal concepts than students from less prestigious
institutions (Brooks, 2009). Nowhere is this trend more blatantly reflected than in the summer
associates paid internship campaign in which most firms participate (Long, 2015). Firms
EXPERIENCES OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN FEMALE ATTORNEYS 23
continue to lag in racial diversity but have significantly improved on matters of gender (Brayley
& Nguyen, 2009). Women accounted for over half of all summer associates, with one third of
them being White, and.05% AA (National Association of Law Placement, 2017).
Law school enrollment of AA women has increased, steadily outpacing that of their male
counterparts by about 50%. Unfortunately, most of these graduates do not meet the hiring
criterion of reputable private practice law firms, not because of their performance, but because
the law schools which they have attended lack the necessary caliber to be considered (Smith,
2011). Because of these exclusionary trends, minorities are less likely than Whites to begin their
careers in private practice and more likely to begin in government service or public interest
organizations (Negowetti, 2015).
When AA women enter private practice, their tenure in service is affected by several
factors. These factors include access to networking and professional development opportunities
and opportunities for career-advancing assignments (Anonymous, 2009). Other influences are
cohorts, areas of law, billable hour requirements, firm sizes, and career gaps. Researchers posit
that many of the choices women make about their professions, skills development, and training
are predicated on the division of labor in the home (Noonan et al., 2008). Studies highlight that
due to life changes, including childbearing and rearing, women are more likely than men to
engage in part-time work or leave the workforce entirely which reduces their professional
opportunities (Arenstam, 2017; Gorman & Kmec, 2009; Kmec & Skaggs, 2014). While these
assumptions may be true for some women, most professional AA women do not enjoy such
options. Few leave the workforce after starting a family. On the contrary, they seek to reconcile
their professional and personal lives through employment resources, work-life balance, social
support, and inclusion in work teams which fosters retention (Kay et al., 2016). Research
illustrates that, for this population, the lack of professional opportunities and barriers of
EXPERIENCES OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN FEMALE ATTORNEYS 24
discrimination are the leading causes their attrition and lack of advancement (Diaz & Dunican,
2011).
Professional advancement and mentors. Within the legal community, interaction with
and support from the right mentor is invaluable. While attorneys’ promotions to supervisory
roles or partnership are based on a multitude of clearly defined criteria, these decisions are often
influenced by soft factors (Zaidi, Pasta, Sallaberry, & Melançon, 2015). When considering which
attorneys to promote, affiliations and professional mentors play significant roles, as committees
screen candidates for specific skills. These skills can sometimes blur the lines between
prescriptive and preferential and are largely subjective based on the committee members’
backgrounds and preferences (Ferrall, 1996). In this endeavor, firm mentors can act as guides or
resource for ambitious associates. Well-regarded mentors can also be influential when attempting
to secure high-profile cases or clients. For young attorneys, recommendations from established
professionals in the field can mean the difference between success and failure. Unfortunately,
with the numbers for AA females at such negligible levels, finding well-established mentors has
proven close to impossible because bias appears more at the higher echelon than at the ranks
below them (Kogut et al., 2014). As a result, most AA female attorneys admit to having to
venture outside of their professional environment to seek mentors or try to manage on their own
(Anonymous, 2009).
Conceptual Framework
The conceptual framework is a blueprint for research. It provides an overarching design
and consists of assumptions, concepts, beliefs, expectations, and theories that inform and support
the research (Maxwell, 2013). This study employed experiential knowledge and existing theory
regarding the underrepresentation of AA s in corporate environments in constructing its
conceptual framework. In utilizing experiential knowledge, the researcher incorporated her own
EXPERIENCES OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN FEMALE ATTORNEYS 25
biases, technical knowledge, research background, and personal experiences into the framing and
informing of the research. With existing theory, the researcher referenced published works, other
people’s theories, and research which helped make sense of my findings. These two components
guided the study and maintained the integrity of the design.
Although the research questions and the knowledge and motivation influencers were
presented as independent concepts, they are inextricably interwoven. For instance, the first
research question regarding the extent to which law practices recruit and retain AA female
attorneys intersects at knowledge and organizational influencers. With the second research
question on stakeholder knowledge and motivation related to the recruitment and retention of
AA female attorneys in law incorporates knowledge and motivation. In question three regarding
the interaction between organizational culture and context and stakeholder knowledge and
motivation, all influencers are integrated. While question number four on the recommendations
for organizational practice in the areas of knowledge, motivation, and organizational resources
appeals to all three influencers, it leans much more heavily toward organizational influencers.
With this framework, I sought to demonstrate that each of these influencers interacts seamlessly
in casual and collaborative ways.
EXPERIENCES OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN FEMALE ATTORNEYS 26
Figure 1. The experiences of AA female attorneys.
This figure employs classifications of the research questions to highlight relationships
between stakeholder knowledge and motivation and the organization. This study assumed that
neither the stakeholders nor the organization possessed sufficient knowledge about the other and,
as a result, the performance goal remains unmet. Among AA females, there is limited access
to—and understanding of—the legal community. These barriers range from securing law school
acceptance to navigating the political sphere of attorney advancement to the partnership (Baynes,
2003; Bell-Scott, 1984; Brown & Stentiford, 2008). Likewise, private practice law firms are
EXPERIENCES OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN FEMALE ATTORNEYS 27
unaware of many of these challenges and are, thus, ill-prepared to positively affect their
performance goal. Indeed, because these organizations need knowledge of the barriers,
participants’ answers to questions categorized as knowledge influencers would adequately
inform private practice law firms on the recruitment, retention, and advancement of AA female
attorneys (Daniel Barnes, 2016; Wallace et al., 2014).
With participants’ knowledge of the intricacies of the legal profession and the
organization’s understanding of the barriers besetting AA females, it is assumed that these
revelations would be sources of heightened motivation. Having a strong sense of self and clear
identification with one’s culture is a salient motivating factor, especially in an academic and
professional context (Hughes, Kiecolt, Keith, & Demo, 2015). Additionally, mentorship,
effective role models, and other sources of individual and institutional support are vital to
increasing motivation (Alexander-Floyd, 2008). In the case of organizations, motivation is much
more of a pragmatic issue. Firms’ motivation to increase the number of AA female attorneys is
positively affected when they understand the value and return on investment (Byrd & Stanley,
2009; Harjoto, Laksmana, & Lee, 2015; Trenerry & Paradies, 2012). With this motivation,
private practice law firms would be more deliberate with strategic implementations to reach their
goal (Borum & Walker, 2012; Green et al., 2016; Jeffries & Jeffries, 2015).
Due to organizations’ entrenched cultures, they are slow to act when faced with change
initiatives (Rider, 2012). Recruitment, retention, and advancement are distinct departments in
most private practice law firms and operate against a backdrop of strategic networking, powerful
affinity groups, and office politics (Algahtani, 2013). Recruitment is highly selective and
exclusionary as a means to maintain top-tier reputations (Cavico & Mujtaba, 2016; West,
Donovan, & Daniel, 2016). Current retention practices consist of infrequent and ineffective
networking and mentorship events, which are disadvantageous to AA females due to their
EXPERIENCES OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN FEMALE ATTORNEYS 28
exclusion from long-existing affinity groups (Baynes, 2003; Keneally, 2015; Louis et al., 2016).
Advancement is based on the successful navigation of recruitment and retention elements
(Cavico, Muffler, & Mujtaba, 2013; Mandell, 2014). Thoughtful consideration of the results of
this study would provide a starting point for the strategic planning of initiatives to reach the
organizations’ performance goal. With this data, organizations would use their understanding of
barriers affecting AA female attorneys to improve recruitment, retention, and advancement
initiatives.
This study utilized experiential knowledge, existing theory, and pilot and exploratory
research to inform and construct its conceptual framework (Maxwell, 2013; Merriam & Tisdell,
2016). The conceptual framework guided the study and maintained the integrity of the research
designs of phenomenology and narrative inquiry. Within the context of experiential knowledge, I
sought to frame the study based on my background and first-hand experiences in the legal
community which are similarly situated to those of the participants of this study. Specifically, it
was my goal to determine the knowledge and motivation factors that have influenced AA female
attorneys’ success both academically and professionally. Within the context of sociocultural
theory, I utilized data reflecting the underrepresentation of AA female attorneys to determine
causality or correlation with relation to barriers that hinder this group. I also employed pilot and
exploratory research by way of literature and historical narratives to develop current strategies
which may limit organizational barriers to this group’s success. This approach was crafted
because we needed to determine what knowledge the legal community has about the
backgrounds, experiences, and barriers that negatively impact AA female attorneys. This makes
it imperative for current and former AA female attorneys to engage in meaningful dialogue with
this body. Additionally, prospective AA female attorneys lack knowledge of how to secure
mentors, and the importance of networking and professional development opportunities which is
EXPERIENCES OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN FEMALE ATTORNEYS 29
information they could gain from established members of their group. It was the ultimate goal of
this study to improve recruitment, retention, and advancement of AA female attorneys.
Data Collection
Employing qualitative research designs, this study attempted to understand the cultural,
socioeconomic, and educational background as well as the knowledge, motivation, and other
source(s) of resilience unique to AA female attorneys (Pratt, 2012; Simpson, 1996). Due to the
small size of this overall population, participants were chosen based on variances in
socioeconomic background, the status of academic institutions attended, and support networks.
The researcher used purposive sampling with eight interviewees. Data collection was conducted
through an investigation of historical data, in-person interviews, and quantitative data analysis.
The researcher employed various methods to find participants. First, I sought referrals
from my network of attorneys and other legal administrators. I sent emails to each potential
participant name I received, inviting them to participate. This approach rendered four
respondents who took part in the study. Secondly, I scoured social media sites using the search
terms “African-American female lawyer,” “African-American woman lawyer,” Black female
lawyer,” and “Black woman lawyer.” I created a list of all eligible women listed on the websites
and searched for email addresses or phone numbers to contact them. Eligibility consisted of
years in practice, sector of law in which they worked, and position within their law firms. It was
the intent of the researcher to recruit participants from the private, public, and sole practitioner
sectors with varying years of experience within the legal community. In total, I sent nine emails,
three of whom responded and participated. Finally, I researched AA bar associations in
California for female attorneys. I contacted the women’s bar associations within the state
requesting assistance finding participants. I received two responses, from which one woman
EXPERIENCES OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN FEMALE ATTORNEYS 30
participated. In total, I conducted eight one-on-one interviews, five of which were in-person and
three were telephonic.
Data collection was affected by timing, anonymity, and regional issues. As is the nature
of the legal industry, several of the proposed interviewees cited scheduling conflicts as factors
for their inability to participate. Others feared being outed by revelations of their narratives and
opted out of the study. Many of the women understood the code of silence they were expeceted
to abide by while enduring some of the very discriminatory barriers discussed in this study. If
this code were breached, they may face repercussions including being let go from their jobs.
While the study was initially intended to capture the experiences of AA female attorneys
practicing in California exclusively, the low response rate of women in that locale required the
researcher to expand the study nationwide. Expanding the study involved reaching out the
researcher’s network of friends in the national legal community. Requests were sent via email,
LinkedIn, and phone message asking for referrals.
The interviews consisted of between 15 and 20 direct and follow-on questions as outlined
in Appendix A. The length of the interviews was dependent upon the depth to which the
respondents went in answering the questions but ranged from 38 minutes to one hour and 12
minutes. There were five in-person interviews and three telephonic. For the in-person interviews,
the researcher arranged to meet each participant at a location which was convenient and
comfortable for them. Three of the in-person interviews were conducted ‘over coffee’ at local
coffee houses. One in-person interview was conducted at a participant’s home in her living room.
The final in-person interview was conducted in the participant’s law firm office. Each interview
was audio recorded with a handheld recorder placed midway between the participant and the
researcher. For telephonic interviews, arrangements were made for the researcher to call the
participant at a predetermined time. Once the call was initiated, the respondent was placed on
EXPERIENCES OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN FEMALE ATTORNEYS 31
speaker in order for the audio recorder to capture their answers. Upon completion of each
interview, the audio file was digitally labeled with a participant identifier (e.g., Participant 1) and
transmitted to a transcribing company via internet. All transcriptions, once received, were
reviewed and analyzed.
Data Analysis
Data from the transcripts were cleaned prior to the commencement of qualitative
analysis. The cleaning of the transcripts consisted of a review for accuracy by way of comparison
to the audio recording, redacting of possible identifiers such as names, specific locations, and
schools attended, and removing interrupters or affirmations to ensure flow of the respondents’
narratives. Once the data was cleaned, I re-read the transcripts to identify knowledge, motivation,
and organizational influencers such as procedural or metacognitive knowledge, expectancy value
or self-efficacy, and cultural or contextual organizational barriers. The influences were in the
form of narratives shared by the participants. As these influences were located, each was
segmented accordingly on an Excel spreadsheet. The spreadsheet was organized by participant
and influence category. For instance, narratives relating to motivational barriers were
distinguished by self-efficacy or expectancy value and placed in the appropriate category. Once
completed, the narratives were reviewed to ensure alignment with the knowledge, motivation, or
organization influence.
Results and Findings
The purpose of this study was to evaluate influences on AA female attorneys in terms of
the larger problems of recruitment, retention, and advancement. The following section is a
synthesis of results from semi-structured interviews with eight AA female attorneys across the
United States conducted between December 29, 2017 and March 31, 2018. The participants work
in various areas of law and both private and government sectors. The data presented below are
EXPERIENCES OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN FEMALE ATTORNEYS 32
segmented by knowledge, motivation, and organizational influences. The names are pseudonyms
which bear no resemblance to the interviewees’ names. The quotes have been lightly edited to
ensure anonymity of both the respondents and their respective organizations. The following is
representative of the AA female attorneys’ responses, sometimes prompted with follow-up
questions.
Knowledge Findings
Procedural knowledge. AA female attorneys need to know how to address the barriers
that affect their employment and retention in various legal contexts. My research revealed that,
even though many of the participants had always intended on becoming an attorney, they
encountered similar barriers very early in their youth such as family instability, racist teachers,
poverty, and others’ misperceptions of their abilities. These barriers, however, served as impetus
for their drive for success and excellence. Anita L. explained how she addresses her barriers in
this way:
I’ve always felt, even when I was a little girl, I had to work harder, I had to be smarter. I
had to be more prepared. Even now. I still do now by being excellent. If I continue to be
excellent, there’s nothing you can do, there’s nothing you can say that’s gonna tear that
down. I’m just gonna continue to be excellent and more excellent. I remember the people
that think I’m dumb. I remember the people that talk to me crazy. Because their mom
clearly didn’t tell them, “Who you see going up is who you see going down. And that’s
why I’m committed to excellence.”
Anita’s commitment to excellence is common place with most of the interviewees as well as
with their pioneering predecessors. Her phrase, “work harder…be smarter”, is usually stressed in
the AA community by elders who have endured years of racial and economic discrimination
EXPERIENCES OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN FEMALE ATTORNEYS 33
even though they had the same credentials as their white counterparts. Being ‘excellent’ is just
one of the weapons they have used, and taught their children to use, against these barriers.
Kendra W. conveyed her method of persistence for addressing her barriers, and the subsequent
support she received from her mother, through a story:
In third grade, I got a racist teacher. She had kids in different reading groups, and she had
all of the Black kids, whom she called her ‘chocolate chips’, in the lower reader and all of
the White kids, whom she called her ‘sugar cookies’, in the higher reader. When I
arrived, I had come out of Montessori, I could read circles around any third grader, and I
didn’t like the whole chocolate chip, sugar cookie thing, and other nonsense she was
doing in the classroom. I must’ve stormed out of her classroom several times and demand
that they do something because I wasn’t having it. Because of this, she gave me N’s
straight down on my report card, meaning “needs improvement,” and I remember being
so discouraged. I was sitting in the car with my mom when I opened it, and I was so
discouraged. My mom looked at me, and she told me it didn’t matter. She told me and
she knew that wasn’t true and that sometimes you have to stand up for what you believe
in and people will punish you for it, but it doesn’t matter.
Kendra’s story speaks to the experiences many children of color face today in classrooms all
across the United States. As with all positions of power, students are relegated to either accepting
the ‘identities’ people in power have assigned to them or standing up for what they know to be
true of themselves and risking retaliation, much to their detriment. This particular experience is
extraordinary because it reflects a transfer of pride, self-awareness, and resilience from mother to
daughter at an early age. What is even more constructive is the level of honesty bestowed on
Kendra when her mom acknowledges that ‘people will punish you’ for demanding respect but
that she expected Kendra to persevere.
EXPERIENCES OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN FEMALE ATTORNEYS 34
For some people, being poor impedes their progress. However, for one of our participants,
Heather P., being poor, in a poor neighborhood availed her of many opportunities of which she
took advantage. She explained how she combated her socioeconomic situation by seeking out
and capitalizing on programs offered by her school and community:
My sophomore year in high school, they started what we called a law and government
academy. I immediately got involved and was working at the police station, ringing up
drunk drivers who had citations for drunk driving. And, then, my second job was [a state]
council when I was 15 and 16. I interned with the council member at large. Then, at 17
and 18, for two summers, and the summer I was going to college, I interned with the
county’s district attorney’s office. So, I knew very early on that I was gonna be an
attorney.
Ambitious young people in underserved communities sometimes find school programs or
community initiatives that serve as their way out of their current situations. Like Heather, many
of these students hail from poor, violent, and drug-infested neighborhoods. Job opportunities are
few unless these young people are enterprising - researching, networking, and working hard to
win scholarships and/or positions in programs that will ultimately pay off whether scholastically
or professionally. Often, these opportunities are launching points for college and sometimes
propel youth into their first careers.
Rashida T.’s poverty and family instability proved to be a significant barrier to her emotional
situation. In many socioeconomically disadvantaged homes, stability is an ever-alluding goal.
The stresses of her unstable household were so disruptive that Rashida would have to find ways
to “escape” and tune out “all the noise” to achieve her goals. She summed it up this way: “My
home life at various points was very chaotic. So, I would just kind of bury myself in my room
and journal. I was trying to get away from some of the activity happening around me.” For
EXPERIENCES OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN FEMALE ATTORNEYS 35
Rashida, this strategy proved ultimately beneficial in two ways, it strenghtened her writing skills
as well as her resolve to succeed no matter what.
Metacognitive knowledge. AA female attorneys need to understand how to set and
achieve their own personal and professional goals. My data showed that, although their paths and
methods may have been unconventional, all respondents know how to set and achieve the goals
they set for themselves. Some of the respondents’ unconventional goal-setting strategies were
incited by traumatic experiences, cursory messaging within their environments, or were simply
influenced by parents or school counselors at young ages, which positively impacted their
achievement later in life. For Shonda B., goals for college were set for her by high school
counselor:
He said, “You all are going to college. Come on. Let’s fill out these financial aid forms.”
It was almost like you had no choice. You had to be like, “I’m not going to college in
order not to go” because it’s almost like the current. That’s where you were going to.
That’s where you were headed. That’s where I was headed. So, I went to college. This is
how it is. If you want to succeed in life, you got to go.
Shonda’s experience is indicative of the result of high expectations and the opportunities to
achieve them. In her mind, there wasn’t an option. She had the family, school, and community
support. She knew she was expected to work hard to get the necessary grades, exhibit personal
responsibility, and, like the rest of her classmates, head off to college.
Rachel J. recalls the conversation her mother had with her about professional options:
She gave me a choice. She said you need to be a doctor or a lawyer, and you need to
figure it out before you go to college. I really don’t remember ever having that much of a
choice. It was just a decision I made really early. It’s kind of like if you show her interest
in something, she would encourage it. But she wasn’t going to do all the heavy lifting for
EXPERIENCES OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN FEMALE ATTORNEYS 36
me and so um, she sometimes would make suggestions. It had to be something that I
really wanted to do and I could articulate to her why I wanted to do it in order for here to
spend her money to have me do it.
This is another example of the power of high expectations and goal setting. For Rachel, her
mother was her support system and motivator. She empowered Rachel to set goals and research
ways to reach those goals. It wasn’t enough to just go to college, which was expected. Rachel
needed to be deliberate and strategic in her approach to whatever it was she’d decided to be.
Gabby S. discussed her thought process from her youth through college as she determined what
her professional goal was going to be. With her main objective to make good money, she decided
on the legal field:
As far as the aerospace engineer, I didn’t take any steps ’cause I was five years old and
that’s what my mom told me I wanted to be, so I was like, “That’s what I want to be.”
And, then, when I learned more about it, I was like, “Nah, I don’t want to do that.” And
then I said, “I want animals. I love animals. I want to save them.” So, then, I decided I
wanted to do that all along ignoring the fact that I wasn’t very good at math or science,
and then also finding out that I would have to put animals down. I was like, “That doesn’t
sound great,” and I’m also allergic to cats, so maybe it doesn’t make sense to be a
veterinarian. Might have to rethink that. And veterinarians only made like 50 thousand
dollars a year coming out of all of that schooling. Then, I wanted to be a chemist, but
then, of course, my chemistry pipe dreams exploded. So, the only job that I really took
concrete steps, really researching and trying to get on those stepping stones towards that
career and that job, was legal. That was it.
There are various ways to select an occupation, Gabby’s approach was based in ease and
profitability. For her, it wasn’t a question as to whether or not she would be professionally
EXPERIENCES OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN FEMALE ATTORNEYS 37
successful. She was well aware that she would succeed in whatever profession she chose. For
Gabby, her goal was to enjoy her work while making a good living. She believes she’s achieved
that...for now.
Like the other participants, Latina J. had little to no knowledge of what being an attorney was
about. However, once she made up in her mind that she was going to be an attorney, she mapped
out specific steps to achieve that goal:
Nobody in my family is a lawyer, but it’s just something I always thought I would do. I
did mock trials in high school, and, my freshman year of college, I literally set up my
schedule so that I could see Matlock every day. When I started college, I had a whole
plan. I was going to be a history/English double major, and then I’d take some pre-law
courses. Then, I would go straight to law school. [Those plans were interrupted because]
there was a whole lot of family stuff that I was dealing with and so I needed to sort of
stay for a little while to help my family. [Since she had to stay she] applied and started
working at a big law firm in her city.
For Latina, temporary obstacles did not hamper her pursuit of achieving her goal of becoming an
attorney. This persistence, in the face of family and financial issues, is similar to that of many
AA women. When issues arose, Latina repositioned herself, re-evaluated and reset the timeline
of her goal, and sought to reach it.
Motivation Findings
Value. AA female attorneys need to feel that the value outweighs the cost of the effort
and challenges. The results indicated that all interviewees believed that the value of being an
attorney outweighs the cost. In spite of the challenges they have all experienced, such as blatant
discouragement and disrespect from colleagues, they expressed pride and satisfaction in being a
member of the legal community. Anita L. shared a disturbing courtroom encounter as an
EXPERIENCES OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN FEMALE ATTORNEYS 38
example of the types of interactions she has had which test her spirit. Yet, she finds fulfillment in
the work she does as a lawyer: “I was in court and the closing counsel, a White woman, didn’t
like that I wasn’t agreeing with her. She turns around and goes, ‘You’re such a moron!’ and
storms off. Nonetheless, she loves what she does:
I love the feedback I get from my clients. I see as, in my field, they come in, they’re
broken. They don’t know what to do. You know, they may have been to someone that
took 10,000 already. And just kind of letting them see that there are people that care and
that can do this job in an excellent manner and see you through to your next step. I’m still
of service to people, and I think that’s part of my calling: to be of service. I love to
inspire other women. I want little girls coming up, or whoever, to look at me and say,
“Wow. She is really doing this. She’s single, she’s a parent, she’s not worried about
chasing men through whatever. She’s continued to be excellent.” And that’s important to
me.
Anita’s motivation to be of help to her community harkens back to her predecessors. Like them,
she saw that members of her community significantly lacked legal knowledge and resources. In
additional to her professional offerings, it is important for her to be an example to those young
AA women who doubt their ability to achieve what she has. She strives to be that mentor,
whether formal or informal, that empowers young women to excellence.
Although Gabby S. had people who actively tried to discourage her, she kept her professional
and financial goals in mind and persisted:
My professor believed wholeheartedly that I could do it. He was just like, “You’re not
going to enjoy practicing law.” My mom was like, “Where is this coming from?” Which
was actually kind of surprising. She just was just like, “I don’t know about that for you.
Like is that the kind of life you want? She found one of her sorority sisters who was a
EXPERIENCES OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN FEMALE ATTORNEYS 39
lawyer at the time in San Francisco at a big firm, and so I spent about an hour talking to
her, and she was trying to discourage me from doing it. She was like, “This is not the life
for you. You do not want this. It’s awful. All you’re gonna do is work, and it’s not fun.” I
think the more people tried to actively discouraged me I was like, “I’m gonna do this. I
don’t care.” All I could see at the finish line was 125 thousand dollars a year, and nobody
was gonna stop me from getting that. And so, I just put my head down and drowned out
all the noise, and I just did it. I did everything myself. I studied for the LSAT on my own.
Didn’t take any prep course. I did it all myself. It was just dogged determination, I think.
It is common to lose motivation when the people we love actively discourage us from achieving
goals we’ve set for ourselves. However, Gabby was not only recalcitrant, she was even more
emboldened by the efforts of her support system to quell her goals because of the extraordinary
value she placed on being an attorney.
The value of being an attorney in Heather P.’s opinion is her contribution of enriching the lives
of those in her community, a community she has grown up in and understands well.
The value in it is that when the shit hits the fan, everybody gonna run back to who they
know and who look like them. Some people seek me out specifically so that they can
have somebody that understands their situation and understands what their family is
going through and what they need to get through this particular time in their life. When
someone passes and when someone is creating a legacy, they want someone who looks
like them to represent them. I have one client, she’s 104 years old, and she’s like, “You
know what? I never thought I would have ever saw this [a Black woman lawyer]. I never,
in my world, I’ve never. You are an ancestor’s dream.”
Heather’s community insider status increases the value of her profession exponentially. Like her
ancestors, she knows the idiosyncrasies and nuances of her people and community. She is able to
EXPERIENCES OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN FEMALE ATTORNEYS 40
draw from her childhood and the challenges she and her family faced in order to fully understand
what her clients are experiencing presently. She is proud of the fact that she is an AA female
attorney looking out for and being an example to other AA people.
Rashida T. cites being an example to the youth and imparting necessary information to her
community as the value she finds in being an attorney. She stated that what makes her proud is
that “many of the young women are excited to meet me because I look like them. I’m from
Northern California.” All of the participants declared lack of mentorship as being the biggest
challenge to success in the legal community. Rashida’s efforts exhibit the value she places on
being a mentor to girls who would otherwise go without.
Self-efficacy. AA female attorneys need to feel confident in their abilities to address the
barriers that affect them. All interviewees stated that, even though most of the time it is
uncomfortable or intimidating to tackle, they have the skills needed to address the barriers to
their recruitment, retention, and advancement. Some of the participants find their confidence
through getting an incomparable education, others through persistence and sheer will, and still
others, through their firm belief in God.
Shonda B. discussed how her belief in God gave her the confidence to address her barriers. She
shares, “I grew up in predominately a White environment, but even that environment, working
within [a predominantly White] firm, intimidated me.” Regardless of this daunting situation, she
found her confidence through her faith, “Focus on God. Focus on His word. Pray every day and
pray every day. Every morning, I get up with prayer and reading God’s word” she stated.
Kendra W. used a story to highlight her confidence in abilities even at a young age:
I was 7 years old, and we used to have a tree in front. and my mother had told me not to
climb that tree, but I was determined to climb that tree, and she had told me not to climb
that tree. So, one day, I decided to climb that tree. And I had gotten myself up in that tree
EXPERIENCES OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN FEMALE ATTORNEYS 41
and couldn’t get myself down. So, I’m in that tree, screaming at the top of my lungs,
because I can’t figure how to get down. And I’m crying, “Mommy, come get me.
Mommy, come get me,” having a fit in this tree. My mother comes out, calmly walks
down the driveway, calmly walks over to the tree, looks up at the tree and says, “Didn’t I
tell you not to climb that tree? Okay, then.” Turned around and went back in the house
and left me in the tree. Eventually, I figured out that, if I hung from a branch, I was close
enough to the ground that I could just let go and get out of the tree. And the way my
mother raised me is, after that, she never told me again I couldn’t climb the tree.
With Kendra, we see self-confidence that was encouraged at a young age. This embedded self-
efficacy, is a product of thoughtful discussion and earned trust. It is important that young people
feel supported as they attempt to combat barriers, and encouraged to keep striving after those
barriers have been overcome.
One respondent who admits that, initially, she lacked the confidence needed to address her
barriers. However, through pushing herself to try, and having success, she gained the confidence
she needed to persist.
When I graduated from Cal State, my mom was like “What about law school?” I was
scared to go, I was scared that I wasn’t going to do well. I was scared that I wasn’t going
to get in. I’d sat for the LSAT and I got a relatively good score but it wasn’t good enough
for California. I just didn’t feel confident that I was going to go in and do well.
Rachel challenged herself and applied and was admitted to an out-of-state school. Her
interactions with more senior AA female law students improved her confidence level
significantly and contributed to her success. She recalls,
I did better in my second semester than I did my first. And so, I was confident, and I
joined the Black Women’s Law Student Association. It was like a whole six of us, but it
EXPERIENCES OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN FEMALE ATTORNEYS 42
felt good to be able to talk to 3Ls and people who were post-grad who were studying for
the bar. To be able to meet with them, it was only once a month, but I was able to ask
about the different type of classes and the route that we should think about taking, or
what our experiences were.
Self-efficacy is not innate and can take a lifetime to be realized. In Rachel’s case, intimidation
and failure exacerbated her lack of confidence. However, it was through persistence that she
eventually overcame those feelings of uncertainty and cemented that confidence necessary to
succeed in the legal field.
The message Latina J. consistently received from her parents growing up was that education is
your ticket to success and mobility:
The only way for you to have some control over your life, and your ability to support
yourself, is to be educated. That was something that I got from my parents, “You need to
be twice as good, and you’re going to have to work twice as hard to get half as much.” I
grew up around educated Black people, so I didn’t know a person who didn’t have a
college degree growing up. So, it wasn’t as if college was this thing I learned about
somewhere. There was just always that expectation that you were going to do well and
school, and you were going to get to go to a good college, and you were going to get
some sort of professional-type job when you were done.
Latina’s parents, having been children of the Civil Rights era, believed that if only they could
reach elevated academic heights, they would make a better life for themselves and their families.
Being an educated AA was and continues to be a significant component of their identity and
confidence. It is a common belief that education and attainment improve the ability to overcome
some socioeconomic ills. Latina’s self-efficacy is based in this belief.
EXPERIENCES OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN FEMALE ATTORNEYS 43
Organization Findings
Organization should feel it is important to have diverse lawyers in their organization. The
data showed overwhelmingly negative responses in that all participants felt that organizations
placed little or no value on having a diverse group of lawyers. Various themes emerged from this
portion of the interviews. Some of the respondents alluded to barriers related to gender issues,
choice of law school, number of Black attorneys, and work/life balance.
Barriers related to gender. There is some debate amongst AA female attorneys
regarding the role gender plays in their success. For some, the demands of the legal profession
hinders their ability to live a conventional female role. For others, any negatives incurred by
gender is trumped by factors such as academic or professional achievement.
Rashida T. expressed the struggle she faces being a woman owning her own law firm:
There’s conflict between being an attorney, how demanding it is, and the persona of that
role with the more traditional views of a woman. Because that’s a big part of my struggle.
I work a lot. I have my own practice, so when am I going to find time to come home and
cook and clean and be a wife and be a mother? Nobody wants a woman like that. It
creates this weird kind of a pressure that your professional life is inconsistent with what
society might say you’re supposed to be in terms of what a woman is. If you think of it
traditionally, the man is the one that always like, “Hey honey, I’ll be late. I’m working
late tonight.” You never see that on TV or coming from the woman.
Rashida’s dilemna highlights some of the competing priorities women of all backgrounds face
when engaged in the professional community. Success comes at a cost and often that cost is
one’s personal life.
Latina J. believes she was immune to race and gender barriers because of the law school
she attended and the opportunities of which she’s taken advantage.
EXPERIENCES OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN FEMALE ATTORNEYS 44
I think lawyers are snobs, but I think that some of the normal barriers that people of color
or women out of Biglaw aren’t an issue for me because I went to an elite law school. I
work at a firm where we really only interview people from Harvard, Stanford and Yale.
There are some limitations to bringing in diverse candidates when firms have preferences
like that. It gets exacerbated at my firm by the fact that there’s a preference for people to
clerk. The pool of Black law school graduates who have clerked for some sort of federal
court, I mean, that number is so small that it severely limits who can come in.
Latina’s experience is rare for most AA attorneys in that she shares an elite collegiate affinity
with her colleagues. This affinity affords her the luxury of her male coworkers overlooking her
gender difference and her non-black female coworkers bypassing her racial difference for what
they find more important, their similar academic backgrounds.
Barriers related to recruitment. The respondents were all in agreement on the topic of
recruitment. It was the overarching belief that law firms actively ignored institutions with higher
minority candidates and made little effort to increase diversity in hiring.
In Gabby S.’s experience, her law firm simply didn’t do enough to ensure a diverse group of
lawyers.
They could’ve made a more concerted effort to recruit and retain people of color. Go to
other schools. We definitely didn’t have an office in an area where the HBCs were
located. So, it wasn’t like they were getting a bunch of people from like Howard or any
of those schools down there, but maybe send somebody there. You had diversity
recruiting fairs where diverse candidates would come and we’d meet with them, but that
was kind of a joke to be honest with you. We were not bringing people in from those. It
had some national thing that they would send people from. I never saw anybody come out
EXPERIENCES OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN FEMALE ATTORNEYS 45
of that from the LA office. We were not targeting our efforts to places where we would
have a higher chance of recruiting qualified Black candidates.
Gabby highlights a well-known strategy used by law firms to validate their inability to recruit top
minority talent. She was an ambassador recruiter for her firm but was informed that she could
only visit and recruit from particular schools, none of which had a diverse student population.
Kendra W. decided to take an active role to make sure the firms she applied to had a diverse pool
of attorneys because it was important for her to work in an inclusive environment:
I pulled out the books, and I looked at how many Black people they have, and if they had
300 lawyers and one Black person, I didn’t interview there. I needed some people to have
broke the door because I’m not the one. I’m not gonna be explaining blackness to you. I
need for you to already understand blackness before I get there. I specifically pick the
firm based on how many Black people they had. If they didn’t have enough, I didn’t
interview.
This is a unique approach for two reasons. First, most AA attorneys (male or female) do not
usually disqualify potential law firms to which they are applying based on racial population
criterion. They are usually relieved to win an interview and overlook demographic information.
Second, Kendra’s expectation that with AA attorneys already in the firm she wouldn’t
experience having to explain her “blackness”, is interesting considering that most AA attorneys
rarely have race-conscious conversations – conversations in which they are activey educating
their non-AA colleagues about the nuances of blackness. It is also important to note that Kendra
had no concerns about her identity nor her ability to ‘fit in’.
Organizations should have policies and practices that support diversity and inclusion. The
data showed that all respondents admitted that, although their law firms had diversity policies,
they had never read them. Rachel J. shared her experience, “I’m working for a company where
EXPERIENCES OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN FEMALE ATTORNEYS 46
they have a very negative way of talking about dark-skinned people. Even though I was hired
you could tell that hiring AAs was not the norm.” Latina J. noted that her firm “posts diversity
policies, shares the policies with their clients, then recruits from PWIs [predominantly White
institutions], and balks at HBCUs.” Furthermore, the respondents also believed that their firms’
policies were for marketing purposes only and that none of the policies or practices benefited
them.
Organizations should provide mentors to their AA female attorneys to support their
success. My research showed that only one of the participants had formal mentors in their law
firm. Due to the lack of readily available mentors, the rest of the African female attorneys either
sought mentors on their own or did without. The guidance that Heather P. sought was simply not
available because there were no partners with which she shared gender or race. She discussed the
experience she had at her previous firm:
It wasn’t a lot of mentorship because you don’t have African-American partners. You
don’t have women partners that could say, “Hey, this is how you move from where you
are.” Well, I think you don’t have many opportunities because, in my opinion, it’s kind of
like, if somebody looks like you, that’s the person whose gonna want to help you. If they
don’t really necessarily look like you, they’re not going to want to give you a heads up
and tell you which road to take, who to kiss butt to, what cases you should get on with
that’s gonna help you, and what your skill sets are, and we could use you in this case
because you have excellent skill sets. They’re gonna put you on doc review.
Heather’s experience is similar to most AA female attorneys in that they rarely find AA females
at higher levels than they in their firms. Additionally, as Heather expressed, the outsider
experience is palpable in that you are almost on an island with no compass. Unless higher ups
EXPERIENCES OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN FEMALE ATTORNEYS 47
who usually don’t share a cultural background take an interest in helping young AA female
attorneys, they will have to figure it out on their own.
Like most of the respondents, Shonda B. felt that, although she became successful without one,
mentors are critical components of one’s success:
I don’t really recall anyone in my life that took an interest. I did not have one when I
went to college, and, when I started in [my organization], there was no mentor program
whatsoever. If somebody happened to take a notice, an interest in you, and you were
mentored, then you were ahead of the game.
For Shonda, having a mentor was the exception and not the rule. While there appeared to be
informal mentoring occurring, she did not receive or benefit from it.
For Anita L., mentors’ experience can be an invaluable tool in helping novices navigate the
terrain of the legal community.
We need to know the culture. We need to know what to expect. We need to know what
do I do to advance? Or, sometimes, and I tell my [Black female colleagues] this. A lot of
times it’s not what you say, it’s how you say it. What I’m learning then, a lot of people
have not mastered the skill of delivery and communication. But, things like that, I think
come from a mentor to say, “No, baby. That’s not how we do this” and that “The culture
here is this,” or “What are your goals? This might not be the right fit for you. Have you
considered X, Y, Z?” So, I think that comes from experience.
Mentorship, for Anita is like having a guiding hand and confidante. In her opinion, mentors need
to have experienced the challenges their mentees are currently facing in order to effectively
guide them. This guidance can take various forms, from how to respond to colleagues to how to
network.
EXPERIENCES OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN FEMALE ATTORNEYS 48
While most of our respondents indicated that they had never had formal mentors in their
legal environments, Kendra W.’s experience was vastly different. She attributes the mentorship
she received to the size of the firm at which she worked:
I started at a midsize firm. I got a lot more mentorship than I would have if our firm had
[been bigger], everybody mentored you [regardless of race or gender]. They had time.
They had time to write up your papers and have you do it two or three times and had time
to walk along with them to depositions and stuff.
Kendra’s mentor experience is important to note because it stresses how firm size and resources
can impact informal mentor opportunities. With large firms, there are often resources that
preclude the need for mentorship, such as sufficient attorneys for affinity groups to form. The
firm needed every attorney to be expertly skilled thus they made sure every attorney got
mentored. In Kendra’s case, opting for a mid-sized firm provided her with the mentor
opportunities she needed to become a top performing attorney.
Summary
The influences identified in the literature review provided a framework for evaluating the
barriers surrounding the recruitment, retention, and advancement of AA female attorneys.
Although the participants experienced barriers to their knowledge, they identified and employed
unconventional strategies to combat and overcome those barriers. The findings in the motivation
influences indicated that participants have a deeply rooted sense that they are willing and able to
tackle the barriers that beset them. This motivation, although articulated in various ways, rests in
a profound desire to serve their communities. The organization findings unanimously indicated
that none of the law firms they’d worked for valued attorney diversity. There was also consensus
regarding the lack and/or ineffectiveness of their firms’ diversity and inclusion policies. While
EXPERIENCES OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN FEMALE ATTORNEYS 49
there was disagreement on whether mentors need be AA and female, most participants indicated
that mentorship was necessary but non-existent in their workplaces.
Solutions and Recommendations
This section provides proposed solutions and recommendations that could improve the
recruitment, retention, and advancement of AA female attorneys. A comprehensive and detailed
implementation and evaluation plan incorporating these proposed solutions and their
effectiveness is presented in Appendix C using the New World Kirkpatrick Model (Kirkpatrick
& Kirkpatrick, 2016). The interviewees were asked to provide suggestions for positively
affecting the recruitment, retention, and advancement of AA females in the legal community.
There comments are captured as recommendations in the following section.
Knowledge Recommendations
With the overarching goal of increasing the recruitment, retention, and advancement of
AA female attorneys in law practice, there are three influencers this study investigated:
knowledge, motivation, and organization. Researchers assert that organizational and stakeholder
performance goals can only be achieved when the gap between actual performance and ideal
performance is closed (Clark & Estes, 2008). To assess my stakeholders’ knowledge of the
barriers which negatively impact their recruitment, retention, and advancement, their procedural
and metacognitive processes were evaluated. The stakeholders’ motivation, particularly their
expectancy value and self-efficacy, were considered to fully understand the value they place on
persisting in their profession and their confidence in their abilities. Finally, an assessment of the
organizational influences provided an understanding of the culture, processes, and resources
invested in the attainment of the overall objective. This framework offered a distinct perspective
for identifying and addressing gaps in performance within the stakeholder group and legal
EXPERIENCES OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN FEMALE ATTORNEYS 50
community in their goal to increase the recruitment, retention, and advancement of AA female
attorneys.
Procedural knowledge solutions, or description of needs or assets. AA female
attorneys need to know how to address the barriers that affect their employment and retention in
various legal contexts. Denler et al. (2006) found that exhibited behavior is more likely to be
embraced if the behavior has practical value and the model is trustworthy and similar. This
would suggest that providing AA female attorneys and prospective attorneys with mentors who
can provide the tools necessary to address their barriers would support their progress. The
recommendation then for AA female attorneys might be to cultivate mentor-mentee relationships
with other AA female attorneys who have faced and overcome similar struggles.
Pratt (2012) insists that, because of the low numbers of AA female lawyers nationwide,
mentors are few. Many of these women have navigated their careers with little to no guidance on
how to succeed as a lawyer. Simpson (1996) suggests that mentoring by AA female attorneys of
AA female attorneys is vital in order to increase their numbers in the legal field.
Metacognitive knowledge solutions, or description of needs or assets. AA female
attorneys need to understand how to set and achieve their own personal and professional goals.
Brown and Banks (2014) found that, throughout their lives, AA female attorneys have been
encouraged to set and achieve their goals by family members, elderly family friends, church
members, clergy, teachers, and administrators, but not specifically guided on how to do so. This
would suggest that providing AA female attorneys and soon-to-be attorneys with strategies for
self-regulation, with a focus on goal-setting would enhance learning and performance. The
recommendation then for AA female attorneys might be for them to practice techniques for self-
regulation, management of physical and social environment, and appropriate goal-setting.
EXPERIENCES OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN FEMALE ATTORNEYS 51
Yates (1982), insists that although AA female attorneys have not historically received
direct guidance on how to set and achieve their goals, they have been resourceful in finding ways
to succeed. Many of the women have sought resources such a books, seminars, and other
successful attorneys, for strategies to help them reach their goals. Jordan (1991), posits that
through determination, deeply rooted support systems, and knowledge of the sacrifices it took to
face the task at hand, AA female attorneys accomplished and continued to accomplish the goals
they set out to meet.
Motivation Recommendations
AA female attorneys need to feel confident in their skills as lawyers and place value in
being a member of the profession. As a result of the various barriers AA female attorneys’ face,
their self-efficacy and the value they attach to being a lawyer can be negatively impacted. In
light of this, it is important to consider the motivational factors that impact their confidence and
persistence (Clark & Estes, 2008; Rueda, 2011). Therefore, this examination will focus on two
theories: expectancy value and self-efficacy. These motivational theories will be used to examine
the value they place on being an attorney and the confidence they have in their legal abilities and
skills.
Value. AA female attorneys need to feel that the value outweighs the cost of the effort
and challenges. (Expectancy Value). Eccles (2006) found that activating personal interest
through opportunities for choice and control can increase motivation. This would suggest that
AA female attorneys need to be made aware of and appreciate the benefits of being an attorney
more so than focusing on the negative aspects they encounter. The recommendation then would
be that these attorneys need similarly situated mentors to provide rationales about the importance
and utility value of being an attorney.
EXPERIENCES OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN FEMALE ATTORNEYS 52
Simpson (1996) studied the factors which influenced the decision to enter the legal
profession by AA women to determine, among other things, the value they placed on being a
lawyer. The research surveyed 700 Black women lawyers and indicated that, regardless of the
challenges they faced, respondents placed great value on being an attorney with some of the most
prevalent reasons being serving the Black community, financial independence, mobility, and
prestige.
Self-efficacy. AA female attorneys need to feel confident in their abilities to address the
barriers that affect them. Pajares (2006) found that the behavior of credible and culturally similar
models was more likely to be adopted. This would suggest that AA female attorneys need to see
women who look like them succeeding in addressing the obstacles that have a negative impact
on them. The recommendation, then, is that AA female attorneys must be taught new behaviors
and strategies through demonstration and modeling that help them manage their motivation,
time, learning, and control of their physical and social environment while monitoring their
performance.
Dortch (2016) suggested evidence of strong self-efficacy in professional AA women can
be attributed to supportive peers, family, faculty and engaging in welcoming communities. In
this study of the only two AA female doctoral students in a predominantly White institution, the
author found that verbal persuasion and vicarious experiences were the strongest predictors of
self-efficacy and, thus, success as these women sought to reach their goals.
Organization Recommendations
The organizational culture in the legal community should endeavor to support diversity
initiatives that increase the number of AA female attorneys. There are three distinct areas in
which organizations can positively affect this goal. First, organizations should feel as though it is
important to have diverse lawyers in their organizations. There is abundant data that indicates
EXPERIENCES OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN FEMALE ATTORNEYS 53
that diversity in the workplace enhances innovation, improves profits, and is beneficial to
workers’ sense of belonging as well as the organizational environment (McClelland & Holland,
2015; Nelson, 2014; Tong et al., 2017). Secondly, organizations should have policies and
practices that support diversity and inclusion. Many companies have drafted diversity language
within their mission and vision statements, but they neglect to formally document that language
as policy (Stein, 2011). This undermines the company as a whole, and their minority workers in
particular, in that there is no commitment to equity in the workplace. Finally, organizations
should provide mentors to their AA female attorneys who would support their success. For
women in STEM, medicine, and law, mentors have been shown to increase their recruitment,
retention, and advancement. If implemented in the legal community, the benefits may be similar
(Carapinha et al., 2016; Dennehy & Dasgupta, 2017).
Cultural models. Law firms should feel it is important to have diverse lawyers in their
organization. The benefits of a diverse workforce have been validated by multiple studies, but,
due to the legal community’s entrenched culture, they have been slow to act (Halverson &
Tirmizi, 2008; Rider, 2012). Clark and Estes (2008) suggest that effective change efforts use
evidence-based solutions and adapt them, where necessary, to the organization’s culture. This
suggests that organizations should align their practices with research that affirm the benefits of
diversity in the workplace.
In a study of the legal community, King et al. (2010) sought to determine the degree to
which the industry had advanced in terms of diversity. Using statistical data from hiring and
advancement records of law firms throughout the United States, they found that although the
legal industry was more diverse than it ever was, it was still dramatically less inclusive than
other professions.
EXPERIENCES OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN FEMALE ATTORNEYS 54
Policies. Organizations should have policies and practices that support diversity and
inclusion. Clark and Estes (2008) found that effective organizations insure that organizational
messages, rewards, policies and procedures that govern the work of the organization are aligned
with or are supportive of organizational goals and values. This suggests that diversity and
inclusion should be a component of organizational goals and should thus be included in their
policies.
In a study of extant research on diversity in the workplace, Saxena (2014) sought to
examine the impact of diversity and inclusion policies on organizational productivity as well as
the workforce. The researcher concluded that diversity policies had various benefits such as
improved company and personnel performance, broader and more creative solutions to issues,
and a competitive advantage over peer organizations.
Cultural settings. Organizations should provide mentors to their AA female attorneys to
support their success. Clark and Estes (2008) found that effective change efforts ensure that
everyone has the resources (equipment, personnel, and time) needed to do their job, and that if
there are resource shortages, then resources are aligned with organizational priorities. This
suggests that mentors for underrepresented groups should be considered an essential resource
which organizations provide.
In a study of Black women administrators, Lewis (2014) sought to determine whether the
presence of mentors impacted their career development. Using qualitative interviews, 10 Black
females provided insight to the significance mentorship has had on their careers. It was revealed
that due to the lack of traditional mentors in their organizations, they sought guidance, support,
and encouragement from a variety of people who fulfilled portions of a mentor role.
Limitations
Several limitations should be considered when interpreting the findings of this study:
EXPERIENCES OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN FEMALE ATTORNEYS 55
The sample size is extraordinarily small
The sample could have resulted in sampling bias
Data regarding the number of African-American female attorneys in the United States
were lacking
Participants were difficult to locate within the original parameters, and the location
was extended nationwide
Recommendations for Future Research
One of the major limitations of this study was the small sample size. A future study with
a larger sample is highly recommended. Further research with a larger group may render
participants with more varied backgrounds and wealth of experience. Results may be used to
further inform how to more significantly impact the barriers they face.
Conclusion
The study attempted to ascertain and record the experiences of eight AA female attorneys
as they relate to recruitment, retention, and advancement in the legal community. The
participants’ narratives in this study suggest that, although they lacked resources deemed
necessary to prosper in the legal field, through their persistence and strong belief in their
capabilities, they found success. It is only through the courageous and thoughtful sharing of these
experiences that this research was completed.
The results of this study suggest that the topic of AA female attorney experiences is
worthy of continued research. The findings suggest that, to have a positive impact on the
knowledge, motivation, and organizational barriers that threaten to beset AA female attorneys,
mentorship is essential. As such, it is important for AA female attorneys to cultivate relationships
with similarly situated mentors who would teach them techniques for self-regulation,
management of physical and social environment, and appropriate goal-setting. Furthermore,
EXPERIENCES OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN FEMALE ATTORNEYS 56
organizations should consider mentors for underrepresented groups an essential resource and
align their practices with research that affirm the benefits of diversity in the workplace. Finally,
organizations should ensure that diversity and inclusion is a component of their organizational
goals and should, thus, be included in their policies.
EXPERIENCES OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN FEMALE ATTORNEYS 57
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Appendix A: Interview Protocol
1. Are there barriers that impact AA female attorneys? K
2. Have you experienced any of these barriers? K
3. What are the ways in which you or others have addressed those barriers? K/M
4. What motivated you become a lawyer and how did you get to where you are today? K/M
5. What were the goals you set for yourself? K/M
6. Could you discuss your confidence in your ability to address your recruitment while in law
school?
7. Could you discuss your confidence in your ability to address retention and advancement
now? M
8. Are there things that affected your confidence while in law school? Now? (M/O)
9. Are there “costs’ associated with being a young AA female attorney? M
10. How do the pros exceed the costs of being an AA female attorney? M
11. What is your experience with the organization you work for and their approach to diversity?
K/O
12. In all the organizations you’ve worked for, how important do you feel it was to that company
to have a diverse group of lawyers? K/O
13. What policies and practices did the organization promote that positively impacted diversity?
O
14. What initiatives or policies have you experienced that positively impacted the mentoring to
AA female attorneys? O
15. Does your current organization or any organization you’ve worked for provide mentors? K/O
EXPERIENCES OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN FEMALE ATTORNEYS 70
Appendix B: Participating Stakeholders with Sampling Criteria
and Rationale for Interview
This study was conducted by combining historical data analysis, interviews, and
quantitative data analysis. Historical data analysis was used to ascertain the knowledge and
motivation influences, as well as the organizational barriers (KMO) that existed for AA female
attorneys between the postbellum and Civil Rights Era (1964). This data is comprised of a
collection of written narratives assembled from pioneering AA female attorneys. Interviews were
conducted with eight current AA female attorneys throughout the United States utilizing the
Interview Protocol to determine their KMO influences as well as strategies they’ve employed to
persist through their barriers. Quantitative data analysis consisted of a collection of numerical
information relating to the current percentages of AA female attorneys practicing law in the
United States legal community.
Interviews
The interviews were semi-structured and consisted of the predefined questions in an
open-ended delivery to help us explore the knowledge, motivation, and organizational influences
that have impacted AA female attorney s’ experiences. The use of these questions presented a
general framework for consistency sake, while still allowing for flexibility and divergence from
the topic that provided context and other intangible insights (Patton, 2002; Weiss, 1994).
All interviews were conducted in a one-on-on setting either in-person or telephonically.
These interviews lasted between 60-90 minutes in duration depending on each participants
adherence to or deviation from the interview questions.
EXPERIENCES OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN FEMALE ATTORNEYS 71
Sampling Strategy and Rationale
The sampling criteria for this study are (a) female, (b) African-American, (c) practicing
attorney for at least three years, and (d) currently, reside and practice in California. The first
three criteria ensure that the subjects meet the essential characteristics of being a woman,
African-American, and an attorney. The third criterion contains three components: attorney;
currently practicing; for at least three years. These criteria ensure that the information
participants provide is relevant to current social and professional environments. The final
criterion was selected for accessibility and regionally relative purposes. The researcher ’s network
of attorneys and other legal professionals is in California. It is also likely that attorneys in
various parts of the nation would not be available to the researchers in sufficient numbers to
consider a viable sample.
Recruitment Strategy and Rationale
The recruitment strategy for this study is purposive and snowball sampling. Each
participant will be selected based on their alignment with the aforementioned criteria. It is the
intent to interview between six and ten participants in one-on-one settings using a semi-
structured approach. These particular interview styles allow for flexibility, open discussion,
and/or privacy, depending on the participant s’ preference. The purposive sampling strategy
ensures that participants are selected based on their alignment with the specified criteria: AA,
female, and an attorney. The snowball sampling allows for participants to recommend other AA
female attorneys who might contribute meaningfully to the study. It also provides the researcher
with an opportunity to collect more potentially informative data from a wider base of
respondents. Because of the homogeneity of the target population, it is vital to select participants
who represent variances within the subject group ’s communities in order to gain an
understanding of their experiences and individual perspectives.
EXPERIENCES OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN FEMALE ATTORNEYS 72
Appendix C: Implementation and Evaluation Plan
Kirkpatrick & Kirkpatrick (2016), asserts that the best method for ensuring the
effectiveness of training programs is the New World Kirkpatrick Model based on the Kirkpatrick
Four Levels of Evaluation (2006). These four levels are reaction, or the extent to which
participants find the training favorable, engaging and relevant to their jobs; learning, meaning the
extent to which participants acquire the intended knowledge, skills, attitude, confidence, and
commitment based on their participation in the training; behavior, or the extent to which
participants apply what they learned during training when they are back on the job; and results,
which means the extent to which targeted outcomes occur as a result of the training and the
support and accountability package (Kirkpatrick & Kirkpatrick, 2016).
With these four levels, Kirkpatrick & Kirkpatrick (2016), crafted the New World
Kirkpatrick Model which incorporated additional elements, clarified interpretations, and
provided illustration as to how to apply the model in order to optimize performance. Along with
these additions, Kirkpatrick & Kirkpatrick (2016), revolutionized the model by reversing the
order in which the program should be planned.
The authors suggest that Level 4 should be the initial stage of planned initiative. Focusing
on the results first ensures that the training is aligned with the organization’s goals. Once this
alignment has been ensured, Level 3 would seek to impact participants’ behavior so that they
perform the newly learned tasks consistently, achieving the desired result. Following these
levels, Level 2 would ensure that learners have acquired the desired knowledge, skills, attitude,
confidence, and commitment as evidenced by their engagement in the event. Then finally,
trainers should focus on Level 1 in which customer satisfaction could more accurately be
measured. Approaching implementation and evaluation from this perspective would guarantee
EXPERIENCES OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN FEMALE ATTORNEYS 73
that appropriate benchmarks are set and met and that stakeholder goals are achieved (Kirkpatrick
& Kirkpatrick (2016).
Level 4: Results and Leading Indicators
Results and Leading Indicators. To ensure that the stakeholders’ goal is met, it is
imperative to define the desired outcomes, determine a metric for achieving the outcome, and
identify the method by which each outcome will be reached. Table 2, describes the External and
Internal Outcomes related to this implementation program. The first External Outcome is to
increase the number of African-American female attorneys practicing law. This outcome will be
measured by the resulting percentage of African-American female attorneys currently practicing
law. The Methods used to measure this outcome are the American Bar Association and the
Census Bureau statistics. The second External Outcome is an increase number of African-
American female law students. This outcome will be measured by the resulting percentage of
African-American female law students. The Method used to measure this outcome will be law
school journals. The final External Outcome is an increase in pressure from clients and
community for law firms and law schools to ensure population proportionality. This outcome
will be measured by an increased number of articles and exposure in media and within the
community. The Method used to measure this outcome will be articles in magazines, law
journals, reviews, rankings in Best Law Firms, local newspaper articles, historically African-
American publications. The first Internal Outcome is increased recruitment strategies that target
African-American female attorneys. This outcome will be measured by the resulting number of
African-American female law students recruited. The Method for measuring this outcome is
demographic data from the American Bar Association and sample set of law firms.
EXPERIENCES OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN FEMALE ATTORNEYS 74
Table 2
Outcomes, Metrics, and Methods for External and Internal Outcomes
Outcome Metric(s) Method(s)
External Outcomes
Increased number of African-
American female attorneys practicing
law
Percentage of African-
American female attorneys
currently practicing law
American Bar Association and
Census Bureau statistics
Increased number of African-
American female law students
Percentage of African-
American female law students
Law school journals
Increase pressure from clients and
community for law firms and law
schools to ensure population
proportionality
Increased number of articles
and exposure in media and
within the community
Articles in magazines, law journals,
reviews, rankings in Best Law Firms,
local newspaper articles, historically
African-American publications
Internal Outcomes
Increased recruitment strategies that
target African-American female
attorneys
The number of African-
American female law students
recruited
Solicit hiring demographic data from
the American Bar Association and
sample set of law firms
Increase the establishment of mentor
programs designed to optimize
African-American female attorneys’
experiences and performance
The number of African-
American female attorneys
remaining in law and/or
advancing to partnership
Solicit demographic data on
partnership-track attorneys from
sample set of law firms
Increase in independent search for
resources and opportunities for
advancement
The number of self-reported
African-American female
attorneys who have obtained
mentors independently
Solicit data from interviewees
Increase in early mentor programs for
middle and high school African-
American girls
The number of African-
American girls choosing to
enter the legal profession
Ongoing with progress monitored
annually
The second Internal Outcome is an increase in the establishment of mentor programs
designed to optimize African-American female attorneys’ experiences and performance. This
outcome will be measured by the number of African-American female attorneys remaining in
law and/or advancing to partnership. The Method for measuring this outcome is demographic
data on partnership-track attorneys from sample set of law firms. The third Internal Outcome is
an increase in independent search for resources and opportunities for advancement. This
outcome will be measured by the number of self-reported African-American female attorneys
EXPERIENCES OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN FEMALE ATTORNEYS 75
who have obtained mentors independently. The Method for measuring this outcome is data from
interviewees. The final Internal Outcome is an increase in early mentor programs for middle and
high school African-American girls. The outcome will be measured by the number of African-
American girls choosing to enter the legal profession. The Method for measuring this outcome is
ongoing with annual assessments.
Level 3: Behavior
Critical behaviors. The stakeholders of focus are AA female attorneys who have been
practicing law in the United States for at least three years. In order for AA female attorneys to
improve recruitment, retention, and advancement in the legal community, they need mentors and
targeted recruiting efforts. The first critical behavior is that AA female attorneys recruit in local
high schools, youth programs, and law schools under the sponsorship or charter of local youth
organizations. The second critical behavior is that existing AA female attorneys establish mentor
programs in their respective places of business, which will provide the resources and guidance
new AA female attorneys, and prospective attorneys, need to navigate the law firm environment
and legal community in general. The third critical behavior is that new AA female attorneys use
their mentor resources, whether they be writing aids, suggested conference participation, or
networking opportunities, in retention and advancement initiatives. The specific metrics,
methods, and timing for these critical behaviors are listed in Table 5. Table 3 discusses the
critical behaviors, metrics, methods, and timing for evaluation of the Implementation Plan.
EXPERIENCES OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN FEMALE ATTORNEYS 76
Table 3
Critical Behaviors, Metrics, Methods, and Timing for Evaluation
Critical Behavior Metric(s) Method(s) Timing
African-American female attorneys
recruit in local high schools, youth
programs, and law schools under the
sponsorship or charter of local youth
organizations
Number of high
school recruitment
activities
List of schools with
a higher number of
African-American
females
African-American female attorneys
and local youth organizations will
track and report the number of
mentor programs established
1a. African-American female
attorneys and local youth
organizations will track recruitment
efforts
1a.
Annual
reporting
1b. African-American female
attorneys and local youth
organizations will track hiring
demographic data
1b.
Annual
reporting
data
African-American female attorneys
will establish mentor programs in their
respective places of business
The number of
mentor programs
established
1a. African-American female
attorneys and legal professional
organizations will track and report
the number of mentor programs
established
1a.
Annual
reporting
1b. African-American female
attorneys and legal professional
organizations will obtain mentee
feedback
1b.
Quarterly
reporting
African-American female attorneys
use mentor resources in retention and
advancement initiatives
The number/types
of mentor resources
used which aided in
retention and
advancement
1a. African-American female
attorneys (mentees) will provide
techniques and strategies taught by
mentor
1a.
Annual
reporting
1b. African-American female
attorneys (mentees) will provide
feedback on effectiveness of
techniques and strategies taught by
mentor
1b.
Annual
reporting
Required drivers. For AA female attorneys to achieve their overall goal, their efforts
must be accompanied by those of the legal community. Along with AA female attorneys
establishing programs of their own, a dedicated department of local youth organizations will be
tasked with tracking mentor programs, recruitment activities, and researching and reporting the
demographic data of law schools. Behaviors will be reinforced through law school population
EXPERIENCES OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN FEMALE ATTORNEYS 77
data, professional diversity reports, and mentor/mentee training programs. Encouragement and
rewards will consist of feedback, coaching, public acknowledgement, and increased recruitment.
Table 6 reflects the recommended drivers that support critical behaviors of AA female attorneys
as they seek to increase their recruitment, retention, and advancement in the legal community.
Table 4 discusses the required drivers to support critical behaviors such as reinforcement,
encouragement, rewarding, and monitoring.
Table 4
Required Drivers to Support Critical Behaviors
Method(s) Timing
Critical
Behaviors
Supported
1, 2, 3 Etc.
Reinforcing
Law school demographic and academic brochure that provides
provide information related to student population
Ongoing 1
Community/Cultural/professional articles and data reinforcing
the benefits of a diverse workforce
Ongoing 1,2, & 3
Mentorship training for existing African-American female
attorneys
Annually 2 & 3
Mentee training for incoming/new African-American female
attorneys
Annually 2 & 3
Encouraging
Feedback and coaching from existing African-American female
attorney mentors (to incoming/new African-American female
attorneys)
Ongoing 1, 2, & 3
360-degree feedback from incoming/new African-American
female attorneys (to existing African-American female attorney
mentors)
Ongoing 1, 2, & 3
Rewarding
Public acknowledgement of diversity and inclusion initiatives Quarterly 1, 2, & 3
Increase in clientele seeing diversity in legal representation Quarterly 1, 2, & 3
Monitoring
Self-reporting of the recruitment of African-American female law
students
Annually 1
Surveys of the number of African-American female attorneys’
continued employment and/or advancement within a law firm
Annually 2 & 3
Self-reporting and law firm report of mentor initiatives
established
Annually 1, 2, & 3
EXPERIENCES OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN FEMALE ATTORNEYS 78
Organizational support. The critical behaviors and required drivers that are monitored
in the sections above presume that the recommendations at the stakeholder and organizational
level have been implemented. Therefore, for the stakeholder to achieve their goals, various
resources would need to be provided in terms of professional and business development
opportunities, personnel time, and cultural competence training. Conference rooms for seminars
and mentoring session, as well as securing subject-matter experts to lead mentoring training,
would also be needed. Due to the heightened scrutiny on diversity within organizations, law
firms would be more inclined to comply with such requests.
Level 2: Learning
Learning goals. Following completion, the mentor/mentee programs, AA female
attorneys will be able to:
1. Know how to address the barriers that affect their choice to go to law school,
employment and retention in various legal contexts. (P)
2. Understand how to set and achieve their own personal and professional goals. (M)
3. Feel confident in their abilities to address the barriers that affect them
4. Feel that the value of being an attorney outweighs the cost of the effort and
challenges.
Program. The learning goals listed in the previous section will be achieved with a three-
pronged approach. This program is intended to reach both young AA girls, AA female law
students, and attorneys.
Career days. With the purpose of the program targeting young AA girls being to expose
them to opportunities and resources related to the pursuit of law, the training will consist of Pop-
up mentor events. These events will be comprised of career talks, vendors tailored toward their
empowerment, leadership skills, and knowledge of academic and professional resources. At each
EXPERIENCES OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN FEMALE ATTORNEYS 79
of these events, the girls will have the opportunity to sign up for mentorship. Once they’ve
signed up, they will be contacted by the organization to get the mentor selection process started.
Based on their needs and interests, the girls will be provided three options for mentors. The girls
will have on-site meetings with each of the mentors and make the selection based on the best
personality fit and career needs. From then, the duo will meet at their convenience but at least
once a week for an in-person meeting at the organization. Each meeting will consist of pulse
checks (the current status of the center’s academic performance, pursuit of professional interests,
and/or achievement of a pre-set goal), goal-setting, and coaching. If appropriate, the mentor may
also provide resources (mock trial and internship notifications) to meet the achievement of goals.
Both the mentor and mentee will complete a debrief after each meeting and an assessment
quarterly. The debrief and assessments will be turned in to the organization for reporting.
Law students. The program for AA female law students will consist of on-campus
recruiting and preparation for law firm work. Because currently the population is so low, the
meetings will be conducted in groups led by one or two current AA female attorneys. These
mentoring groups will meet at times convenient to both mentors and mentees and provide
support and preparation. It may even extend to clerkships, internships, networking opportunities,
and interview preparation. The mentees and mentors will complete debriefs after each meeting
and quarterly assessments which will be provided to the organization for reporting.
Current attorneys. With regard to current AA female attorneys, the program will consist
of one-on-one and group mentor meetings conducted by way of in-person, telephone, or video-
chat where mentees have the opportunity to learn techniques which positively impact their
retention, and/or advancement. The women will self-identify with their respective organization
(law firm, women’s legal organization, etc.) which will provide a pool of mentors. The mentees
will then select mentors with whom they feel most comfortable. Formal meetings/workshops will
EXPERIENCES OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN FEMALE ATTORNEYS 80
be held in law firm conference rooms or on the grounds of local women’s legal organizations.
Most meetings will be informal and, while still reported to the governing body (AA female
attorney board and local women’s organization) will be held at the convenience and discretion of
the mentor and mentee. All mentees and mentors will complete a debrief of the meetings and
quarterly assessments which will be provided to the organization.
Evaluation of the components of learning. In an effort to evaluate the learning and
application of the strategies and resources provided through the mentorship program, various
methods will be utilized. These methods, as outlined on Table 7, will determine the components
of Declarative Knowledge, Procedural Skills, Attitude, Confidence, and Commitment which the
mentees have acquired both during and at the end of the program. During a series of in-person,
group, and video-chat meetings, assessments such as rater scales, role play, and the exhibition of
use of resources will be provide insight to the level of learning and transfer each mentee has
attained. These activities and interactions will also contribute to and cement these elements,
ensuring that the program succeeds.
EXPERIENCES OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN FEMALE ATTORNEYS 81
Table 5
Evaluation of the Components of Learning for the Program.
Method(s) or Activity(ies) Timing
Declarative Knowledge “I know it.”
Knowledge checks using Likert scale During all in-person group
meetings
Knowledge checks using personal narrative At the completion of all
one-on-one meetings
Procedural Skills “I can do it right now.”
Role play with various scenarios During all in-person group
meetings
Role play with interview scenarios During all in-person
meetings
Attitude “I believe this is worthwhile.”
Mentees and mentors will sacrifice their time to attend these
events.
During all meetings
Mentors will share their resources and network with the
mentees.
Toward the end stages of
the mentor relationship
Confidence “I think I can do it on the job.”
Mentees will exhibit the skills and behaviors necessary to
overcome the barriers of recruitment, retention, and
advancement.
Toward the end stages of
the mentor relationship
Commitment “I will do it on the job.”
Mentees will put the skills and behaviors they’ve learned into
action in their respective places of business/learning.
Upon completion of the
mentorship relationship
Mentees will participate in post-program check-ins as a
continual form of assessment
Upon completion of the
mentorship relationship
Level 1: Reaction
To assess the reactions of our stakeholders as they relate to the mentor program, it is
important to conduct a formative and summative evaluation (Kirkpatrick & Kirkpatrick, 2016).
Within the Level 1 stage of learning, formative reaction is measured by learner approval,
EXPERIENCES OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN FEMALE ATTORNEYS 82
engagement, and relevance. The summative component is established immediately upon
completion of the program or meeting. Stakeholders should be encouraged to provide feedback
but not compelled. This feedback should include stakeholders’ thoughts on the relevance of the
meeting topics (strategies and resources suggested), the practicality of activities conducted, their
ease or difficulty of application of learning, and the convenience of the meeting environment and
times. Table 8 highlights the methods for assessing mentees’ reactions as they relate to
engagement, relevancy, and satisfaction during and after their mentor meetings.
Table 6
Components to Measure Reactions to the Program.
Method(s) or Tool(s) Timing
Engagement
Observed by mentor and/or other administrators
in attendance
Ongoing
Mentees’ amount and depth of questioning During meetings
Mentees’ active participation in the activities
and strategies
During meetings and school/workplace
implementation
Meeting debriefs Upon completion of meetings
Relevance
Mentee pulse checks Mid-meeting
Meeting debriefs Upon completion of meetings
Customer Satisfaction
Meeting debriefs Upon completion of meetings
Quarterly evaluations Quarterly
Evaluation Tools
Immediately following the program implementation. To determine the quality of
mentor meetings, it is imperative to obtain feedback from the mentees and, in some cases, the
mentors. Feedback may be comprised of various components of the program, but at the very
least should provide a clear measure of the mentees’ knowledge, commitment, attitude, and
EXPERIENCES OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN FEMALE ATTORNEYS 83
confidence in their new-found skills. In all meetings, mentees will be observed by the mentors
and/or other administrative staff for engagement and attitude. These observations will be
documented in each mentee’s file and combined with their self-reported assessment as illustrated
in Table 7, after the meetings. Together, the documents (observations and assessments) will be
used to confirm learning.
Table 7
Immediate Feedback Survey
Strongly
Disagree
Disagree Agree Strongly
Agree
1. The mentor meeting was relevant to
me.
1 2 3 4
2. The mentor meeting was interesting
to me.
1 2 3 4
3. The mentor meeting added value to
me.
1 2 3 4
4. I can immediately apply what I have
learned.
1 2 3 4
5. I am confident in applying what I
have learned.
1 2 3 4
6. The mentor meeting allowed for
practice and feedback.
1 2 3 4
Delayed for a period after the program implementation. Three months after the
completion of the mentor relationship and meetings, mentees will be asked to complete a debrief
related to their sustained learning of the concepts taught in the meetings. With this tool, mentees
will be assessed on strategies for overcoming barriers, goal-setting and achievement, and
networking. The evaluation will be comprised of declarative and procedural questions focused
EXPERIENCES OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN FEMALE ATTORNEYS 84
on the relevance and application of learning. It will specifically measure participants’ satisfaction
and program relevance (Level 1), participants’ confidence in applying what they have learned
(Level 2), the application of what they have learned (Level 3), and their overall performance
after having implemented the program’s strategies (Level 4). The survey contains Likert-scale-
style questions illustrated in Table 8.
Table 8
Delayed Feedback Survey
Strongly
Disagree
Disagree Agree Strongly
Agree
1. The mentor meeting proved to be
relevant to me over a period of time.
1 2 3 4
2. I would recommend the mentor
program.
1 2 3 4
3. The mentor meeting proved to be
valuable to me over a period of time.
1 2 3 4
4. I was able to consistently apply what
I learned.
1 2 3 4
5. I am still confident in applying what I
have learned.
1 2 3 4
6. I was less confident in applying what
I have learned.
1 2 3 4
7. I have been able to demonstrate what
I have learned.
1 2 3 4
Data Analysis and Reporting
Data analysis and reporting should delineate between the three groups of African-
American women (young AA females, AA female law students, and AA female attorneys). The
analysis should be straightforward and transparent. First, the analysis should measure the number
EXPERIENCES OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN FEMALE ATTORNEYS 85
of young AA females who were provided resources including mentor services, academic
preparation courses, and professional networking opportunities. Second, the number of AA
female law students participating in mock interviews and bar exam preparation courses should be
measured. Finally, the number of current AA female attorneys in preparation for advancement
opportunities should be reported. The results of both the Immediate and Delayed survey items
should be distributed.
EXPERIENCES OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN FEMALE ATTORNEYS 86
Appendix D: Participant Biographies
Participant 1
Anita L. was born and raised in Southern California to a 15-year-old. Because of this, her
grandparents raised her. Growing up, Anita experienced insecurities due to being a poor, dark-
skinned girl. However, she excelled in school and was accepted to Berkeley. After completing
her degree there, she gained admittance to Loyola Law School. Anita has been practicing for 14
years, first in a mid-sized law firm but now owns her own firm. She is single and has one child.
Anita shared an epiphany she had regarding self-awareness, “I think it’s all part of my journey.
To know that, “Huh. You can’t let other people define you. You can’t let society define you.” If
so, you’re always going to be changing every day.”
Participant 2
Shonda B. was born in Michigan to teenage parents of Jamaican ancestry with a strong
Seventh-Day Adventist Christian upbringing. Her early school years were filled with teasing and
bullying because she had bucked teeth. Once she moved to Southern California during her junior
high school years, she became more open to a diverse group of friends. She attended high school
and college at Seventh-Day Adventist schools. Shonda went to law school in Southern
California. She is married to a minister and they have three children. She works for the district
attorney’s office in her county and has been practicing for 20 years. Shonda believes that if
people seek God, He will guide them to make the right decisions, “I don’t know if it’s something
within the person, or there’s environment factors, but I think that at some point, you have to take
some responsibility. You don’t have control over how you are raised, but at some point, God will
give you a moment of clarity to make a choice. All you got to do is just show up.”
EXPERIENCES OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN FEMALE ATTORNEYS 87
Participant 3
Kendra W. was born and raised in Southern California. When her parents got divorced,
she stayed with her mother. She attended high school at a private Christian girls’ school in Los
Angeles. Her went to the same undergraduate and law school in Southern California. Kendra
practiced for 21 years and just recently left the legal field for the ministry. She is not married and
has no children. Kendra believes that her strong sense of self, confidence, and determination
derives from her mom and her strong faith in God: “I am not one of those people who say racism
doesn’t exist. I’m not one of those people. And I’m also not one of those people who say, um,
your blackness doesn’t require more of you a lot of times. I’m not one of those people, but I am
one of those people who believe what God says, that nothing is impossible. And the only thing
that defeats you is you.”
Participant 4
Rachel J. was born and raised in Southern California by single mother who was a
professor. She attended high school in the San Fernando Valley and college at a California State
University. After a few years and a master’s degree, she returned to school to earn her law
degree but chose to go out of state. She has been practicing for three years. She is married with
one child. She has worked her entire career in-house. Rachel shared the life values she learned in
this manner, “I graduated when I was 16. I started going to a community college, but I also
started working [at Louisiana Fried Chicken]. I had a regular job, I was responsible for paying
my own insurance, or paying for my gas, or paying food, any type of clothing that I wanted and
it all pretty much [started] when I graduated, not because [my mom] didn’t have the means. It
was because she wanted me to know that in order to have things you have to work for it.”
EXPERIENCES OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN FEMALE ATTORNEYS 88
Participant 5
Gabby S. was born and raised in Memphis, TN by a single mother who was a teacher. In
junior high, Gabby’s mother moved them to Northern California due to a job opportunity. She
was strongly influenced by her mother’s high expectations early in life which turned out to be a
lifelong benefit. She attended college in Southern California and returned to Northern California
for law school. Gabby has been practicing for 14 years, originally in big law, but now she works
in-house. She discussed her mother’s influence, “When I was in third grade I didn’t do so well
on a test, and at the time my mom had gone out of time and her friend was watching me. So, I
was supposed to take the test home to an adult who would look it over and then sign and then say
that, “I’ve reviewed this. I see her score.” Because it wasn’t very good, I forged my mom’s
friend’s signature because I was that afraid of my mother. And then of course, like my teacher
knowing that clearly an eight-year-old did this was like, “Okay.” Like called up my mom’s,
friend and was like, “Did you sign this?” And she was like, “No.” Like I got in trouble. To give
you a sense of how afraid of my mother I was, just of not doing well. Because, you know, she
was just like. That was not an option. It was not an option. I would be punished if I did not do
well. There were consequences to not doing well, and that carried through high school.”
Participant 6
Heather P. was born and raised in Oakland, CA by a single mom after her dad’s crack
cocaine addiction broke up their home. She grew up in what she calls the “hood hood” where
drugs and crime were rampant and she was terrified to go outside. She excelled in school and
after completing law school worked for in big law for two years with the goal to open her own
firm. She has been practicing for 10 years. She is married and has a newborn. She summed up
where her inspiration derived: “My dad was on drugs. My mom pretty much broke up with my
dad, kicked him out of the house. I’ll never forget, I was five years old, put his stuff in a garbage
EXPERIENCES OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN FEMALE ATTORNEYS 89
bag and set it on the porch. And said, “You can’t come back. I’m the youngest of three kids, and
so my mom raised us by herself. until I was five years old, I was with my mom. I didn’t go to
preschool. I didn’t really go to daycare, but my early memory in learning were with my mom.
Even though my dad was on drugs for a lot of my childhood, he ended up becoming a paralegal.
And he worked for an African American law firm. It was one of the bigger law firms [with]
about three partners, and I remember learning about people like Thurgood Marshall. And having
my dad as a paralegal, and seeing that, this is a reality, there are Black attorneys. Not very many
of them, but they are out there. And by eight [years old], I already had it set. I knew I was gonna
be an attorney.”
Participant 7
Latina J. was born and raised in a middle-class AA community in Atlanta, GA. She
attended college at Emery University and law school at Stanford. Upon graduation, she worked
at a boutique firm for 2 years and then transitioned to big law, where she has been practicing for
the last six years. Latina is married with one child. Latina’s background is important to note, as
she shared,
Both of my parents are working professionals. and both well-educated. So, I grew up in
sort of an upper middle-class Black neighborhood in the city. It was a traditional
neighborhood, I think it used to be where all of the Black sort of teachers and doctors
lived. During residential segregation, but most of the people in my neighborhood were
educated and owned their homes or were buying their homes. I went to an all-Black
elementary school, that was very much upper middle class. I mean, there were students
that got free lunch. I didn’t know what free lunch was until I got to middle school. So, we
didn’t grow up in the projects, or in a poor neighborhood. We did extracurricular
activities. We did dance, and tennis, and swimming. We had more in common
EXPERIENCES OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN FEMALE ATTORNEYS 90
socioeconomically with the White students, I didn’t know what a housing project was
until I went to middle school.
Participant 8
Rashida T. was born and raised in Oakland, California. At young age she experienced a
great deal of instability and transition. Her dad gained custody of her as a toddler, then at eight
years old, he died. This situation prompted her to have to go and live with her mother who was
not very stable. As an only child in a chaotic household, she spent most of her time in her room
reading and writing. This served her well as she excelled in high school and gained entrance to
UC Berkeley as an undergraduate. She attended an out-of-state law school and was awarded a
clerkship. Upon passing the Bar, she worked in mid-sized firm but now owns her own firm.
Rashida has been practicing law for seven years. She is single and has no children. She has a
passion for mentoring, “I think that they need to see that they need to see the action available.
Without having seen it, I had no idea that it was something I could do and be good at it. Seeing it
up close and personal, that’s it? That’s all you gotta do? I can do that.”
EXPERIENCES OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN FEMALE ATTORNEYS 91
Appendix E: Credibility and Trustworthiness
In order to ensure that this study maintained credibility and trustworthiness, there are
various provisions that were made. First, the implementation of the research methods of
phenomenology and narrative inquiry are well established in qualitative investigation as well as
in case study design (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). These methods reduced the levels of researcher
interpretation which may have compromised the credibility of findings. Secondly, it was vital to
develop familiarity with the background/culture of the participants prior to the interviews
(Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). In addition to having worked closely with attorneys in the legal
community for nearly two decades, this researcher shares a cultural background with most, if not
all participants as a black woman in America. Being similarly-situated allowed for a deeper level
of trust and understanding between the researcher and the participants. Much of the colloquial
discourse used in the AA community did not need to be defined or interpreted because it was
mutually understood. When discussing gendered experiences, there too, was a strong level of
understanding and trust in that the researcher had also endured most, if not all, of the situations
the participants’ shared. Thirdly, triangulation of data, such as historical narratives from
pioneering AA female attorneys, in-person interviews with current AA female attorneys, and
quantitative data on this group ensured trustworthiness of the participants and validated the
information that the participants provided.
Abstract (if available)
Abstract
The percentage of African-American female attorneys today is at the same level it was during the Postbellum period, two percent. This study evaluated the experiences of African-American female attorneys as they relate to their recruitment, retention, and advancement and any knowledge, motivation, and organizational barriers of these areas. The study utilized a qualitative methods design for data collection and analysis to evaluate the assumed barriers or influences. Data collection was conducted through an investigation of historical data, eight one-on-one, in-person and telephonic interviews, and quantitative data analysis. The findings suggest that while barriers such as micro-aggressions and the devaluing of diversity and inclusion in their workplaces, lack of professional mentors, and minimal access to academic and professional resources existed, they served as the impetus for the participants’ drive for success and excellence. Participants indicated that of the barriers they encountered, the lack of professional mentors was the most important to them because the presence of mentors would mitigate the effects of the other barriers. Based on the findings, this study recommends further investigation into the impact mentorship has on the recruitment, retention, and advancement of African-American female attorneys.
Linked assets
University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses
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Asset Metadata
Creator
Seale, Shindale Marsha
(author)
Core Title
A legacy of resilience: the experiences of African-American female attorneys: a case study
School
Rossier School of Education
Degree
Doctor of Education
Degree Program
Organizational Change and Leadership (On Line)
Publication Date
08/07/2018
Defense Date
06/21/2018
Publisher
University of Southern California
(original),
University of Southern California. Libraries
(digital)
Tag
African-American,female attorneys,gendered-racism,mentors,OAI-PMH Harvest,persistence,Social Justice
Format
application/pdf
(imt)
Language
English
Contributor
Electronically uploaded by the author
(provenance)
Advisor
Hirabayashi, Kimberly (
committee chair
), Ahmadi, Shafiqa (
committee member
), Malloy, Courtney (
committee member
)
Creator Email
shindale.seale@gmail.com,sseale@usc.edu
Permanent Link (DOI)
https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-c89-58873
Unique identifier
UC11670844
Identifier
etd-SealeShind-6681.pdf (filename),usctheses-c89-58873 (legacy record id)
Legacy Identifier
etd-SealeShind-6681.pdf
Dmrecord
58873
Document Type
Dissertation
Format
application/pdf (imt)
Rights
Seale, Shindale Marsha
Type
texts
Source
University of Southern California
(contributing entity),
University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses
(collection)
Access Conditions
The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the a...
Repository Name
University of Southern California Digital Library
Repository Location
USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus MC 2810, 3434 South Grand Avenue, 2nd Floor, Los Angeles, California 90089-2810, USA
Tags
African-American
female attorneys
gendered-racism
mentors
persistence