Women at Work: Combatting Sexism and Cultivating Success
Photo Credit: Author
“It’s in the water.”
The “it” is sexism. A panel of great insights gets underway nice and fast when you start by stating the obvious. This panel, Combatting Sexism, hosted by Virginia Law Women, consisted of four attorneys: Natasha Zech, Michelle York ’16, Casey Trombley-Shapiro Jonas ’17, Christine Dinan ’12, and was moderated by Professor Anne Coughlin. Sexism in the workplace hasn’t yet been completely filtered out of the legal pool in the post-MeToo era. Even still, it is surprising that a lot of the advice about how to combat sexism is still shared in whispers. Virginia Law Women provided a forum for that conversation to be had out in the open.
But wait, “we put tampons in the bathrooms,” so isn’t sexism solved? Unfortunately, not yet. But it’s worth discussing how we got here. The legal profession is historically white and male-dominated. According to the ABA, from 1950 to 1970, only 3% of all lawyers in the US were women. By 2024, 41% of all lawyers in the US were women. Statistics for private practice and certain areas of public practice are drastically different, as public service statistics vary greatly across non-profit and government work. In private practice, it was only in 2023 when the number of female associates at law firms outnumbered males for the first time in US history (reaching 50.3%).
Women have outnumbered men in law school enrollment in the United States since 2016. There is a notable exception in UVA’s recent history, where the Law School’s Class of 2017 was 36% women. Panelist Ms. Trombley-Shapiro Jonas was part of that class and was herself President of Virginia Law Women. Apparently, the gender breakdown of the Class of 2017 was the result of an unfortunate mathematical error in statistical prediction in admissions. We were assured that a class with that gender disparity would not happen again. (The next class, the Class of 2018, was 46% women.)
Even with rising representation in law schools and in associate positions, it will be decades before we see substantial shifts in the diversity of gender and ethnicity in senior attorney roles. There are at least two contributing factors. First, lawyers generally work until later in life than other workers in the US (13% of practicing lawyers are sixty-five or older, according to the ABA) and thus older generations simply haven’t retired yet. And second, the industry heavily prioritizes significant years of experience before a transition into a leadership role is anticipated.
Nothing about the foregoing, like nothing discussed by the panel, is meant to suggest that sexism exclusively occurs through the conduct of men directed at women. Sexism informs conduct between people of all genders. And as firm culture is intrinsically hierarchical, there’s a steep power dynamic between young associates and supervising attorneys, making sexism harder to talk about openly, harder to challenge, and harder to change. So what do we do?
First, the panel discussed the ways in which sexism shows up in the workplace and how to watch out for it. More than one panelist was assumed to be a new secretary on her first day as an associate. But even if a woman made it to her desk unscathed by gender-based assumptions, other assumptions creep in. For example, people assume that Beth, a woman, knows how to use the coffee machine, and so she could (should) take the time to put a pot on for the whole team. (Thank you to user-friendly Keurig, which I now almost forgive for its environmental hazards and terrible taste). Oh, and since Beth makes the most aesthetically coherent PowerPoints, she can help Tom clean up his slides. And a quick harmless directive at the end of an email from a Partner to the team, reading “Let’s go to lunch on Wednesday—Beth will set it up.” And the expectation that Beth will help plan the holiday party. And Beth will get everyone to sign Tom’s birthday card. And. And. And.
The panel did not demonize any of the tasks mentioned above, nor is the message that this work is in any way beneath a member of the team. In fact, Ms. York described that it was her PowerPoint expertise that helped her advance into areas of interest at her firm. It provided her with opportunities to learn about different subject areas she was interested in and to work with different partners. She advised that the key is asking yourself, before you take on something that’s not really your responsibility, “will this help me gain experience or connections which will help me get closer to what I want here at this organization?” (If not, Ms. York suggests as a response, “Thanks, Tom, can we first see if Marketing has the bandwidth to take this on?”)
Sometimes, conduct is more flagrant. Despite the fact that the agency “put tampons in the bathrooms and has a DEI committee, if we can’t talk about the wildly inappropriate thing a senior attorney said at a meeting, then what have we solved?” Communicating about sexism in the workplace comes in various forms, and the advice below is more of an arsenal than one-size-fits-all.
Communicating Boundaries
First, the panel emphatically agreed that, regardless of gender, “the better you are at your job, the more you can get away with.” That’s probably true everywhere. Second, “your boundaries are your business, not anyone else’s.” You don’t owe anyone an explanation as to the nature of your boundaries. But do make sure, when you say you have a hard stop at a certain time, that you signal your availability in other ways, such as “I can take a look at this first thing tomorrow morning if it’s pressing.”
Communicating Through Modeling Behavior
Modeling behavior and visibility are tools for people of all genders to challenge outdated notions of the “traditional” family model. Instead of calling someone your “work wife” or your “work husband”, be kind about your family and their family. If families are invited to a work function, and if you’re comfortable doing so, Ms. Zech recommends that you bring them. Visibility makes a difference when your colleagues see that you are a practicing attorney with kids.
Communicating and Practicing Authentically
Professor Coughlin was told as a young professor that she would have to be “twice as smart and twice as tough as the male professors.” (The 1Ls who don’t have Professor Coughlin for Crim laughed. Section J will tell you that this was unsurprising because, as a matter of fact, she is.) A couple of members of the panel started making fists at their sides and shifting in their seats, recalling the behavior of older, senior male attorneys toward them at depositions. Cautionary tales, but also realities of the practice and of academia. So how do you want to advocate in the face of that? Fortunately, what constitutes “effective advocacy” and strong practice skills has evolved beyond traditionally masculine-coded descriptors. Authenticity is amongst our best tools.
Communicating with Other Women
Admittedly, this was one topic for which we wish we had more time. After the panel, some students stayed to discuss further. The panelists acknowledged that there might be a unique challenge of answering the call when it comes from inside the house. This is in the water, too.
Women entering the legal profession and finding success is an “ongoing movement.” Sexism may still flow through the currents of the legal field, but awareness is the first act of purification—and with each new wave of lawyers, little by little, the water is clearing up.
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Staff Editor — Alexis Pudvan ’28
nrt9un@virginia.edu