Exploring the Impact of Women’s Representation on the Professional Careers of Women of Color

Independent variables

The study used three independent variables. The first variable is women’s overall representation (1 = less than 30 percent, 2 = 30–49 percent, and 3 = 50 percent and over) and is based on R. M. Kanter’s (1977) token theory and D. Dahlerup’s (1988) critical mass theory, which explain outcomes with regard to the numerical representation of women. R. M. Kanter (1977) predicted that organizational context varied based on whether women’s representation was skewed or balanced, while D. Dahlerup (1988) predicted that women’s influence would shift once their representation met or exceeded a critical mass, which she defined as 30 percent or more. The second variable is women’s representation in senior roles. This dichotomous measure is based on the following question: “Are there senior women in your firm?” (0 = No, 1 = Yes). Finally, we measured the leadership status of women of color respondents based on the following question: “Do you currently hold a leadership position? (Coded 0 = No, 1 = Yes).

Dependent variables

We created one composite measure reflecting the perception of a positive and supportive workplace environment to increase statistical power, initially low due to our small sample size. The measure reflects the level of agreement to the following statements: (1) I have had good mentors at my workplace, (2) I have a sponsor who is willing to use influence and power to help advance my career, (3) I have had as much access to networking opportunities as my colleagues, and (4) I feel welcome to socialize with my coworkers. The attributes for these statements were initially coded 1 (strongly agree) to 7 (strongly disagree) and were reverse coded to reflect greater support as numerical value increases. We also added the following to the composite measure: (5) I have to prove myself over and over again to get the same level of recognition as my colleagues, (6) When I give an outstanding performance, people seem surprised, (7) In meetings, other people get credit for ideas I originally offered, and (8) I get less respect than my colleagues for the same level and quality of work. For items 5 to 8, we used the original coding, 1 (strongly agree) to 7 (strongly disagree). We used the means of the eight items to create the composite measure, and a Cronbach’s alpha of 0.85 indicates adequate internal consistency. The average mean of support for the entire subsample of women is 5.17, which suggests high levels of support across the board. The mean for White women (n = 602) is 4.94 and for women of color (n = 86) is 5.22. According to a t test, the means for White and non-white women are not statistically significantly different.

Control variables

Control variables include marital status (Coded 0 = No, 1 = Yes, married), parental status (Coded 0 = No, 1 = Yes, parent), year passing the bar exam (Coded 0 = Before 2010, 1 = between 2010 and 2020), and position level (coded 1 = low seniority, 2 = mid seniority, 3 = high seniority, and 4 = off council).

Token pressures: Prove it again and burden of doubt

We begin by analyzing respondents’ experience as tokens or solos in their workplaces. Token and solo status are associated with an increased salience of differences, resulting in a range of patterned biases including prove it again and burden of doubt (Kanter 1977; Williams and Dempsey 2014). All respondents identified a lack of representation of other women of color as a central theme when discussing the challenges they faced at work. While women comprise 39 percent of Utah’s legal profession, women of color make up only 4 percent of practitioners statewide. As these numbers reveal, a large majority of women peers, colleagues, and leaders that women of color encounter are White. And, as our quantitative findings show, even when women of color hold leadership positions, they continue to experience token pressures and a lack of workplace support. Respondents discussed a range of experiences growing out of their status as solos or tokens in a highly competitive professional context.

Importantly, while respondents lamented the lack of peers who looked like them, they did not necessarily view the presence of White women as facilitative of their career success. In other words, respondents did not express that token or solo pressures had been reduced by the presence of White women peers or supervisors. This is reinforced by survey findings, which suggest that the presence of women in their workplace did not lessen their experience of performance pressures or doubts about their competence and capability. Nala, a mid-career Black attorney at a large law firm, was particularly concerned about the lack of peers in the workplace, and she articulated what she viewed as hypocrisy among many White women peers who claim to support women in the workplace but do not:

I have seen time and time again where females will say they support women but they don’t have any women in their office. Or the only women in their office are non-legal professionals, secretaries and paralegals, and they overwhelmingly hire men. I used to joke [that] I love to work with rich White men because he’s in a comfortable place and he’s willing to share that bounty. And nobody is going to question if he recommends an African American woman. If a woman refers me, that’s subject to more vetting.

Here, Nala notes both the contradiction between women’s stated support for women and the lack of women in their work organizations. However, she also notes the pressure women may face when hiring or promoting women due to the scrutiny they receive for doing so. Irene, a multiracial attorney who works for in a government office, also articulated the lack of support for women of color in law, pointing to “women first” diversity efforts (e.g., Apfelbaum 2016) that tend to downplay the role of racism in shaping women’s careers. For Irene, color blindness and a lack of awareness of the compounding effects of race and gender often means that White women failed to address the challenges she faced as a woman of color.

I really think that when we think of inclusion and diversity and the law in Utah, we think of women. We don’t think of people of color. As a woman of color, I know who my allies are. And many times, the White women are not my allies. So, people think, if we get a woman, then we hit the diversity quota, right? Or let’s get a woman and then they don’t consider the only Black man in the state.

Like Irene and Nala, Patricia, an early career Latina attorney working in government, did not perceive that the presence of White women necessarily benefited her in workplace. She discussed the challenges of navigating her career as the solo women of color in her workplace. She connected her experience as a solo at work to her broad experience as a person of color living in a predominantly white community:

There’s no peers of yours. You go into an all White room. Um, yes, there are some women there but it’s usually the majority [are] men. . . . Like I can go a whole day without seeing anyone of color, a whole day and go to the grocery story, I can go out for lunch, I can go to the gas station and see no one.

By noting the absence of peers, Patricia was pointing out the lack of any people of color in her workplace and community. This suggests that while women remain in the minority in the legal profession, Patricia defines her peers—those who can provide support and solidarity—as people of color.

For Patricia and other respondents, the lack of representation exacerbated racial biases that posit women of color as less qualified and capable. Patricia shared an experience from early in her career when her qualifications were questioned by a woman colleague:

When I came to the office, in fact, one of the females in my office said to me, “Just so you know, the team’s really upset that you got the position because [of] your lack of experience.” And I was like, well thank you. . . . I didn’t know exactly what to do and so that’s still kind of haunted me.

Other respondents discussed the ways in which they were expected to continually work twice as hard to prove their right to occupy their positions. Alexa, a mid-career Asian attorney in a small firm, described a significant burden of doubt that shapes her experience as a lawyer. Noting that she doesn’t have the same credibility as other attorneys because she does not look like the typical attorney in her firm, she noted that she had lost clients and opportunities due to her status as a woman of color. Alexa said, “I think that they just assume that because I am a female minority that I don’t have as much weight or credibility as the other partners do, which is frustrating.” Alexa clearly articulated the prove it again burden she carried as a woman of color lawyer in a white-dominated profession, “I’ve had to work harder, longer, stronger, smarter than a lot of my White counterparts because I don’t get the automatic credibility that they get just because they have a JD after their name.” Francis, a Latina attorney currently in solo practice, articulated the notion that women generally and women of color specifically have to be “twice as good” to be viewed as competent and capable. She noted that even two decades into her career, “my intelligence or my competency is always in doubt.”

Respondents were aware of their solo and token status and understood the challenges that status created starting early in their careers. The extreme underrepresentation of women of color in their work organizations increased the salience of their racial difference and exacerbated pressures to prove their competence and overcome the burden of doubt. Notably, our respondents did not view women’s overall presentation—or the presence of White women—as a key factor for reducing these pressures. Instead, they viewed White women peers as limited in their understanding of the unique challenges facing women of color. Thus, interviews provide more nuanced insight into the processes that limit the impact of women’s overall representation on the careers of women of color.

Isolation and lack of support

The second major factor that emerged from interviews was a sense of isolation and a lack of workplace support. Our quantitative analysis suggests that the presence of women—overall and in leadership roles—does not significantly increase workplace supports for women of color. These findings suggest that even in rare firms where women represent half or more of employees, women of color do not experience unique benefits. Interviews underscored the relative lack of support women of color receive from their White women colleagues. Several respondents shared examples of White women colleagues who failed to provide the types of relational support they needed to advance. Multiple respondents shared stories from their careers that illustrated the lack of support their received from colleagues or instances where women colleagues hindered their progress.

Respondents with children were particularly surprised by the lack of support they received from women colleagues around issues relevant to work-family balance. As previous research has noted, motherhood penalties are particularly salient for women in highly skilled professional careers (Glass and Fodor 2018). Navigating pregnancy, parental leave, and childcare can undermine professional women’s status and exacerbate negative stereotypes related to women’s competence and career commitment (Ollilainen 2019). Yet the women in our study noted that these challenges were rarely ameliorated by women colleagues. Alexa shared an example following her return from parental leave. While she assumed that her women colleagues would support her following the birth of her first child, she was mistaken. Instead, she found much more support and accommodation from her male colleagues.

I got a lot less support from the women, which was kind of shocking to me, than I did from the men. My male colleagues and friends [were] offering to step in for me whenever I needed to go to court. Or if I needed somebody to take over a trial for me or a hearing. I had a lot more support there than I did from the women. I had a lot of women who were like, “Well, I did it. Why can’t you?”

Importantly, some respondents reported receiving some support from women in their work organizations related to parental issues and family responsibilities. For example, Elizbeth, a multiracial attorney who worked for an educational institution, stated that the presence of other working mothers in her workplace reduced the anxiety she felt about taking parental leave. But nearly all respondents noted that the presence of White women was necessary but insufficient for reducing their sense of isolation as solos or tokens and providing them the types of supports they needed to advance. Nala summarized this sentiment most clearly:

[It] goes back to women supporting women. So many women say they do that but in practice they do not. Their hiring practices show otherwise. . . . Despite what people say, ‘support women,’ but don’t realize that their practices hurt women or disrupt women’s lives.

Beyond work-family supports, several respondents lamented the lack of organizational support to facilitate their careers. Respondents noted that not only do they lack support in their work organizations, they also lack support from professional and affinity groups that aim to support women in law. While discussing the major statewide professional organization focused on advancing women in law, Una, an Asian solo practitioner with more than three decades of experience, noted how the focus and target excludes women of color: “[The organization] [is] very, very much targeted to White women. Not just that. White women lawyers in large firms.” Irene echoed this concern when discussing a newer organization that is more focused on inclusion generally rather than advancing women per se. She said,

Are you familiar with [organization]? And it’s all White women, right? So they’re up on their, on the bandwagon, on their Twitter and Instagram pages. Look at how great and inclusive we are! And it’s all White women. And so that’s really frustrating.

As a result of this lack of engagement in intersectional issues within professional organizations, many respondents felt like they lacked representation, leadership, and support at the organization or professional level. As Alexa noted, “there are no support groups for attorneys of color and there’s not a real safe space where you can talk about it and learn how to deal with it.”

Respondents who were able to overcome a sense of isolation and a lack of social support were those who were able to develop peer relationships with other women of color within the field though not necessarily in their work organizations. For Irene, the key factor to her career success was her access to a network of women of color from law school. This network—and the connections it facilitated—not only reduced a sense of isolation but also opened up opportunities for her and other members.

I built really strong foundational relationships with several women [of color] that I went to law school with. As we continued to grow in our various areas of legal work, we still stayed connected and informative and supportive of each other. . . . This greatly benefited me throughout my entire career. . . . So we continue to network for each other and with each other to kind of build connections and opportunities. And then once one person got an opportunity, then she brought several of us with her and vice versa.

As Irene notes, the strength of her network facilitated opportunities for members. A sense of connection and investment in each other’s careers also supported a sense of reciprocity in terms of supporting the careers of other members. While this network was vital for Irene, most respondents lamented the lack of strong peers of color who could reduce their isolation and access to social and professional support. In a legal context where women peers are overwhelmingly White, women of color often experienced exclusion from key networks and relations of support.

Lack of mentorship and sponsorship

The third factor that emerged from our analysis of interviews was a lack of mentors and sponsors who could support respondents’ career advancement. A great deal of research finds that mentors and sponsors can be particularly important in supporting the careers of individuals who are underrepresented in a profession or organization (e.g., Wingfield 2019). Mentors and sponsors are critical for helping individuals navigate complex organizational environments, providing them guidance, connecting them with opportunities and otherwise serving as sounding boards for career aspirations (Fowler, Gudmundsson, and O’Gorman 2007). Survey findings suggest that women’s representation does not significantly increase access to mentors, sponsors, and network connections for women of color. Indeed, respondents discussed the relative absence of women of color in senior roles and the lack of senior White women willing or capable of providing mentorship and sponsorship required for career advancement.

While Lucy, a Black attorney at a government job, acknowledged how important some senior White women had been in supporting her career, she noted that the mentorship they provided was not equivalent to the potential mentorship she would have received from senior lawyers of color. Although Lucy had achieved a very senior position in her organization, she noted that she still experiences racism and sexism on the job. She discussed how difficult it can be to forge a career in law due to the lack of attorneys who look like her: “[It is] tremendously difficult [here] because of the lack of a legal community and so you don’t have the mentors, the coaches that look like you.” Yet, despite these challenges, she attributes her career success, at least in part, to support she received from a small group of senior White women:

Four women—fascinating women, I became friendly with a couple of them, and a position became available because one of them was retiring. And they said you should apply for this position. . . . All of those women have been retired but two of the women I’ve maintained a friendship with over the years. . . . Women that were a few years older than me and so we would talk about the job or attorneys or, well, watch out for this person, always ignore that, don’t let that get to you. . . . So more of a camaraderie, I would say, and some mentorship but more of a propping up, a support system.

While some respondents were able to find mentors and sponsors among senior White women in their firms, several respondents were not so fortunate. Multiple respondents shared examples where senior women served as the source of bias. Jennifer, an Asian attorney employed in the corporate sector, shared an experience where her very public scrutiny by a woman judge reinforced negative stereotypes about women generally and women of color specifically:

I had a really bad experience with a judge who totally went to town on me [in court]. . . . What she said to me was that she didn’t think my clothing was appropriate. And we had a conversation about it, at the end of the day, we were wearing the same outfit. . . . She said two things that stick out to me as being pretty sexist: I’ve worked for the past 20 years of my life breaking down barriers for women in law but every time a woman like you walks into the courtroom, you set us back 20 years.

Frances also recounted an experience in which she failed to get a job because a senior woman partner deemed her “too assertive,” a common stereotype about women of color in the workplace (Livingston, Rosette, and Washington 2012).

I interviewed and she told me later on that one of the female senior partners thought that I was just a little too assertive. One of the female litigators. So, you know, one of the litigators thought that I was a little too assertive. And I’m thinking, “Well, you’re hiring me to be a litigator! What do you want me to be, a wallflower?”

Several early career respondents viewed senior women as obstacles, having risen in their careers at a different time and under different circumstances. And because the vast majority of women who have risen to senior roles in Utah’s legal profession are White, several respondents felt these women simply did not understand the particular pressures they faced as women of color. Daniela, a Latina lawyer at a large law firm, summarized this succinctly by stating, “there’s not anyone who is a model that I’m able to follow.” As a result of the lack of role models and support from senior women, Daniela felt that she did not get the same high-quality assignments as her peers and, as a result, her career advancement was stalled. She said, “Nothing’s overt. I’m just not sure . . . I can’t really think of anything that’s direct. Other than I just feel like others around me are getting other opportunities and I’m just kind of stuck in this narrow practice area.”

Some respondents sought mentors outside of Utah; thus, while they were able to develop strong mentors, they were less likely to benefit from the presence of sponsors who could help them seek out and navigate opportunities in their own firms or in the local market. For example, Fiona, a Black attorney employed in the corporate sector, attributed her career success to the presence of two mentors, both Black women, who helped guide her career. Unlike White women, these women understood the complexity of navigating legal career as a Black woman and could provide the type of guidance and mentorship that would support Fiona over the long term. Fiona noted, “They knew the dance, [they] were able to keep my head in the game.” Unfortunately, however, both women practice law in New York, far from Utah’s legal environment. That distance meant that their ability to advance Fiona’s career locally was limited.