Compiled for the LCLD Board of Directors every Wednesday, this digest is designed to brief you on the latest headlines about LCLD Members and organizations, as well as thought-provoking articles on diversity in the legal profession, talent development, mentoring, and leadership. Starting in 2015, the Digest will be archived on the LCLD web site.
If you have questions about the Digest, or articles you’d like to share, please email Caitlin Puffenberger at cpuffenberger@lcldnet.com.
1. Women and Leadership: Public Says Women are Equally Qualified, but Barriers Persist
Pew Research Center, 1/14/15
A comprehensive study from the Pew Research Center found valuable statistics on how the public perceives women in leadership roles, notably:
- Most Americans find women indistinguishable from men on key leadership traits such as intelligence and capacity for innovation.
- 31 percent believe women are better at being honest and ethical in business, compared to just 3 percent for men.
- Women aren’t achieving top business positions because they’re held to higher standards and the public is not ready to hire/elect women leaders, both men and women believe.
- Most people believe that even as more women move into management, men will continue to hold more top positions.
- 65 percent of women say their gender faces some discrimination, compared to 48 percent of men who believe women face discrimination.
2. IBM Attributes Patent Success to Global Diversity
TechWorld, 1/13/15
LCLD Member corporation IBM produced more U.S. patents in 2014 than any other country for the 22nd year in a row. The corporation attributes this success to the global diversity of its researchers.
3. Top Moments for LGBT Community to Celebrate in 2014
The Legal Intelligencer, 1/12/15
The LGBT community made important strides in 2014, including:
- United States v. Windsor represented the largest conferral of rights to LGBT people in history, leading to marriage equality in 19 new states.
- California became the first state to outlaw the “gay panic” line of defense, which is used to justify violence toward LGBT people with the “reasoning” that a person’s overwhelming hatred for LGBT people caused them to panic and commit violence.
- Workplace discrimination laws targeted at federal employees were expanded to protect transgender employees.
4. Legal Sector Shows Modest Job Gain for December
The American Lawyer, 1/9/15
The legal sector added 500 jobs in December after two months of little movement, according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
5. Perceptions of Race at a Glance
The New York Times, 1/5/15
Jennifer L. Eberhardt, an associate professor of psychology at Stanford University, received a MacArthur “genius” grant to study the effects of unconscious ideas about race on the criminal justice system. For example, she has found that seeing black faces creates a perceptual readiness to detect crime-related objects. Eberhardt uses the results of her research in implicit bias training for police departments.
6. VIDEO: How Starbucks Brews Leadership
Chief Learning Officer, 1/5/15
Joseph Michelli, author of “Leading the Starbucks Way,” unpacks LCLD Member Starbucks’ strategy for leadership training and talent development:
- Focus on advancement from the beginning, even for part-time employees.
- Select for talent and fit, but also give employees opportunities to show whether they’re willing to step up and fill a leadership position.
- Value non-traditional leadership skills like “otherness,” i.e. focusing on the needs of others.
7. Pro Bono Hot List
The National Law Journal, 1/5/15
The following LCLD Member firms were recognized by The National Law Journal for outstanding pro bono work in 2014:
- Arnold & Porter
- Crowell & Moring
- Jenner & Block
- Kirkland & Ellis
- Morrison & Foerster
- Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe
- Reed Smith
- Sidley Austin
