WEBVTT 00:00:00.020 --> 00:00:03.480 I hear a lot of online chatter about how the gender pay gap doesn't exist 00:00:03.620 --> 00:00:04.100 and that 00:00:04.101 --> 00:00:07.500 the reason that women don't reach the higher echelons of corporate America 00:00:07.501 --> 00:00:08.900 is simply because they can't hack it. 00:00:08.901 --> 00:00:11.740 I worked for about a decade as an attorney in what's called Big Law. 00:00:11.741 --> 00:00:13.900 A huge law firm representing like 00:00:13.901 --> 00:00:16.100 name brand clients. 00:00:16.101 --> 00:00:18.200 to give you an idea, I 00:00:18.380 --> 00:00:22.960 never worked on a deal less than a quarter of a billion dollars 00:00:23.320 --> 00:00:26.480 while I was there. And I worked in the private equity space. 00:00:26.500 --> 00:00:31.160 It was pretty openly acknowledged that the top associates at that firm 00:00:31.180 --> 00:00:36.260 were the women. If you looked at the top 10% of billable hours, right, 00:00:36.261 --> 00:00:39.740 like nine out of 10 of those people were female associates. 00:00:39.741 --> 00:00:45.980 I worked with a number of male partners who pretty much insisted on female teams 00:00:45.981 --> 00:00:49.260 because they said the women put in more hours, 00:00:49.261 --> 00:00:50.820 worked harder, 00:00:50.821 --> 00:00:54.180 were better about implementing their 00:00:54.181 --> 00:00:57.620 instructions efficiently, didn't lie about their hours. 00:00:57.621 --> 00:00:59.620 I mean, the list goes on and on. 00:00:59.621 --> 00:01:04.540 And yet when it came time to promote partners from a class of fifty 00:01:04.541 --> 00:01:11.900 50 female/male associates, it ended up being about 80% men promoted and 20% women. Why? 00:01:11.901 --> 00:01:15.020 Because there absolutely were reasons for this. 00:01:15.021 --> 00:01:19.700 It's just that the reasons themselves were based on an inequitable system. 00:01:19.701 --> 00:01:21.100 During my decade at the firm, 00:01:21.101 --> 00:01:23.940 I worked with one female C E O. 00:01:23.941 --> 00:01:25.960 And hundreds of male C E os. 00:01:26.060 --> 00:01:32.040 I worked with under 50 Women on the client corporate side at all. 00:01:32.300 --> 00:01:35.500 Thousands of men. And when it comes to making partner, 00:01:35.501 --> 00:01:38.500 it's kind of an eat what you kill model. 00:01:38.501 --> 00:01:44.020 The most important thing is your ability to bring clients into the firm 00:01:44.021 --> 00:01:46.880 and retain them. And that requires networking. 00:01:46.940 --> 00:01:51.660 It requires creating a trusting relationship with a client. 00:01:51.661 --> 00:01:55.580 As a female associate, you would see people at your same level, 00:01:55.581 --> 00:02:00.460 the guys who are going out with the clients all the time. 00:02:00.461 --> 00:02:01.460 They're going to play golf, 00:02:01.461 --> 00:02:02.580 they're going to work out, 00:02:02.581 --> 00:02:06.420 they are bar hopping, they're out to dinner together constantly. 00:02:06.421 --> 00:02:09.400 If you as a woman tried to do that, 00:02:09.500 --> 00:02:12.880 there were one of two things essentially that would happen. 00:02:13.180 --> 00:02:15.340 The guy would either turn it down 00:02:15.341 --> 00:02:18.660 and think it was really weird that you had asked at all, 00:02:18.661 --> 00:02:24.080 or they would mistake you wanting to network as romantic interest. 00:02:24.120 --> 00:02:28.000 This was also during a time where women's networking events 00:02:28.100 --> 00:02:30.340 were being shut down left and right 00:02:30.341 --> 00:02:35.120 because men said they were essentially a version of reverse sexism. 00:02:35.380 --> 00:02:36.460 So these events 00:02:36.461 --> 00:02:39.980 where the few women that existed in the corporate space 00:02:39.981 --> 00:02:42.700 could get to know women in the services space 00:02:42.701 --> 00:02:44.900 were vanishing left and right 00:02:44.901 --> 00:02:49.840 as men claimed it was totally unfair they didn't have access to those spaces. 00:02:49.960 --> 00:02:52.900 And of course, this is a self perpetuating cycle. 00:02:52.901 --> 00:02:56.040 The fewer women you promote in any industry, 00:02:56.060 --> 00:03:00.060 the fewer women there will be in industries related to those. women 00:03:00.061 --> 00:03:06.020 who made partner Did it by being mathematically undeniable. 00:03:06.021 --> 00:03:06.780 They worked 00:03:06.781 --> 00:03:11.700 often more than twice the hours of the male associates who made partner. 00:03:11.701 --> 00:03:18.720 They gained the trust of clients through pristine work. 00:03:18.900 --> 00:03:20.060 Okay, like, 00:03:20.061 --> 00:03:23.280 unreal, accurate work. 00:03:23.420 --> 00:03:27.880 They also gained their trust through cutting their own billables. 00:03:27.980 --> 00:03:32.480 In other words, I'm not just giving you the best legal services. 00:03:32.620 --> 00:03:37.440 I am 24 7 available, and I'm going to discount my work. 00:03:37.780 --> 00:03:39.960 That's how I'm going to retain you as a client. 00:03:40.180 --> 00:03:43.140 Every single one of those women would have rather been able to do that 00:03:43.141 --> 00:03:44.960 through a few rounds of golf, 00:03:45.140 --> 00:03:49.380 through some dinners, right through some sort of bonding. 00:03:49.381 --> 00:03:51.580 And doing it that way means 00:03:51.581 --> 00:03:55.720 it was very difficult to maintain any kind of outside life. 00:03:55.721 --> 00:04:00.340 It was very, very difficult to make the same money as the men, 00:04:00.341 --> 00:04:02.760 because part of the appeal is, 00:04:02.761 --> 00:04:04.880 Is the perfection at a lower price. 00:04:04.900 --> 00:04:09.340 There are plenty of other reasons for a lack of women's promotion 00:04:09.341 --> 00:04:10.900 that I could go into. Like, 00:04:10.901 --> 00:04:15.340 it is so deeply ingrained in male corporate culture 00:04:15.341 --> 00:04:17.940 that women lie about harassment 00:04:17.941 --> 00:04:19.640 that it is unreal. 00:04:19.760 --> 00:04:27.340 Even male partners who insisted on female teams would never be in, like, 00:04:27.341 --> 00:04:30.140 a conference room or their office alone with you (w door closed) 00:04:30.141 --> 00:04:32.180 Even if you're on, like, a. 00:04:32.181 --> 00:04:36.820 A conference call, these guys would call their secretaries in to, like, 00:04:36.821 --> 00:04:39.680 ostensibly take notes, but they never did it with the men. 00:04:39.820 --> 00:04:45.060 And that was because they were so fearful that you would falsely accuse Them 00:04:45.061 --> 00:04:47.300 of harassment and end their career. 00:04:47.301 --> 00:04:50.720 As a woman, I can't tell you how 00:04:50.900 --> 00:04:55.700 that undermined your, Your respect for that partner, 00:04:55.701 --> 00:04:57.860 because they are essentially looking at you 00:04:57.861 --> 00:05:00.160 and because you're a woman, saying, 00:05:00.580 --> 00:05:02.480 best err on the side of caution, 00:05:02.620 --> 00:05:06.460 and assume that this woman that I have worked with so many times, 00:05:06.461 --> 00:05:08.080 who I trust with my clients, 00:05:08.300 --> 00:05:12.700 is actually a craven, exploitative liar. 00:05:12.701 --> 00:05:15.100 And there were reasons they believe this, okay? 00:05:15.101 --> 00:05:18.020 That were also sexist, which are 00:05:18.021 --> 00:05:20.800 there were men who were accused of harassment, 00:05:20.860 --> 00:05:22.860 and the men would then say, oh, 00:05:22.861 --> 00:05:24.780 it's because she lied. That's always the defense, 00:05:24.781 --> 00:05:27.300 of course. And it didn't matter if there were one, two, 00:05:27.301 --> 00:05:27.860 three, four, 00:05:27.861 --> 00:05:29.980 dozens of women who accused these men. 00:05:29.981 --> 00:05:32.400 They'll just say, it's a big conspiracy against me, 00:05:32.700 --> 00:05:36.180 they're lying. And the other men believed them. 00:05:36.181 --> 00:05:37.800 They believed the, 00:05:38.740 --> 00:05:40.640 The other men, full stop. 00:05:40.700 --> 00:05:42.340 This is why, as a woman, 00:05:42.341 --> 00:05:44.160 in any corporate structure, 00:05:44.420 --> 00:05:46.220 there will be a whisper network. 00:05:46.221 --> 00:05:48.440 And you must listen to those whispers. 00:05:48.460 --> 00:05:52.040 The whisper network never LED me wrong. 00:05:52.180 --> 00:05:56.160 In corporate America, if there were women saying, 00:05:56.420 --> 00:05:58.320 look out for this guy, 00:05:58.860 --> 00:06:02.000 they were always right, they were never lying. 00:06:02.140 --> 00:06:03.060 So, 00:06:03.061 --> 00:06:07.780 it was almost an opposite experience that you have as the woman. 00:06:07.781 --> 00:06:11.440 None of the men would believe these women, 00:06:11.460 --> 00:06:16.140 and then you yourself would experience the harassment from the dude personally, 00:06:16.141 --> 00:06:21.460 so you knew it was true. Men just do not have that lived experience. 00:06:21.461 --> 00:06:25.940 Of realizing that the men they look at and work with, 00:06:25.941 --> 00:06:28.420 who they think are like, good stand up guys, 00:06:28.421 --> 00:06:29.820 and it's just that, you know, 00:06:29.821 --> 00:06:31.460 they're a little like, bawdy or whatever, 00:06:31.461 --> 00:06:34.640 and the women can't take a joke. Like, no, 00:06:35.180 --> 00:06:38.680 they don't have that lived experience of seeing the reality firsthand. 00:06:38.940 --> 00:06:41.220 I honestly could go on for days about all of the reasons, 00:06:41.221 --> 00:06:43.582 but little insight there.