Mercedes Meyer very graciously chose to respond to my off-the-cuff post about her approach to succeeding as a woman in a male-dominated field. I would note that she has spent many years in male-dominated environments (background in chemistry and now working in IP) so she has had more practice at these skills than I have (I would point out here that I’m in my late 20s with work experience in mostly female-dominated fields, so what do I know?). I re-read the Law.com article and have decided to take the challenge she has set forth. Over the next few months, I will read the books listed in the article and discuss them here on my blog (starting with Nice Girls). If anyone would like to join me, perhaps we can have a little law student book club (in our spare time, right?).
Ms. Meyer’s comments:
In the comments to my post
Regarding talking about kids, you have to know your audience. I have watched women wax on about poopy diapers to gay men and single women and have watched the listenes shut down. Kids are wonderful, but you don’t know if the person across from you had an abortion, is currently trying to conceive (male or female) and having problems conceiving, missed their biological clock and now regrets it, or simply is not interested. Treat it like politics and religion. Know your audience.
Regarding acting like a man. While that could come through in the article in some regards, that’s not what I espouse. You have to know the rules to win. You win, then perhaps you can change the rules. Women are better at some things (e.g, relationship maintenance) than men. Don’t stop being good at what you excel at, but know your weaknesses and address them. That’s why we started to book club. We are looking for books to help women succeed and excel as professions. It also helps us understand the rules, and the nuances such as male/female differences in linguistics. The goal is to help women to win under the rules. I never said you had to act like a man to do it. But you do have to develop your own brand to distinguish yourself.
Emailed to me
I’m not saying learn their rules. Just learn the rules. Its like playing the house in vegas. Learn the rules. Its not an even playing field. Women have their own skills which they are better at. There must be an awareness of them and how they fit the bigger picture. Its business. It is the rules of business. Some are male oriented. Some aren’t.
and b) I wasn’t there. Of course she didn’t have my cell (which she would have needed had I actually remembered 
). In any case, she called my work and got me and I apologized profusely but felt so, so bad that I stood up this starving pregnant woman. Ack!
Plus my career counselor is now driving my friends batty, so I’m not the only one. Time to throw the covers over my head!
