Overcoming Recurring Discrimination
When Catharine entered law school in the mid-1970s, she discovered she had a lot of distance to cover before reaching her dream. One of only 12 women in a class of about 120 students at prestigious Wake Forest Law School in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, Catharine experienced subtle but ongoing discrimination from male students, as well as faculty. Witnessing her female friends as targets of vicious phone calls and alienation during group projects toughened Catharine’s skin, and she pushed hard day after day to earn her law degree.
But she was wrong in thinking that the discrimination would end at graduation. It only got worse. Although she ranked second in her class, Catharine struggled to find a job. ...