Page 24 - Delaware Lawyer - Winter 2019

FEATURE
Sonia Augusthy
Inclusion and
Retention in the Workplace
What it’s like to be a diverse woman in the Delaware bar.
Almost 90 percent of law firms have employed strategies to target recruitment of underrepresented minorities. While 46 percent of associates are women, only 19 percent of equity partners are women. Looking deeper, women of color represent 16 percent of associates, but only 3 percent of equity partners. These statistics are not from 20 years ago. In fact, they were included in an October 2017 report from McKinsey & Company, entitled “Women in Law Firms.”
22 DELAWARE LAWYER WINTER 2019
What is it like to be a diverse woman in the Delaware Bar? The Honor- able Natalie Haskins, Deputy Insur- ance Commissioner Tanisha Merced, Pa- tricia Winston from Morris James, as well as Rebecca Song and Sonia Augusthy of the Delaware Attorney General’s Office offer their insight.
QUESTION: Do we need to keep talk- ing about diversity as lawyers, here in Delaware? Are we able to attract diversity in the Delaware bar?
PW: We have to keep talking about it because, statistically for women of color, you don’t see that it is rising. You don’t see the increase. If you look at women in general, you might see that, but when you look at women of color, you don’t see them. In some areas, we are losing ground. We do have to keep talking
about it to make sure that women of col- or are included.
NH: When I was at Morris Nichols, I believe there were no people of color, be- sides me, definitely not any women. Same with the DOJ; at one point, I was the only African American attorney — and I was part time. When you are in that situ- ation, you may look at your supervisors and think, can I get there? I think it’s an issue of retention.
TM: In 2003 at the AG’s office, I was one of the only minority attorneys. That was a few years before Natalie started and she had that same issue. I don’t know many minorities at the AG’s office. I may work with a lot of women, but they are not in positions of authority. When I left the AG’s office, I worked in the local office of a firm. The Wilmington office