Panel Addresses 'Glass Ceilings'

Women who work in the corporate world constantly confront employment discrimination, said eight professional women at a Law School panel discussion Saturday.

More than 50 people gathered in Langdell Hall to hear panelists share personal experiences in a discussion called "Glass Ceilings in High Places: Diversity and Women's Voices."

Dr. Frances Conley, professor of neurosurgery at Stanford Medical School, discussed the discriminatory atmosphere she faced in the medical field.

Conley resigned her tenured faculty post at Stanford when a male colleague, who had allegedly behaved offensively towards women, became chair of the department.

"Men are unable to accept the fact that they have competent, capable, high achievers next to them," said Conley who received national attention for her resignation. "A women is a terrible threat to them."

Conley later rescinded her resignation and continued working at the Stanford. She said her decision to remain there "shows women that we don't have to get killed to make a statement," she said.

Panelist Nancy Ezold, an attorney who brought a landmark sex discrimination case to the Supreme Court when she was denied partnership in a law firm, said the "glass ceiling," or differential treatment, hurt her chances for advancement.

Panelist Dorothy Sanders, an attorney, addressed the difficulties of being a Black female in corporate America.

As a "double minority," Sanders said she wonders whether she faces discrimination because she is Black or because she is female.

The panelists said women have made several inroads in recent years. But, as their experiences show, women still face several obstacles.

Ann Hopkins, a management consultant who became a partner at Price Waterhouse, an accounting firm, after a 1989 Supreme Court ruling, said women will face discrimination in the professional work force until they speak out.

Both undergraduate and graduate members of the audience said they were inspired by the panel.

"It was really helpful," said second-year lawstudent Shawn D. Dawson, who has studied Ezold'sand Hopkins' cases. "They've been there and Ithink I can really profit from their experiencesas I try to map out my own career."

The panel discussion was sponsored by the LawSchool Office of Student Life Counseling, the LawSchool Saturday School Program, the Law SchoolWomen's Law Association and the Women in theWorkplace Research Center at the University ofMassachusetts, Lowell

"It was really helpful," said second-year lawstudent Shawn D. Dawson, who has studied Ezold'sand Hopkins' cases. "They've been there and Ithink I can really profit from their experiencesas I try to map out my own career."

The panel discussion was sponsored by the LawSchool Office of Student Life Counseling, the LawSchool Saturday School Program, the Law SchoolWomen's Law Association and the Women in theWorkplace Research Center at the University ofMassachusetts, Lowell