As a trial lawyer, Tina Tchen would talk to jurors after the verdict was in. And on more than one occasion, jurors told her: “We were so impressed with how well you spoke English.

Fitzpatrick, Edward

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Roger Williams UniversityDOCS@RWUFeatured News Story The Week at Roger4-4-2018Women of Color Face Added Challenges inWorkplaceEdward FitzpatrickRoger Williams UniversityFollow this and additional works at: https://docs.rwu.edu/weekatroger_featured_newsPart of the Higher Education CommonsThis News Article is brought to you for free and open access by the The Week at Roger at DOCS@RWU. It has been accepted for inclusion in FeaturedNews Story by an authorized administrator of DOCS@RWU. For more information, please contact mwu@rwu.edu.Recommended CitationFitzpatrick, Edward, "Women of Color Face Added Challenges in Workplace" (2018). Featured News Story. 62.https://docs.rwu.edu/weekatroger_featured_news/625/16/2018 Women of Color Face Added Challenges in Workplace | Roger Williams Universityhttps://www.rwu.edu/news/news-archive/women-color-face-added-challenges-workplace 1/4 News ArchiveWomen of Color Face Added Challenges inWorkplaceTina Tchen and Adrienne Lawrence talk to RWU students about extra “homework”required to overcome big assumptions, small margin for errorAdrienne Lawrence (le ) and Tina Tchen (center)discuss the "micro-aggressions" and falseassumptions they've encountered being women ofcolor in the workplace. RWU Professor KamilleGentles-Peart (right) moderated the conversation andshared her own perspective. Image Credit: OggiPhotoApril 4, 2018 Edward FitzpatrickBRISTOL, R.I. – As a trial lawyer, Tina Tchen would talk to jurors a er the verdict was in. And on more than oneoccasion, jurors told her: “We were so impressed with how well you spoke English.”Tchen – a Chinese-American who grew up in a Cleveland suburb and who went on to become chief of sta  to formerFirst Lady Michelle Obama – laughed when recalling those uncomfortable moments, saying, “OK, that is the onlylanguage I speak.”Adrienne Lawrence, an African-American legal analyst and former ESPN anchor who grew up in California, can relate.She said she has o en had people tell her: “You are so articulate.”Tchen and Lawrence came to Roger Williams University on March 28 for a panel discussion titled “Not Just Race, NotJust Gender: Women of Color in the Workplace.” Inspired by the Time's Up and #MeToo movements, the eventwas sponsored by the RWU Donor Fund to Increase Sexual Assault Awareness on College Campuses. It is part ofRWU’s year-long series, “Talking About Race, Gender and Power” and the President’s Distinguished Speaker Series.Tchen and Lawrence spoke to RWU students, faculty and sta  about the false assumptions, “micro-aggressions” andother challenges that women of color face on the job.5/16/2018 Women of Color Face Added Challenges in Workplace | Roger Williams Universityhttps://www.rwu.edu/news/news-archive/women-color-face-added-challenges-workplace 2/4Tina Tchen (le ) laughs when recalling herresponse to uncomfortable moments ofpeople making assumptions based onher race.“People of color have to do way more homework,” Tchen said. “It doesn’t go away a er you graduate from school. Inthe workplace, you have to do way more homework so that you are always prepared to push back against those [falseassumptions].”Women of color are not given as many chances to fail, she said. “You don’t get multiple strikes. You get fewer strikesthan white men.”Rather than let that drive her “crazy,” Tchen took it as a challenge. “I am going to show you: I don’t need any strikes;we are going to do this right the  rst time,” she said. “Which is why I think I have had the success that I’ve had – thatunderstanding that I had to do more homework stayed with me.”While that’s not fair, Tchen said, “It’s there, and that’s, unfortunately, still the case.”Lawrence said, “I found that at law  rms there was always that question of: Do you want me as a token to have me in aphoto or are you going to give me substantive work?”She said she had to work hard to build trust and to ensure she had enough cases to keep her busy.“As Tina mentioned, you work a lot harder than a lot of people,” Lawrence said. “Studies show that people tend torelate to or give work to people who look like them, and there were very few people who I happened to look like atmy law  rm.”Adrienne Lawrence talks about thechallenges of being treated as equal inthe workplace.Looking ahead, she said, “Hopefully, as places become more diverse, individuals won’t be seen as tokens or meetingsome kind of quota – that it will be for the wealth of knowledge and human capital that they bring to the table.”RWU Associate Professor of Communications Kamille Gentles-Peart said women of color may take a job knowingtheir strengths but end up suppressing some of their identity to make themselves more “palatable” in the workplace.“How do you hold on to your authentic self in the context of the workplace that is very much based on ideologiesthat may not allow you to be fully expressive of that?” she asked.5/16/2018 Women of Color Face Added Challenges in Workplace | Roger Williams Universityhttps://www.rwu.edu/news/news-archive/women-color-face-added-challenges-workplace 3/4Tchen said women of color face “a constant calibration” of the moment, deciding whether to stay true to who theyare or make choices about the battles they pick. She said one compromise she made was clothing because it wasn’tall that important to her what she wore. She decided she would always wear business clothes, even when law  rmsbegan having dress-down days.“I knew the external view was kind of important,” she said. “When I’m walking into a room with all-male lawyers, Ihave a hard enough time getting taken seriously without walking in there in jeans.”But Tchen said she would never compromise about her basic demeanor. “I am not demure. I am not the quiet person.I am not the shy person. I am not that image of an Asian woman,” she said. “That was the piece I didn’t give up.”Lawrence said she, too, made sure to dress professionally at law  rms. “I was always in pearls,” she said. “I waspolished.” She said her mother always told her: “Everywhere you go, you are representing the black community.”When she was younger, Lawrence said she sometimes concealed part of what she was really like. “As I got older, Istarted giving people the chance to meet the 100 percent authentic, genuine me,” she said.Both Tchen and Lawrence praised RWU for its “Talking About Race, Gender and Power” series. “I’m enormouslyimpressed that you are having these conversations,” Tchen said. “And you are having them in a thoughtful andengaging way."ACADEMICS LIFE @ RWUShare This: REQUEST INFO VISIT CAMPUS APPLY MAKE A GIFTMap & DirectionsContact UsDirectoryNewsrwu.eduUndergraduate SiteGraduate SiteSchool of LawOne Old Ferry Road, Bristol, RI 028091-800-458-71445/16/2018 Women of Color Face Added Challenges in Workplace | Roger Williams Universityhttps://www.rwu.edu/news/news-archive/women-color-face-added-challenges-workplace 4/4EventsAthleticsSchool of Continuing Studies    © 2018 Roger Williams University. All rights reserved.GMAIL AT RWU BRIDGES MY RWU IT HELP SITE POLICIES WORK AT RWU

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