March is Women's History Month (Status of Women in Business and Law)

I thought it would be fitting to explore the status of women in business and law in honor of Women’s History Month. Women's History Month began in New York on March 8, 1857 when female factory workers staged a protest over their working conditions. It then evolved from International Women’s Day in 1909, to Congress establishing National Women’s History Week in 1981, and then into the eventual expansion by Congress of that week into the whole month of March.
 
Throughout history women have contributed to the American way of life that we enjoy and have paved the way for all women business owners and female professionals. We can look back and thank pioneering women like Sarah Breedlove (known as Madam C.J. Walker) eulogized on May 25, 1919 as the first female self-made millionaire for her development of a line of hair products, and Margaret Rudkin for her creation of a stone-ground wheat bread recipe in 1939, creating a company known as Pepperidge Farm that she later sold to Campbell Soup for $28 million dollars for their amazing strides and bravery in business. In law, we can look to Margaret Brent, the first woman to appear before a court of the common law in 1647, and Arabella Mansfield, the first female lawyer admitted to the Iowa Bar in 1869 as blazing the trail for all female attorneys. I wonder what would these pioneers say about the current status of women in business, and in the legal profession? Would they be proud of the progress we have made since their own ground breaking contributions, or would they feel we still had far to go to reach our full potential and truly become equal to our male counterparts in our chosen professions?

Although at least 64% of all small businesses are owned by men overall in the United States, women owned businesses have become the fastest growing across all ethnicity groups.[1] Fortune.com reported that African American women owned businesses have grown a record 322% since 1997, and Inc.com has reported that female veteran owned businesses have quadrupled since 2007.[2] Women owned businesses have grown an astounding 74% from 1997 to 2015, 1.5 times over the overall national average for business growth. According to the 2015 State of Women Owned Businesses Report, women owned businesses in the U.S. have now reached 9.4 million firms. I think these statistics would make pioneers like Sarah Breedlove and Margaret Rudkin very proud that American women have continued what they started.

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As a female attorney I’m interested in not only how women are doing as a group in the business arena, but also in how women were faring in my own profession. Since 1992, women attendance in law school has increased 50%, but the percentage of female judges is much lower. However, President Obama has appointed 134 female judges during his time in office, more than any other President in the U.S.[3] However, despite the increase in law school and the recent increase of female judge appointments, the statistics for women in the legal profession are much more sobering than for women owned businesses. The National Association of Women Lawyers 2015 Report of the Ninth Annual Survey showed that in the legal profession firms have made no appreciable progress in the rate at which they are promoting women. Women in the legal profession still only comprise 18% of the equity partnership, which is only 2% higher than in 2006. The typical female equity partner earns 80% of what a typical male equity partner earns. The gap between women and men earnings in the legal profession since the last survey a decade ago has actually gotten wider.[4] I’m not sure if our legal pioneers, Margaret Brent and Arabella Mansfield would be pleased or frustrated with the statistics for women in law, but I think they would agree that more needs to be done. Considering the inequality in pay, and discouraging statistics in promotions for female attorneys, one can understand why the overall percentage of female associates decreased over most of the previous five years according to the National Association for Law Placement 2015 study. As Susan B. Anthony foresaw, "there never will be complete equality until women themselves help to make laws and elect lawmakers". That being said, the continual increase of women judges, partners and lawyers should be a top priority for all women.

For new women business owners, or even female attorneys who have decided to leave Big Law and open their own WOSB law firm, they might be wondering what is the WOSB program? How do I go about bidding on government contracts as a WOSB, or assisting my female business owners who desire to do so? The Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 19.1500 Section 8(m) of the Small Business Act created the Women-Owned Small Business (WOSB) Program. FAR 19.1500 § (b) states that “The purpose of the WOSB Program is to ensure women-owned small business concerns have an equal opportunity to participate in federal contracting and to assist agencies in achieving their women-owned small business participation goals.”
           

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In 2015 five percent of women-owned small businesses were awarded contracts with the federal government. This accomplished the goal set by the SBA in 1994 to bring women owned business government contracting up to 5%. Despite the fact that the SBA had finally reached their goal, SBA Administrator Maria Contreras-Sweet feels it is not enough. SBA Administrator Contreras-Sweet states that "women-owned small businesses are severely under-represented” in the 113 North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS) groups.

The good news for WOSBs is that the SBA takes the advancement of women owned businesses seriously, and according to the Association of Procurement Technical Assistance Centers (A/PTAC) effective March 3, 2016, SBA has made major changes to the Women’s contracting program that under this new rule will make 365 NAICS codes eligible for WOSB set aside contracts. This will result in 82% of NAICS codes being eligible for WOSB set-asides. Set asides traditionally were rare because of the complexity of the contracting rules and the “Rule of Two” requirement of at least two capable and eligible bidders, but with these new changes the SBA is implementing, a lot of doors will open. This means there should be plenty of opportunities for WOSBs to obtain government contracts in the near future.

Recent research shows that companies in the top quartile for gender diversity are more likely to have financial returns above their national industry counterparts, and that Fortune 500 companies with the highest representation of women board directors attained significantly higher financial performance.[5] Diversity has proven to just make good business sense. So today, in honor of Women’s History Month this March I appeal to all to value diversity and equality, not only in business and the law, but in all aspects of society. I want to encourage my fellow sisters to celebrate our special Congress mandated month like the Irish celebrate Saint Patrick’s Day! Remember the contributions and the legacies left by the trail blazers and pioneering women that came before us. Go after your professional and personal dreams and aspirations and don’t let others decide for you what your value is, but let your worth be determined only by your own standards.
 
Remember,  “Whatever you want in life, other people are going to want it too. Believe in yourself enough to accept the idea that you have an equal right to it.” – Diane Sawyer