LANSING, Mich. and RIVERVIEW, Fla.– WMU-Cooley Assistant Professor Dr. Amanda Fisher led a March 3 virtual discussion on gender equality and women’s rights as part of WMU-Cooley Law School’s monthly Community Conversation series, and to celebrate Women’s History Month.
Fisher shared how women have made progress in the workforce, specifically within the field of law.
She said there are more women in law school and law firms are promoting more women as partners than previously.
While discussing women in the workforce, Fisher noted that the COVID-19 pandemic made evident that women made progress in the workplace, statistics show that progress was easily set back through an exodus of women in the workforce, due in part to childcare.
“Although women have been returning to the workforce,” Fisher said, “we have to look toward building a stronger infrastructure to make sure this doesn’t happen again.”
Fisher also considers how women in their current positions are stigmatized, which she said is a step below discrimination. She shared that some ways society can continue to advance is by offering paid parental leave and de-stigmatizing caretaking obligations. “How far do we have left to go before we can be comfortable being our whole authentic selves and not worrying about the parts of us that might be stigmatized?” asked Fisher.
“I’m not saying this woman to woman, I’m saying this people to people. Support one another. Reach your hand back, pull someone up with you,” said Fisher.
Fisher, who has several works published, including those on women’s issues, joined WMU-Cooley’s Tampa campus in 2019. She teaches Introduction to Law, Drafting, and Criminal Law. In addition to earning a law degree, she holds a Ph.D. in Criminology, Law and Society.
The full presentation can be viewed at WMU-Cooley’s YouTube channel.
