Haynes and Boone, LLP Partner Theresa Conduah was profiled in Trademark Lawyer Magazine’s Women in IP Leadership centerpiece about her inspirations, experiences, and ideas for expanding equality within the legal profession.
Here is an excerpt:
Q: What inspired your career?
A: I grew up in West Africa in Ghana and I think it’s that background that gives me the curiosity and drive to be innovative. I would say that I was curious, but my mom would say that I was nosy. For me, my curiosity is what directed me towards a career in technology and innovation.
At first, my career ideas were more towards pharmaceuticals, biotech, and the health field as most of my family is in the healthcare field, so I thought that seemed to be a natural fit. But as I was practicing in the health policy field, it kind of sparked my interest in going towards a law career as an opportunity to apply both sides of the work that I do.
Q: What changes would you like to see in the IP industry regarding equality and diversity in the next five years?
A: There have been a number of studies that show there are gender imbalances, including for women inventors, in the industry, so I think there needs to be a new focus on mentoring and growing the pipeline of women attorneys and professionals in the IP field.
A colleague of mine has started an initiative where we are reaching out and talking to women of color from the undergrad field to expose them to different options that they can pursue with a law degree and exposing them through networking and mentoring.
Q: How do you think the empowerment of women can be continued and expanded in the IP sector?
A: Within the field, I think we need to address the implicit biases that folks may have with respect to women in science, women in IP, and women in law. Unfortunately, I think there are a lot of misperceptions about the ability for women to focus on a more technical field, so I think that we need to work on awareness, education, and taking concrete actions to further women in this industry.
I think we’re in a time and space that is lending itself to education and awareness, but the action in a lot of corporations and law firms is to rely only on passive training sessions to deal with these issues. I think it’s time to move beyond education and training and take a look at some of the systemic issues that lead to the unfair treatment of women and minorities in the law sector. And I think now, given the awareness that folks have, is a great time for us to move forward and take additional action by having those honest conversations and creating opportunities to improve in this area.
To read the full profile, click here.