Some don’t think a disabled individual is capable of holding a job. An editor at a big legal newspaper once sent me out the door when he heard I didn’t drive. Who’d ever heard of a disabled reporter?

I decided that questioning why employers discriminated wouldn’t do me any favors. So I simply moved on, knowing full well that something better was waiting around the corner. Ethnicity didn’t matter. I’d been discriminated upon by both men and women of many ethnic backgrounds.

When I was offered the position over the phone at $18/hour, I accepted. When I got my first paycheck I had only been paid $13/hour. First I went to a few of my coworkers who held the same position. My Caucasian male coworker told me he started at $20/hour and I should not take less. My female coworker who was African American told me she was also hired at $18/hour and that they wound up paying her only $13/hour, like me.

Her reason for accepting the discrepancy was that she “needed the job” and so she didn’t fight the pay arrangement. When I went in to HR,the lady who I accepted the job offer from denied the pay that she told me I would receive. I had not asked for a written offer so it was her word against mine. I was new on the job and no one wanted to fight this with me...

Being a woman has its challenges in a technical field. I have a “cute” disposition and a very feminine voice. In college, people rarely took me seriously or considered me a worthy contender in the classroom. It took time and mentoring for me to learn that the issue was theirs, not mine, and to not cast doubt on myself in response to their evaluations.

I'm not strong, direct, and confident naturally, but I work hard at fostering these traits in myself. I'm successful because I get out of my comfort zone and am not afraid to ask for what I want...

I'm a Caucasian female in the male-dominated high-tech industry. Discrimination has impacted me only a couple of times in a 14 year career, and I handled it by confronting the person who believed they were superior to me. The most important facet of responding is self respect. I will not allow anyone to treat me unprofessionally, and the ones who have tried, never do so again.

Communication skills are the single most important job skill because every person is judged by their writing and speaking abilities. I've learned that the good old boy network is still alive and well in the twenty-first century. Women still have to work twice as hard as our male counterparts, and the conversations that happen in our absence do not resemble the ones when we are present...

The school where I work is located in an area of Arizona where there are many Hispanic students and the administration is fairly aware of the need for diversity. The hiring is equitable as far as opportunity for anyone who has the qualifications necessary and the administration itself is diversified with one Hispanic female and two white males.

While there are more white middle-aged teachers both male and female, there are Hispanic and Black teachers to round out the teacher population. The instructors are able to treat each other with respect and work well together.