Being black is tough. Being a woman is also tough. Two strikes  there. In the early 80's, as a petite blonde woman who chose veterinary medicine as a career, I can tell you that getting a job there wasn't an easy slog either. It didn't take me long to get over my my hopes to have a career in the dairy industry. It's funny how women can take a major role in the drudge work of farming, but that was only ok if you weren't being paid for professional services. Things have changed. I think a lot. ..... But I don't agree that there is a preference for people to choose associates who look like themselves. They  choose people who look like the people they grew up with and saw in those positions they are hiring for. After all I never met a Golden Retriever who much cared that the dog next door was a black lab. Afterall, you don't really see yourself. You see what's around you. Put another way, the more black female lawyers there are today, the more there will be tomorrow.