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Beth Boland, a litigation partner at Foley considered to be a pioneer on issues effecting women in the profession, recently sat down with The Vanguard Network founder Ken Banta for a video discussion of women in leadership roles. The Vanguard Network supports senior executives as they build high-performance organizations.

"It's not a pipeline issue. We have so many talented women...in the legal profession, but cultural expectations in what we see as leaders continues to be the gating factor preventing women from assuming leadership roles," Boland told Banta.

"People are still saying 'canshereally do this job?'."

Other reasons there may be fewer women at the top are stereotypes and leadership style, Boland said. But "the more that you see those pictures of really strong leaders who are women, I think that goes so far to breaking down those barriers."

Boland was named one of the "Most Influential Bostonians" by Boston Magazine and one of the "Most Powerful Business People in Boston" by the Boston Business Journal and was selected by Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly for its inaugural "Hall of Fame" honoree class. She is deeply involved in helping to identify and prepare women who are qualified to be on corporate boards and connecting them with organizations seeking women to serve on their boards.

Watch the full interview with Beth Boland below:

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