My father was a life insurance underwriter for thirty years with a well-known company. As a little girl, I looked forward to occasionally visiting him at work, where I spent a morning “helping him” organize his desk, observing him conduct business on the phone and do paperwork and later going to lunch. My impression of his job was that he did something very important and glamorous, getting dressed up each day in a suit to talk to the men he helped with cases. Men who were much like him. At that time, many of the agents who sold policies were of a very similar demographic culturally, ethnically and gender-wise: middle-aged white men. These men helped build the success of many companies, my father’s included. (more…)