This description should not be taken to mean that my firm was evil or for than matter an anomaly. On several occasions, other friends working at investment banking firms would say something like, "You know, I don't know if it's just my firm, but there are no women on Wall Street." Everyone seemed to have different ideas about the causes, but none objected to the conclusion and all were surprised that it seemed the world of finance was so far behind worlds with which we were familiar.

I come from what I would describe as a fairly progressive upbringing in which equality among the sexes, or anyone else for that matter, was a fact taken for granted. Both my parents were professionals in the public sector who worked in an integrated environment in which both men and women were at least present in all positions at all different levels. That is not to say that I did not believe sexism existed, but in retrospect it seemed more of an individual attribute than an institutional one.

Of course I heard plenty of sexist comments in high school and even said a few things that I was informed were sexist, but my ire was directed more at the P.C. police trying to stomp out anything that could be construed as sexist than at sexism itself. By the time I reached college, sexism--and for that matter, feminism--were things I was tired of hearing about. At a college where I believed, and still do, that things were fundamentally equal I did not see that there was all that much to complain about--that sexism was really a major problem.

Along with this view came an opposition to affirmative action for a variety of reasons, including, although not exclusively, the belief that the women or minorities I was competing against for jobs who were coming out of Harvard had every bit the opportunity I did and that merit should determine who received what position. While women (and other groups) might constitute a minority in many fields, as more and more came out and entered fields such as business, law and medicine the gap would be closed.

Now I do not consider myself naive (though if you truly are I guess you never do) and I never believed that sexism had ceased, but my previous experiences had led me to the impression that some form of nominal equality was fairly universal and, where there were problems, significant steps were being made in the right direction. And I don't think this belief in progress is ignorant. After all, women are now a fixture as reporters in sports locker rooms, and women now make-up almost half the population at law schools and medical schools, many of which did not even accept them until recent decades.

This summer on Wall Street has certainly shattered my belief about equality in one field. My confidence that the professional world has turned the corner has been shaken. It makes me wonder about the rest of society and country and whether this summer or the rest of my experiences were the anomaly.

What to do about the situation I witnessed? It is obviously not easy, but it seems like the most important thing is to get women into the field. Through sheer numbers of women co-workers, the standards for what behavior is deemed acceptable will be raised. And in order to get more women involved in the near future, the presence of women higher up the corporate ladder has to be increased.

It appears the only way in which this is likely to occur is to bring women into the firm at an executive level. And that can only occur through active recruiting from fields such as law that both have women in high places and are a logical entrance into Wall Street.

When will this occur? No one really knows, but it can't happen soon enough.