Female lawyers over 30 earning 25% less than the men Research released this week by global law firm Eversheds shows a fairly dispiriting career trajectory for female lawyers hoping to rise up the ranks. While young female lawyers (the under 25s) earn a reported 30% more than their male contemporaries, once they cross over the mid-twenties mark, the trend is reversed. The over 25s earned 11% less than their male colleagues, while by mid 30s the shortfall increased to 25%. The research went on to ask questions about long-term career plans, revealing that only 57% of women aspire to become partner, while just 34% plan to spend the rest of their career in a law firm. The stats raise some big questions about why the legal profession is still failing to support and retain talented women. Looking more closely at the numbers and speaking to a number of female lawyers in their late 20s and early 30s, it seems the issue is a complex one. The industrys lack of flexibility when it comes to childcare is certainly a big part of the problem, but there also seems to be a more fundamental lack of balance that needs to be addressed. All of the lawyers I spoke to cited their unrealistic and unmaintainable working hours as the main barrier to a future in the industry. Many are considering moving to in-house roles when they reach a certain level of seniority, as this can offer a better work/life balance with shorter hours and often better pay. This is backed up by the research, which reports that 96% of female respondents said achieving a work/life balance is of prime importance for their career satisfaction. Being partner in a law firm just means you lose your life outside of work completely said one. Everyone knows that you have to put in the crazy hours as a trainee, but everyone I know feels like theyve done their time and they want to be rewarded for their hard work. The economic downturn also seems to have affected more than wages and job security. The lack of interest in partnership roles seems to have a lot to do with the amount of time it now takes to reach the top and the impact this has on planning a family. Pre-credit crunch, it seemed to be just about possible to aspire to partnership. It seemed that if you kept your head down and focussed it was achievable in seven to ten years. This still just about gave you time to have kids in your mid 30s, said one lawyer I spoke to. Post-credit crunch, I watched colleagues who were in line for partnership being told it was going to take rather longer and suddenly it looked like a choice between aiming for partnership or a family. The feedback from those who have tried to balance work and family life was equally damning. My personal experience is that while most firms might publicly seem to support the idea of being able to work flexibly post-children, the reality is that no-one I know has been able to actually negotiate any sort of flexible working arrangement, so either has gone back full time, or given up law altogether, explained one ex-lawyer who left the profession after having children. The survey also showed that it isnt just female lawyers who are disenchanted with the profession. Greater opportunities for flexible working were desired by all survey respondents with 26% of men rating them as crucial for their future careers. This echoes a general desire among Generation Y graduates for a more progressive way of working. For this younger generation, many of whom see the idea of a job for life as outdated, the prospect of endless long hours and zero flexibility has little appeal. Many are initially attracted to the academic training and financial rewards of a law job, but a number of them say they never planned to stick with it in the long term. I have a ten year plan one young lawyer told me. Im going to get on the property ladder and then get out. Considering the time and money that many law firms invest in the training and progression of their graduates, a mass exodus of promising young lawyers a few years down the line is a worrying prospect. It seems that the legal world, like many other corporate institutions, may need to take a hard look at working practices and incentives if it wants to retain its top talent for the long haul.
Posted on: Sat, 22 Mar 2014 13:53:50 +0000
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