In an industry that’s now 50.1% female – according to a separate report in the NSW Law Society Journal – that’s simply not good enough.
Such poor gender diversity across new partner announcements reflects a sector that’s still struggling to retain and promote women, particularly at the senior associate level, and particularly women who take time out to have children.
A number of law firms now have diversity managers – a shift in recent years. Many offer very good and competitive paid parental leave, decent options for job sharing and flexible work, as well as leadership training and programs especially aimed at nurturing high-potential women.
And yet we’re still not seeing significant change in the gender split of partnerships.
While the AFR finds that the proportion of female partners across large law firms has just tipped over the quarter mark for the first time (at 25.2%), it’s a change that’s been described as nothing short of “glacial”. Last year, the figure was 24.4%. But much of 2016’s progress came from the fact two thirds of new partner appointments were female, a ratio that’s flipped the other way this year (and a slowdown in new female appointments that also reflects the progress that’s stalled for female directors on ASX 200 boards in 2017).
In 2016, the AFR found ten firms cracked the 50% female appointment mark. This year, TressCox Lawyers was the only one to hit over 40%, followed by KPMG and Clyde & Co (both on 37.5%).
The legal sector is something of a canary in a coal mine when it comes to women in professional services firms – women have been graduating from law degrees in greater numbers than men for decades. If gender diversity can’t be achieved in leadership here, then it’s difficult to see how it can be achieved elsewhere. Particularly in sectors that have been and still are more male-dominated (think tech and construction).
Recently, we worked with Baker Mckenzie on running a roundtable discussion with senior leaders (most with some connection to the legal industry) regarding what more can be done to shift the dial on women in business.
The group agreed there is no silver bullet to fixing the problem. But there is more that can be done – such as establishing meaningful targets and KPIs for responsible leaders, and applying more pressure and influence on clients and suppliers regarding their gender diversity.
The group also agreed a significant cultural shift is required regarding the assumptions made about both men and women.
In 2014, an InfoTrack/Jander Dean study found 75% of respondents believe female lawyers who take a career break are less likely to make partner. InfoTrack CEO Stephen Wood said at the time that parental leave can be seen as the “kiss of death” for those with partnership aspirations.
It’s clear women still come up against hurdles when it comes to family and caring responsibilities. A cultural shift is long overdue.