Shattering Glass Ceilings and Glass Borders

Janet Gaymer
Senior Partner, Simmons & Simmons, London, UK
janet.gaymer@simmons-simmons.com

Although on the face of it, women lawyers in the solicitors’ profession have made real progress and some perceived glass ceilings are being shattered, there are a number of areas which give cause for concern. Simmons & Simmons senior partner Janet Gaymer is uniquely placed to offer insights and pointers for further improvement.

Solicitors in England and Wales may say that their position has been advanced during the 20th century. Certainly they have come a long way since in 1823 the Law Society, which regulates the solicitors’ profession in England and Wales, described itself as a national institution as follows:

‘As the institution will be composed of gentlemen connected with all parts of the Kingdom and of country attorneys, considerable facilities will be afforded to the members for obtaining information on matters of a provincial or local nature’.

Carrie Morrison was not to be admitted to the rolls as the first woman solicitor until December 1922. This admission followed intense lobbying by the Law Society against the entry of women.

By 1951, of 18,700 solicitors in England & Wales and 4,100 in Scotland and Northern Ireland, just 500 were women.

By 1993, the majority of newly qualified solicitors and more than a quarter of practising solicitors were women.

In 2003, we have our first lady President of the Law Society and a small number of women who are in managerial positions in law firms either as Managing Partners or Senior Partners. On the face of it progress has been made.

However, has real progress been made?

Although on the face of it, women lawyers in the solicitors’ profession have made real progress and some perceived glass ceilings are being shattered, there are a number of areas which give cause for concern.

The number of women achieving partnership remains low. As at May 2002, women comprised an average of 28 per cent of the new partners in 43 firms. In the so called ‘magic circle’ of firms, women made up only 16 per cent of new partners. A survey by the Law Society Gazette in 1999 found that 27 per cent of new partners at the top 50 firms were women. Even when women achieve partnership, according to some US experiences, some feel that they are not seen and heard.

Many young women lawyers leave the profession before being eligible for partnership or managerial positions. A survey in 2001 by EJ Legal showed that 40 per cent of female assistants would reject the offer of partnership, citing stress and long hours as the reasons.

The prevailing culture in the City, identified in the Report ‘Quality of Life in the City’ published in June 2001 by Parents at Work, is one which positively features hard work, high rewards, excellence in performance and long hours at work. The latter feature does not fit well with childbearing or the desire for greater work life balance. It is made worse by the difficulties associated with travelling time and commuting.

It must also be remembered that not all flexible working arrangements are seen to be compatible with legal life today, which is a 24/7 operation.
Being a woman lawyer has many advantages. Even though less true today, being a woman in a male dominated environment means that the woman is easily remembered and identified by those who may wish to return as a client. The ability of women to handle more than one task is also often mentioned as a strength. However, some feminine characteristics do not necessarily assist when management is involved. A four-year study at the end of the 1990s of the psychological make-up of more than 1,200 managers found that the basic differences between the sexes in the general population are largely non-existent among managers. The research which was conducted by Capita Ras indicated that women who succeeded as managers did not do so because of their feminine characteristics such as sensitivity and warmth. Women had to be tougher and meaner. More recent research conducted in 2002 by Catalyst and the Conference Board Europe (Women in Leadership: A European Business Imperative) concluded that stereotypes and preconceptions of women’s roles and abilities were the major barrier to the advancement of professional women to managerial positions. This barrier ranked above lack of senior or visibly successful female role models, lack of significant general management or line experience, commitment to family or personal responsibilities and lack of mentoring.

Disappointingly, few women and men respondents to this research considered that opportunities for women’s advancement had improved greatly over the last five years. Moreover, the general issues facing women in major organisations across Europe and the US were similar. The number one reported barrier to women’s advancement across nations and regions was stereotypes and preconceptions about women’s roles and abilities.
So what can be done in the future?

Taking into account personal experience and available research, the following areas will be key to the advancement of women both as lawyers and managers.

There is a need for more role models. In order to counter long-held and stereotypical views, more role models would assist in changing cultures which are not used either to a high proportion of women lawyers or managers. It is still necessary to offer alternatives to the macho environment which only admits that there is one way of legal working. Without a change in mind-set, flexible and alternative patterns of work will continue to be seen as abnormal and atypical.

There is also a need for more information about what works and what does not work for women as lawyers. There are many different reasons why flexible working is requested and some are not necessarily gender related. However, the Labour Force Survey (Spring 2001) showed that women were particularly interested in part-time working.

Continuing education and awareness of all of the relevant issues will be required in order to go forward. This awareness will include an appreciation of any legislative and institutional barriers to advancement. Sensitivity about the views of others such as the ‘resentment factor’ must be present – particularly relevant where unusual working patterns are requested. Similarly, business need must be taken into account, including the need to maintain client service and overall performance of the business concerned.

Finally, there should be a strategy which, if appropriate, transcends borders and addresses not only the unique issues which face women but also those applicable to both men and women in relation to work/life balance. This strategy will include senior leadership commitment, ensure accountability and offer support mechanisms for women in the workplace.

Unless these issues are tackled, legal firms will lose a valuable human resource and the managers of the future which is not good business. There is also a broader issue, namely, recognising that any lawyer who wishes to succeed wishes also to remain functioning as a human being. In this context, the following extract from Virginia Woolf’s work, Three Guineas, strikes a chord. Woolf noted that work hours in professions occupy most of the waking day and then said:

‘[This makes] us of the opinion that if people are highly successful in their professions they lose their senses. Sight goes. They have no time to look at pictures. Sound goes. They have no time to listen to music. Speech goes. They have no time for conversation. They lose their sense of proportion – the relations between one thing and another. Humanity goes. Money making becomes so important that they must work by night as well as by day. Health goes. And so competitive do they become that they will not share their work with others though they have more than they can do themselves. What then remains of a human being who has lost sight, sound, and sense of proportion? Only a cripple in a cave.’