2019 marks 100 years since women were legally recognised as ‘persons’.
2019 marks 100 years since women were legally recognised as ‘persons’.
The Sex Disqualification (Removal) Act came into force in 1919, opening the gates for women to become lawyers. Three years later and the first set of women were admitted as solicitors: Carrie Morrison, Maud Crofts, Mary Pickup and Mary Sykes, with Ivy Williams and Helena Normanton called to the Bar in the same year. Things have since progressed both in the profession and society generally, but there is still a lot of work to be done; so let’s take a look at the next 100 years.
To understand what the future looks like for women in the legal profession we need to understand and celebrate how far we have come and consider the changes still to be made. The Law Society’s most recent statistics from 2017 report that, for the first time, female practicing certificate holders outnumbered their male colleagues at 50.1%. The first female CEO of a leading law firm was announced in 2013 and 2019 will see Browne Jacobson appoint its first female senior partner. Without paying tribute to achievements towards equality such as these it is difficult to appreciate what the future holds. A brilliant example of this is The First 100 Years project which looks to do just that by collating and recording women’s progress over the last 100 years in an accessible format that tells a story.
There are however still a number of hurdles to be overcome as highlighted by the Law Society’s 'Women in Leadership in Law Report' published on the 8 March 2019 (full report available here). Whilst it is widely accepted that for at least the last 12 years women have been entering the profession almost equal numbers to their male counterparts, there undoubtedly remains a problem with the progression of female lawyers; cohort after cohort, the number of females decreases significantly the higher up the ranks you look. The report is based on research involving approximately 12,000 legal professionals globally, including approximately 40 roundtable discussions involving men and women from across the profession. It revealed that some of the key factors halting this type of progression include the notion of an unconscious bias (that is, attitudes or stereotypes that affect our decisions in an unconscious manner). This was in fact the most commonly cited reason why so few women reach senior positions, as reported by 52% of respondents. The gender pay gap and infrastructure within firms are also considered to be key factors.
Studies such as these are paramount in identifying the barriers and overcoming them in future years. A perfect example of this is Browne Jacobson’s mogility initiative which implemented flexible and agile working policies, enabling professionals at all levels to be able to carry out their work from any number of settings (GDPR permitting), helping to tackle the infrastructure issues alluded to in the report.
It is clear from the research that the drive to achieve gender balance in the profession is supported by men, women and regulators within the industry. The Law Society for example are launching a set of toolkits in the form of ‘how to’ guides to enable firms to embed best practices with regards to gender balance. Innovative steps such as these lead me to believe that the future for women in the profession will bring greater understanding, recognition and opportunities.
It looks like the next 100 years will be just as progressive as the last, if not more.
